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But he shows no sign of having any strategy for dealing with the massive problems that this will incur – not least, the fate of Israel’s surrogate South Lebanon Army,. They are not exactly the premises Ha’im Barbivay had in mind when he became mayor two years ago – a concrete war bunker, next to the bomb-gutted ruins of his old office, and an outdoor memorial for two workers killed in a Hizbollah rocket attack in June. They are not exactly the premises Ha’im Barbivay had in mind when he became mayor two years ago – a concrete war bunker, next to the bomb-gutted ruins of his old office, and an outdoor memorial for two workers killed in a Hizbollah rocket attack in June.
But that was where he was to be found yesterday, showing off a wallchart that listed the heavy price that his fiefdom – the north Israel border town of Kiryat Shemona – has suffered over the 32 years of its existence on the edge of a Middle East battlefield.”There have been 3,908 rocket attacks,” he said, pointing at the figure written – for obvious reasons – in easily erasable blue ink. “Thirty-six civilians have died, and eight from the security forces. And 339 people have been injured.”History has not been kind to the residents of Kiryat Shemona, a town of 24,000 that sits in a lush orchard-filled valley, beneath an escarpment that marks the border. It has suffered more during Israel’s occupation in south Lebanon than any other in the region.

And yesterday, its misery continued.As Israeli jets roared overhead, the population, a few of whom had crept outside to take in the spring air, was ordered into bunkers for a third night of sheltering from a possible Hizbollah reprisal. There are new emergency rules now; anyone who refuses can be arrested.The town is all too used to this – and they know to take the warning seriously But the frustration and fear is beginning to take its toll As the mayor talked, an old man outside was bawling. He had no bread; no medicine for his children; no heating fuel. “We have been living like this for 32 years, first with the Palestinians then with Hizbollah,” Mr Barbivay said “We have no territorial aspirations whatever on the Lebanon We would like Israel to get out of there today. But we need guarantees that we will have peace and quiet and our lives won’t be disrupted.”Up the hill above the town – which is overlooked by Israeli military observation balloons – Hanan Rubinsky expressed similar sentiments. He lives in a kibbutz through which runs the Israel-Lebanon border (although the Israelis have moved it to outside the settlements).

Through the barbed wire fence, you can see the entire war zone, and beyond to the Lebanese Mediterranean coast. “There’s a mansion not far from here which could easily be Hizbollah,” said Mr Rubinsky, 40, who has three children.He has lived here for 20 years, driven by a mixture of Zionist ideals and his love of a rural life But now, he must face the prospect of leaving. He is, he says, “unable to bear” what might happen if the Prime Minister, Ehud Barak, withdraws his troops from the occupation zone unilaterally – as the government has said it might “We just don’t know what the other side might do.”. Chinese police have been holding an American woman in detention for five days since she took a picture at a protest by members of the banned meditation movement Falun Gong, her boyfriend said today. Chinese police have been holding an American woman in detention for five days since she took a picture at a protest by members of the banned meditation movement Falun Gong, her boyfriend said today.
Tracy Zhao, 30, of New York City, was taking a picture of police breaking up a Falun Gong protest around midnight on February 4 in Tiananmen Square when police detained her, said Lin Chong-li, who also is an American from New York.Zhao is a Northwest Airlines flight attendant. An airline spokesman said the company would go through official channels to determine her status.”It’s now a government to government matter,” said Doug Killian.