The UN Special Tribunal for Lebanon is reportedly set to announce that Mustafa Badr al-Din, a senior Hizbullah operative and close relative of the former Hizbullah terror chief Imad Mughniyeh, is the main suspect in the Hariri assassination.

Din, the cousin and brother- in-law of Mughniyeh, who was killed in a car bomb in Damascus in February 2008, was also reportedly responsible for planning the attempted assassination of the ruler of Kuwait in 1985, among other operations.

US President Barack Obama stressed the importance of implementing UN resolutions that call to disarm Hizbullah and preventing the transfer of weapons to the group, during a meeting with Lebanese Prime Minister Saad Hariri. Obama also underscored the importance of ensuring that Iran comply with its nonproliferation obligations, a major focus of the UN Security Council, which Lebanon currently heads.

The message was repeated in several meetings with top US officials during Hariri’s two-day visit here, his first official trip as premier. Assistant Secretary of State Jeffrey Feltman put out a statement following their meeting mentioning “the need for full implementation of all relevant Security Council Resolutions” among US priorities for Lebanon.

Hariri’s pro-Western faction has increasingly made statements supportive of Hizbullah which wields veto power within his government coalition and reached out to Syria as part of a complicated political struggle in the country. Though the US values its ties with Hariri and wants to encourage his pro-West movement, it eyes these overtures with concern. Obama “expressed his determination to continue US efforts to support and strengthen Lebanese institutions such as the Lebanese Armed Forces” during his meeting with Hariri, according to a White House statement. But the Lebanese prime minister was expected to face a tougher reception Tuesday on Capitol Hill, which holds the purse-strings for the military aid.

Sheikh Hassan Nasrallah, the leader of Hizbullah, stated that members of his group would be among those indicted by the tribunal.

From a report in Lebanese newspaper Al-Akhbar, Syrian dictator Bashar al-Assad told Saudi King Abdullah during their meeting in Damascus July 30, 2010 that the UN tribunal investigating the 2005 assassination of Lebanese prime minister Rafik Hariri must be closed to protect Lebanon’s stability.

Assad asserted to Abdullah, a key supporter of the faction of Sa’ad Hariri, son of the former premier and current prime minister; that Syria would find any attempt to hold Hizbullah accountable for the elder Hariri’s death as unacceptable.

Many in Lebanon are concerned that if the tribunal implicates Hizbullah, it could lead to another round of clashes between Lebanon’s Shi’ite and Sunni communities, like the bloody conflict that convulsed Beirut in 2008.

Egyptian Journalist Describes ‘Absolute Prosperity’ in Gaza: With Hamas telling tales of deprivation and suffering in Gaza, Egyptian journalist Ashraf Abu al-Houl has added his report to others who were surprised to discover a “prosperous” Gaza in which prices are low and luxury businesses are booming. Al-Houl’s story of his trip to Gaza and his realization that “in actual terms, Gaza is not under siege” was published in the Egyptian daily Al-Ahram.

“A sense of absolute prosperity prevails, as manifested by the grand resorts along and near Gaza’s coast. Further, the site of the merchandise and luxuries filling the Gaza shops amazed him,” he reported. Concerned that his initial impression of prosperity may have been misleading, He toured the new resorts, most of which are quite grand, as well as the commercial markets, to verify his hypothesis. “The resorts and markets have come to symbolize prosperity, and to prove that the siege is formal or political, not economic,” Al-Houl stated.

Gaza’s markets are filled with a “plethora of goods,” he wrote. Prices on many items, particularly food, are much lower than they are in Egypt. With goods entering Gaza from both smuggling tunnels to Egypt and humanitarian aid shipments coming in via Israeli crossings, “supply is much greater than demand,” he stated.

The evident prosperity is not enjoyed by all of Gaza’s residents, according to Al-Houl. The problem is the vast differences in the distribution of wealth. The luxury resorts and wide range of consumer goods are enjoyed by “only a few groups,” he stated, primarily those who own smuggling tunnels to Egypt and those who work for international organizations such as the United Nations’ UNRWA and who do not include or aid the rest of the population.

Most of the new resorts “are owned by members, or associates, of Hamas,” he reported. “In addition, the Hamas municipalities charge high fees, in Gaza terms, for the use of public beaches,” he added. Al-Houl quoted political activist Mustafa Ibrahim as saying that while Gaza’s rich invest in the leisure industry, 80% of residents rely on UNRWA, and unemployment is approximately 45%. “This creates a distorted picture,” Ibrahim explained.

Hamas continues to enforce its stringent interpretation of Islamic law in Gaza. In its most recent ruling, the organization has laid out a list of rules that must be followed by stores selling women’s clothing. Women’s clothing stores are not allowed to have dressing rooms.

Stores also cannot have tinted windows, and cannot have cameras inside the shop. Any mannequins shaped like women must be dressed in modest clothing. The new set of rules is aimed at maintaining “public morality,” according to a Hamas spokesmen.
Hamas has taken other restrictive steps toward enforcing Islamic law (Sharia) in Gaza.

It has banned women from riding motorcycles, required men to wear shirts while swimming in the sea, and has ordered female attorneys to wear a headscarf while in court. Earlier in the month Hamas declared that women and teenagers are no longer permitted to smoke hookahs in public.

The Islamic terrorist group may be spurred by the opposition it faces from Salafi Muslim organizations, which claim to represent an estimated 11,000 residents of Gaza. Salafi extremists have accused Hamas of failing to enforce Islamic law enough, and have carried out bombings targeting music stores, Internet cafes, and even United Nations camps in which boys and girls are allowed to mingle.

In back rooms young men are rapping over hip hop beats, flipping over metal bars and spinning on their heads to funky dance music. Many youths, who make up the majority of Gaza’s 1.5 million residents, are stuck with Hamas’ strict version of Islam. Rap, for one, raises suspicion, not the preferred hobbies of Gaza’s militant Hamas rulers.

However, creativity blooms, sometimes clashing with traditional Gaza social codes or Hamas’ standards of acceptable behaviour. In a small apartment, the nine male members of Gaza’s premier break dance troupe take turns spinning on their backs, shoulders and heads, then flipping up and dancing on their hands. Mohammed Ghreis, 23, started the Camps Breakerz in 2004. They learn new moves from the Internet.

Gaza has at least one other break dance posse, and Ghreis expects it to spread through children’s workshops his group holds. Recently, two teens he didn’t know showed up for practice that had been teaching themselves from videos on the group’s website. Ghreis played some music and gave them the floor. “They were good,” he stated, beaming. “I was really proud.”

Wary of Islamic Hamas rulers other pastimes face different obstacles. A few times a week, four guys sneak into an elementary school to flip over metal railings, leap down staircases and launch their bodies off walls and tree trunks. They are one of at least two Gaza groups that practice parkour, the acrobatic art of using the human body to overcome obstacles.

Their neighbours sometimes report them to the police. “They see you climbing on a roof and they think you’re a thief,” stated Mohammed Irgayig, 19. “I do it to get my head out of the situation I’m in and feel free,” Irgayig stated. “When we started, everyone said, ‘Why are they wearing baggy clothes? Why do they greet each other like that?’” stated Ayman Mghamis, 25, of Palestinian Rapperz, one of Gaza’s 10 or so rap groups. Gazans started accepting them, but the Hamas government didn’t.

Hamas police broke up a show in March that contained a rap act. Police stated the event lacked permits, but the rappers took it as a cue to keep their heads down.

While underground, the rappers distribute songs on the Internet and perform at events organized by international organizations, which they say keeps authorities at bay.

Underground activities are rare for Gaza women, who have greater housekeeping duties and are expected to be discreet in public.