Report: Hizbullah Gunmen Intercept ATVers on al-Yammouneh Mountains

W300

Hizbullah gunmen have intercepted a group of Lebanese youths and expatriates who arrived at the barren mountains of the Bekaa town of al-Yammouneh on an ATV trip that started in Ouyoun al-Siman and passed through the Cedar Mountains and Ouyoun Orghosh, Akhbar al-Yawm news agency reported Monday.

“We took the Deir al-Ahmar-al-Yammouneh road … and we were surprised to see three khaki-clad gunmen in full combat gear standing in the middle of the road, near a guard post fortified with sand barriers,” one of the voyagers told Akhbar al-Yawm.

“You are in a Hizbullah military zone; go back to where you came from,” the voyager quoted the Hizbullah members as saying.

“On the way back, the voyagers encountered a truck driver and asked him about another road that can lead to Ouyoun al-Siman other than the relatively long road they initially took. They also asked him about what’s going on in the area and he told them that ‘Hizbullah members block this road every now and then’, without elaborating,” the news agency said.

Comments 38
Missing allouchi over 12 years

A state within a state..disgusting.

Missing petersdemocracy over 12 years

today i thought of not logging in and commenting but this one infuriated me.

This is BULL CRAP
and this is unacceptable. who the hell do th ey think they are. leave the people alone let them travel freely in their land of their ancestors.
this gang should end IMMEDIATELY. or else certain measures that are under my control could be taken, no underestimation.

Thumb benzona over 12 years

Pays de merde. How does General Suleiman react to this?

Default-user-icon Le Phenicien (Guest) over 12 years

This is Muslim land the Christians were brought in by the Byzantine empire to be a thorn in the side of the Muslims - Sayyed Hassan Nassrallah .

Default-user-icon Gavrotte (Guest) over 12 years

What the Hizb did was to protect these misguided youth who, perhaps, listen to farts like Samir Geagea. God! Some are never satisfied!

Thumb ithinkthere14iam over 12 years

Interesting article, wonder how hezbollah sheep will react to this.

Default-user-icon hanna (Guest) over 12 years

you mean general aoun the protector of the christians.... he is bringing the end to the christians in lebanon, something many died to protect

Thumb ithinkthere14iam over 12 years

Bigdig: you and ur Hariri haters are truly naive. Selim hoss w Emile lahoud w Bashar w hafez were successful; successful in bashing hariri and his legacy on accusations of corruption; for the sole purpose of garnering popular support from idiots. Hariri wasn't a great politician, for a great politician would have been ab,e to dismiss these attacks and evade them, he didn't give a f what they said, fact is that he's a business man. The only one in the world who was crazy enough to undertake the monumental task of rebuilding centre ville. Bt to be able to get in power, and thus to sustain power, was to be corrupt, due to the ALREADY corruption nature of leb politics started by the syrians! He had no other choice. Yes he is corrupt, but name me a politician from that era who wasn't? W Kamen, can u tell me who did MORE for Lebanon? The others took the money and pocketed and never gave a dime to the people. Nth to benefit the welfare of the ppl. Rafic? Countless hospitals, paying

Thumb ithinkthere14iam over 12 years

Te tuition of countless lebs, fighting inflation, increased tourism, increased foreign investment, rising liquidity, international legitimacy nd respect etc etc! Sure, his tactics were brandish and easily to hate and even easier for his rivals to exploit to brainwash the public. But if u look at PROGRESS and POSITIVITY,? Nobody helped Lebanon more than him. They're all corrupt, but for him to do what he had to do he had to dabble in the corruption as well. List the amazing feat sof the 2 biggest corrupts and biggest recievers of kickbacks and Syrian $$ (Berri and jumblatt)? Do they even compare in the slightest way to Hariri? No, idts. Shut up bc ur truly part of the brainwashed sheep who never look at things, just accept the words of ur warlord blindly. Loser

Default-user-icon Ali Luia (Guest) over 12 years

@bigdig with a tinybrain,

First they came for the communists,
and I didn't speak out because I wasn't a communist.

Then they came for the trade unionists,
and I didn't speak out because I wasn't a trade unionist.

Then they came for the Jews,
and I didn't speak out because I wasn't a Jew.

Then they came for me
and there was no one left to speak out for me.

- Pastor Martin Niemöller

Default-user-icon antibigdig (Guest) over 12 years

@bigdig
Touilleur de merde au Hezb, ça vous dit?
Un concours a été organisé, vous seriez un candidat idéal .
Vous pourrez ainsi creuser, touiller , fouiller et déguster dans votre élément à vie.

Default-user-icon melkadri (Guest) over 12 years

@bigdig man you really are a sheep...21 years of Hariri rule? you mean when Lahhoud was president and the Syrians were occupying our country and when your beloved hizb was in parliament and government? Either way...is this the state you want where you are allowed in and not allowed in some cities? There's a country called Iran, I hear they're accepting citizens.

Thumb ado.australia over 12 years

yammounie is a shiite/hezbollah village. every local has always known that some off roads from dier ahmar to yammounie or kinassie are hezbollah. i was ATVing in the cedars and was suddenly stopped by men in carkie fatigues telling us we were getting too close to the Hakim's residence and must turn back. whats the difference? as big dig says, Lebanon is a farm, not a state! dont understand the point of this article. its not news.

Default-user-icon Gebran Sons for Cedar Revolution II in 2013 (Guest) over 12 years

The new occupation force in Lebanon... thanks to Miqati, Aoun and Jumblat, Basij will soon control all state institutions and turned them into instruments of oppression and intimidation as Basij always do when they get to power....

Thumb ado.australia over 12 years

ithinkthere14iam. how annoyingly stupid your post about hariri is. what a hero he was to make billions of dollars from the lebanese. before he died forbes estimated his fortune at 9 billion. afterwards it was realized he had 29 billion, all through being your hero. hariri owns solidere that forced under his law, all properties to be given to him in return for a few shares in the company. then, with government money he rebuilt. what was originally $9 billion project, blew out to over 30 billion. and who were the construction companies employed by solidere owned by? Hariri's own companies were being overpaid, to rebuild centre ville, that was owned by solidere, which hariri owned, who confiscated the land, and all this was paid for by the lebanese government. WHAT A F&%#ING HERO!!

Then throw in a disgustingly huge, Riyadh style mosque, that ruins the feel and style of beirut, which overshadows the beautiful old mosques and churches of real pre Hariri beirut. what a hero!

Thumb ithinkthere14iam over 12 years

Over 30,000 property holders received U.S. $1.17 billion worth of Solidere A share stock (Lebanon Newswire, 1997). This represented about 60% of all stock publicly sold at the Initial Public Offering (IPO). Hariri was criticized for owning 8% of this stock at this time (Adwan & Sahyoun, 2001), but his critics ignored two things: 1) Hariri's percentage of Solidere's total stock was approximately 7.5 times smaller than that of former small downtown Beirut property owners; and, 2) that without Solidere, there was no private investor willing to assume the risk of rebuilding central Beirut, as Hizballah waged a prolonged conflict with Israeli forces in Southern Lebanon between 1982 and 2000 (Norton & Schwelder, 1994). In spite of the criticisms, Hariri's staff listed Solidere in European financial markets to attract new foreign investors, and complied with these markets' disclosure and accounting requirements.

Thumb ithinkthere14iam over 12 years

ADO: this is evidence of the propaganda fed to ur sponge brain by hoss w etc. youre poorly misguided. in the next post ill post to you the truth behind this conspiracy which ur pro syrian buddies utilized to get u cows to follow the flock. it is found in a very well done political science study about EFFECTIVE corrupt leaders. ie; leaders whom must be corrupt in order to survive, but instead of being like the others around them, they HELP the people. its not as u may call it "m14 propaganda" as it is a a political THEORY which they used hariri to support it. when they came ot present ut to m14 official, siniora, saad, in 09, they walked out of the conference and dismissed it for labeling rafic as being corrupt (although it is positive on rafic) ill post the link to the study, but u might be too stupid to undestand the smart people words or even waste ur time reading a 17 page study u imbecile :) it is just easier for u to listen to ur pigs.

Thumb ithinkthere14iam over 12 years

heres a copy of the study: http://www.democracyinlebanon.org/Documents/CDL-World/CorruptEffectiveLeadership(HaririinLebanon).pdf

if you are really a true intellectual and care about the truth about lebanon, then this is a must read. if u rather not waste ur time to get a second opinion? then stfu

Thumb ithinkthere14iam over 12 years

According to his opponents, Hariri's corruption enormously enlarged the 1992 public debt to rebuild post-war Lebanon – from U.S.$ 5.1 billion to $35 billion in October 2004, when Hariri resigned as prime minister (see Becherer, 2005). Moreover, these critics solicited votes among less affluent voters by accusing Hariri's real estate firm (Solidere) of illegally expropriating the land of thousands of moderate and low income landowners to rebuild post-war Beirut's city center, and paying these small property owners only a pittance of the real value of their government-seized land holdings (Becherer, 2005).
What evidence did Hariri's opponents produce to support claims that he used political corruption to seize downtown land and illegally fund this state activity? Opponents emphasized the appearance of impropriety while Hariri operated Solidere during his premiership. First, they pointed to the fact that Solidere was run as a quasi-public agency, staffed at the highest levels by Hariri's

Thumb ithinkthere14iam over 12 years

close friends and former employees (Adwan & Sahyoun, 2001; Lebanon Newswire, 1997). This type of conflict of interest, however, was not legally a crime in Lebanon (Johnson, 1986). Secondly, critics were less than candid about the economic restitution that former downtown landowners received for their seized property

Thumb ithinkthere14iam over 12 years

additionally ado: u didnt answer my question about nabih berri and jumblatt. clearly u ignored it bc u know that ur wrong and i am right about this issue. if you rather support two idiots who did no good than a man who actually did good, then ur a completely brain washed pathetic loser :)

Thumb ado.australia over 12 years

How sad that you have to defend Hariri through an article about "effective corrupt leadership". thank god, he wasn't an ineffective corrupt thief.no one denies he is not a good buisness man, he made lots of money as PM.

Anyone can cut and paste sections of an article... such as with your same paper..."In 1999, Selim Hoss, created a board of accountants and attorneys called the National Integrity Steering Committee. The related Lebanese Transparency Association, a Vienna-based anti-crime organization, signed a protocol with the Hoss government in 2000 to collect information, and prepare a national anti-corruption strategy. Upon resuming the prime minister's office in October 2000, however, Hariri immediately froze the operations of the LTA, accusing it of pursuing a political witch-hunt and that it unfairly targeted Hariri and the Druze leader walid jumblatt."

so to answer your question, jumblatt, berri and murr mafia corruption league, lead by hariri, can all go to hell.

Missing eagle over 12 years

to that idiot who says Harriri owns Soildeire.... Ya Ajdab Ya Australi from village, Solideire is a publicly traded company not a private company. Ownership in it is PUBLIC. So, if Harriri owned it, you and your uncle would know. Harriri made his money from investments and businesses in Saudi Arabia.

If you were stopped Atving near the Hakim's home fair enough, he lives there.... But does Nassrallah live in Al Yamouneh mountains?????

Default-user-icon Kvarthorn (Guest) over 12 years

Hizb-Nasrallah must have thought about this one real hard before deciding that it would appear pretty ridiculous if they ask themselves (i.e., the Lebanese government) for ransom money, so they let these guys go. Had they been Latvian or Lithuanian or (preferably) French, German, or any other country with an AAA rating, Hizb could have rubbed their hands with diabolical glee at anticipation of another few million dollars to fund their weapons-drive which they could then turn against the Lebanese should the Lebanese ever rise up from their knees.
Sorry Hizb; but we shall put up posters in Gemmayzeh and Hamra to lure foreigners into your hands. That way, your resistance to a minimum of humanity can make our country proud in the eyes of the world.

Thumb ado.australia over 12 years

eagle, Does Rupert Murdoch own News Corp, the publicly traded company?  Secondly, solidere is not a public company,  "By agreement with the government, Solidere enjoys special powers of eminent domain as well as a limited regulatory authority codified in law, making the company a unique form of public-private partnership." hariri is the largest single owner of  shares. The ceo is Nasser Chammaa, Hariri's bum chum... Your comments are like arguing with a brick wall! 

As for geagea's residence, it was on public property, no where near his house. It happens all over Lebanon and how the hell, do u know who lives there in yammounie? There are no go zones all over the country, controlled by every politician and their dogs!

Default-user-icon joe (Guest) over 12 years

ado.autralia: Relax mate and put a shrimp on the Barbee! So, you are defending HA while you admit that you are ignorant of the reasons. In fact, if the article is true, the area is a security zone for HA. HA being the "resistance" can claim things in its name because it wants to protect its interests wherever those are including recently the North. This is a problem of principle. Also, the logic of a farm within a farm does not work. If I admit to this, do we need a farm within a farm? Also, if Lebanon is a farm within a farm, then why are you wasting your time commenting on anything? Are you trying to impress us because apparently you are not doing well in this forum?

Thumb shab over 12 years

Hizb Mossad

Default-user-icon Voyager (Guest) over 12 years

@ Ado.australia

Approaching the White House on public property you are likely to be turned back. Having said that, it seems the Gagae protection unit knew you were a Sleiman Franjieh and Aoun follower, hence their request to you to turn back. Frankly speaking, I don't blame them one bit.

Default-user-icon Fresh Opinion. (Guest) over 12 years

I agree, Hizb el Sila7 are arrogant assholes who take that which is not theirs and are hurting the country. But on the other hand, the 14th march who are controlling the media are exaggerating into blowing out of proportion every single endeavour Hezb el sela7 does. 14 march are blackening the image of Lebanon outside, and hurting our economy with their media. I say, cool down saadoun, relax, you will get your turn to play later.

Missing eagle over 12 years

@ Ado.australia

What are you talking about really shows you have no clue about business. For this, i will decline to comment any further, but refer you ti wikipedia section on News Corp.... here is an excerpt: Shareholders

In August 2005 the Murdoch family owned only about 29% of the company. However, nearly all of these shares were voting shares, and Rupert Murdoch retained effective control of the company. Nonetheless, John Malone of Liberty Media had built up a large stake, with about half of the shares being voting shares. Therefore, in November 2006, News Corporation announced its intention to transfer its 38.5 per cent managing interest in DirecTV Group to John Malone's Liberty Media; in return it bought back Liberty's 16.3% shares in News Corp., giving Murdoch tighter control of the latter firm.[31] Murdoch sold 17.5 million class A shares in December 2007.[32]
Prince Alwaleed bin Talal al-Saud of Saudi Arabia, through his Kingdom Holding Company, owns 7% of News Corp.'s .

Thumb ithinkthere14iam over 12 years

The Hariri–Hoss political dispute raises two related questions: Firstly, did Hoss and his LTA supporters have the necessary legal evidence to secure a conviction against Hariri on corruption charges? Secondly, did they use the legalistic process to present to the public the appearance of impropriety to damage Hariri's reputation? Interestingly, none of Hariri's opponents ever filed corruption charges against him in a Lebanese court. This lack of formal prosecution suggests that critics pursued their campaigns at the level of the appearance of official impropriety.
In addressing such issues, Morgan (1992) noted two paradoxes in “appearance ethics” controversies:
The Petty Blifil paradox: Political opponents such as Selim Hoss, “use...ethical standards to attack relatively innocent individuals with accusations of impropriety.” Referring to Henry Fielding's analysis of this paradox in eighteenth century England in the classic novel Tom Jones, Morgan (1992: 607–608) observed: “This parado

Thumb ithinkthere14iam over 12 years

prime minister between 1998 and 2000 to give the appearance of good government in Lebanon, while systematically exploiting the country politically and economically (see Sakr, 2005). This had been common policy since 1976, when Christian Maronite leaders invited Syrian intervention during the civil war (Council for Good Governance in Lebanon, 2004, hereafter CGGL).

Thumb ithinkthere14iam over 12 years

ado: the aussie sun must really have gotten to your head. 1st of all it is not an article, its a case study. secondly, you forget the section that came after what u pasted;)

Thumb ithinkthere14iam over 12 years

This paradox is named after Master Blifil, because in him we see a truly unethical person manipulating society's preoccupation with appearances in order to achieve unethical ends. Blifil not only
38 M.W. Neal, R. Tansey / The Leadership Quarterly 21 (2010) 33–49
fabricates his own ethical reputation by appearing to be quite proper, he almost completely eliminates Tom (Jones) as a rival by constructing – again, out of appearances – such a grave case of immorality against Tom that the thoroughly decent Allworthy feels compelled to expel him from Paradise Hall. Petty Blifil has many contemporary manifestations, one of which occurred in the Keating Five case.”
The Grand Blifil paradox: Grand Blifil involves the manipulation of appearances at the institutional level to persuade the public that the government is operating properly and ethically, while in fact these institutions are engaging in systematic patterns of corruption. For instance, Syrian presidential leaders backed Selim Hoss as

Thumb ithinkthere14iam over 12 years

yes i defend hariri thru this study, because its the truth of the matter. the truth that corruption is the only way to succeed in lebanese politics bc of ur dirty filth assad baath pigs. if you still stay hatin on hariri, but continue to even utter a word of support towards any other political head during this time? then you are truly brain washed and are hating just bc u r so used to it and bc u have been taught to do it for years. cant teach an old dog new tricks i guess

Thumb bashir over 12 years

Well done on your valient 'resistence' of these ATVers. I hate to think where we would have been without your guns oh party of Shaytan.

Default-user-icon Uglies Swimwear (Guest) over 12 years

Hey is this serious?

Default-user-icon Abdul Aziz (Guest) almost 9 years

Dr. Nasser Chammaa is married to Isabel Sanchez Jarpa.They live together in Marbella.Their son is studying in London.His name is Karim Sanchez Chammaa
He allways stay in the Bristol in Paris