The following are excerpts from Lebanese MP and journalist Jubran Tweini's final weekly column, which appeared December 8, 2005 in the Lebanese daily Al-Nahar. The column harshly attacks the Syrian regime, and in particular Syrian Foreign Minister Farouq Al-Shar'. Four days later, on December 12, 2005, Tweini was assassinated.
The Syrian Regime Does Not Want to Acknowledge that Lebanon is Not Part of Syria
Referring to the Shaba' Farms, Tweini wrote: "I wish the Syrian foreign minister would explain to us why he is not interested in sending an official Syrian document to the government of Lebanon to recognize the Shaba' Farms as Lebanese territory … Why does Minister Al-Shar' insist upon linking the issue of the Shaba' Farms with the liberation of the Golan Heights? The Golan is Syrian land, whereas the Shaba' Farms are Lebanese. Why does the Syrian regime insist, through its foreign ministry and its prime minister, upon not sending such a document?… Doesn't Minister Al-Shar' realize that this policy serves the Israeli policy, which is trying in various ways to remain in all the lands occupied in the 1967 war?
"Your honor, Minister [Al-Shar'], contrary to what you think, Lebanon thinks that sending the document might contribute to the liberation of the Shaba' Farms - unless you and your regime are not interested in these farms being liberated and returning to Lebanese [sovereignty], and therefore you are linking them to the liberation of the Golan Heights, so that [the Shaba' Farms issue] remains pending, together with the issue of delineating the borders [with Syria]. This may stem from the [fact] that the Syrian regime does not want to recognize Lebanon as having clear, internationally recognized borders, and does not want to recognize that Lebanon never was and never will be part of Syria…"
Syria is Afraid of the Truth Coming Out in the International Investigation
Referring to the investigation of the assassination of former Lebanese PM Rafiq Al-Hariri, Tweini wrote: "What objectivity is Minister Al-Shar' talking about, when we see that the moment [the Syrian witness] Husam Husam crossed the Syrian border, the Syrian Information Ministry adopted him in order to use him as an empty, outmoded weapon against the international investigation and against Lebanon?
"Where is the cooperation between Syria and the international investigation commission? How serious is the Syrian investigation committee, which to this day has not listened to Husam Husam?… Syria will be pleased with the international investigation commission in one case only: if Judge Detlev Mehlis concludes that Al-Hariri 'committed suicide' together with Basil Fleihan and their associates, and moreover, that Samir Kassir and George Hawi ['committed suicide'], just like Ghazi Kan'an 'committed suicide', and just like Marwan Hamada and May Shidiaq tried to 'commit suicide,' but did not succeed. [1]
"At any rate, the functioning of the Syrian regime from the onset of the establishment of the international investigation commission points to the Syrian regime's disinterest in an investigation. Rather it is afraid of the truth coming out, bringing disgrace upon it..."
The Syrian Regime is Responsible for the Mass Graves Found in Lebanon
On the mass graves found near the Syrian intelligence headquarters at Anjar, Tweini wrote: "...they constitute a separate issue, distinct from what is known as 'the civil war in Lebanon.' This issue is directly linked to the functioning of the army and intelligence [apparatuses] of [Syria], which claim that they are not a party [in the civil war], but the protector [of Lebanon], whereas, in truth, they were ruthless arch-murderers.
"The Syrian regime alone is responsible for the mass graves at Anjar. This is a crime against humanity, which requires immediate international intervention, an extensive investigation, an international tribunal and trial, unrelated to the crime of Al-Hariri's assassination, which has [already] been defined by the international community as an act of terror...
"The Syrian regime must know... that the tyrannical and evil regimes that perpetrated massacres against humanity were pursued, tried, and brought down! The murder, massacre, and casting [of corpses] into mass graves are not legitimate even in the most criminal wars, [as in the case] of tyrants... [such as] Adolf Hitler, Ceausescu, Milosevic, Saddam Hussein, and the tribal chiefs of Rwanda."
We Choose Loyalty to Lebanon
Tweini concludes: "Sorry, Minister Al-Shar', [but] between loyalty to Syria and loyalty to Lebanon, we choose loyalty to Lebanon...
"On Arab [issues], we have always stood for the just Arab causes, and especially the Palestinian cause and the liberation of the Golan Heights. As for those in Lebanon who prefer loyalty to Syria over loyalty to Lebanon - we consider them not to be in favor of Lebanon or Syria, and thus to serve [the interests] of the enemy of Lebanon and Syria - Israel..."
[1] Basil Fleihan was a Lebanese Member of Parliament and former finance minister who was killed together in the explosion that killed Rafiq Al-Hariri on February 14, 2005. Samir Kassir was an anti-Syrian Lebanese journalist with a regular column in Al-Nahar, who was killed on June 2, 2005 by a bomb planted in his car. George Hawi, a former secretary-general of the Lebanese Communist party, was killed in June 2005 by a bomb planted in his car. Ghazi Kan'an, the Syrian interior minister, was found dead in his office in October 2005, and was alleged to have committed suicide. After his death, there were claims that he had not voluntarily committed suicide, but had been forced to do so by the Syrian regime. Marwan Hamada, a Lebanese MP and former minister, escaped an assassination attempt in October 2004. May Shidiaq, a Lebanese journalist who worked for LBC TV and spoke out against Syrian intervention in Lebanon, escaped an assassination attempt on September 25, 2005, but was critically wounded.
