Excerpts:Lebanese army decision. Media takeover.Anti-Israel protest in Italy
11 May 2007

+++Lebanon army freezes government moves against Hezbollah, Lebanese
opposition
to withdraw militants from Beirut
By Agence France Presse (AFP)
BEIRUT, May 10, 2008 (AFP) - The Lebanese army said on Saturday it had
frozen measures taken by the government against the Shiite Hezbollah
movement, and called for all armed militants to withdraw from the streets.
"The army command calls on all parties to (help restore calm) by ending
armed protests and withdrawing gunmen from the streets and opening the
roads," the military said in a statement.
It said that the head of airport security, who had been reassigned from his
job, would remain in his post pending an investigation and that the army
would look into a communications network set up by the militant group.
"The head of airport security, Brigadier General Wafiq Shqeir, will remain
in his post until appropriate procedural measures have been taken after a
probe," the statement said.
"As for the telecommunications network, the army will look into the issue in
a manner that is not harmful to the public interest or the security of the
resistance" against Israel, it said.
The military said it had taken these decisions in the light of a government
wish that it rule on these matters. The army statement came shortly after
Prime Minister Fuad Siniora made a televised address to the nation.
Tuesday's government decision to reassign Shqeir and launch a judicial probe
into the communications network sparked bloody clashes that saw Hezbollah
seize control of west Beirut.
The army's announcement was seen as a way out of the violence that has
rocked the country, leaving at least nearly 40 people dead and virtually
closing Lebanon off from the outside world.
Following this announcement, the opposition said it would withdraw its armed
militants from the capital and called on the country's army to take control
of Beirut, an official close to the opposition said. "The opposition
welcomes the army's decision and will proceed with the withdrawal of all its
armed elements so that control of the capital is handed over to the
military," the official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said.
His comments came shortly after the army said it was freezing government
measures against Hezbollah that sparked four days of deadly unrest.
The official, said however, that the opposition would maintain a civil
disobedience campaign against the Western-backed government.-AFP

+++THE DAILY STA(10 May '08(Lebanon):"Opposition gunmen seize control of
Hariri's media empire"By Agence France Presse (AFP)
EXCERPT:
BEIRUT: Militants allied with the opposition on Friday forced the shutdown
of all media operations belonging to the family of majority leader and
billionaire tycoon Saad Hariri.
The closure - which came as opposition fighters routed Sunni loyalists of
the government - concerned one satellite news channel, two regular
television stations, a newspaper and a radio station.

+++JORDAN TIMES 11 May '08: "Thousands protest Turin book fair's Israel
theme"
QUOTE:" 'Free Palestine' organizers
put ...attendance at 10,000...police said 1,500 had turned out to criticise
the book fair's choice to highlight 60 years of the Jewish state."

EXCERPTS:
TURIN (AFP) - Between 3,000 to 4,000 people gathered Saturday to protest
against the Turin book fair's decision to showcase Israeli writers, an AFP
photographer at the scene said.
"Free Palestine" organisers put the demonstration's attendance at 10,000,
while police said 1,500 had turned out to criticise the book fair's choice
to highlight 60 years of the Jewish state as its central theme.
"Boycott Israel, support Palestine", read a banner at the head of a cortege
heading for the former Fiat factory which is hosting the prestigious
booksellers' exhibition... .Italian President Giorgio Napolitano inaugurated
the Turin fair, while new Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi said on Friday
that Italians are closer to Israel than any other people.
He said protesters who targeted the fair earlier in the week represented
"0.00 per cent" of the population.. . .
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Sue Lerner - Associate, IMRA