Tutor Required

Did anyone watch and/or hear President Lahoud's speech today? Did you guys hear him answer the questions asked?

I thought it would have been a lot better since he had 3 weeks and 5 days of preparing his speech, memorizing it, and being taught how to reply to reporters.

That's all I have to say about that.... oh and yeah... Mr. Lahoud, wipe that disgusting grin off your face.

Yeah, yeah I know that I have used this picture before but this is what he is for me.

Also in headlines tonight:

Karami Accepts U.S. ex-President Jimmy Carter to Monitor Lebanon's Elections
Premier-Designate Omar Karami has reversed Lebanon's official rejection of international observers to monitor the parliamentary elections in spring, welcoming a team headed by U.S. ex-President Jimmy Carter to do the job.

Karami revealed the change of heart in an interview carried by the London-based Asharq Al Awsat newspaper and reproduced by The Associated Press. He warned, however, that the elections may have to be postponed if no new government could be formed within an adequate timeframe.

This was the first time that that the Beirut government publicly dropped its contention that allowing foreign observers to monitor the April-May elections was a violation of Lebanon's sovereignty although various opposition factions and the Maronite Church have been insisting on international observation.

Karami, a staunch ally of Syria, was re-designated to form the new government on Thursday, just 10 days after submitting the resignation of his previous cabinet in the wake of the quake-like aftermath of ex-Premier Rafik Hariri's resignation a month ago.

The de facto invitation to Carter looked like a Karami goodwill gesture to the anti-Syria opposition front that has rejected his reappointment as a 'second assassination of Hariri' designed to keep Lebanon under Syria's tutelage even after the withdrawal of its army and its dreaded secret service apparatus.

Carter heads a private human rights organization called the Carter Center, which monitors elections worldwide, including the Palestinian elections that were held in January.

Karami said he was not hopeful about the prospects for forming a national unity government but would do his best to talk to the opposition.

"I will keep trying to start a dialogue with the opposition, without preconditions," Karami said, admitting that he is holding a ball of fire in his hands.

He warned that an opposition boycott of his government could create a prolonged power vacuum that would backfire on the nation's hard-pressed finances because he would not be able in a caretaking capacity to make necessary decisions.

"I am now heading a caretaker government ... and I might stay that way for a long time," Karami said.(Naharnet-AP)