More Arab "Accuracy" in Reporting

As if Qana wasn't enough, the Lebanese Prime Minister (!) has outdone them all:

Lebanon's Prime Minister Says 1 Killed in Airstrike, Not 40

From CNN.com

Lebanese Prime Minister Fouad Siniora said Monday that one person was killed in an Israeli airstrike on the southern village of Houla, not 40 as he had earlier reported.

"The massacre in Houla, it turned out that there was one person killed," Siniora said. "They thought that the whole building smashed on the heads of about 40 people ... thank God they have been saved."

Siniora had earlier told Arab foreign ministers in Beirut that the attack "was a horrific massacre ... in which more than 40 martyrs were victims of deliberate bombing."

Siniora said he had based the initial tally on unspecified information that he had received. He offered no other explanation for the error.

[Apparently CNN has already edited out some of the above; we are quoting from the IRIS blog, first link above].

However, this AP link still has the story as above.

This was also reported, in his usual humorous fashion, by our good friend at Lazer Beams:

Lebanon's tearful PM Fouad Siniora gave a prime soap-opera performance this morning of the "40 killed in the Houla raid by Israeli bombardment." An hour ago, they were all found alive and well sipping Turkish coffee and playing Shesh-Besh in a safe shelter. Siniora wins this week's Aladdin award, and if he leaves politics, Hollywood is bound to grab him.

Our Ali Baba award goes to photographer Adnan Hajj of Reuters. Now that Adnan has lost his job at Reuters, he's hoping to land a position developing the latest edition of PhotoShop for Microsoft Corporation.

And to top it off, we have this comment on the Bare Knuckle Politics blog:

Comment by Lance de Boyle

# August 7, 2006,

Translation of Speech by Fuad Saniora.

It grieves me to tell you of a tragedy in the village of Houla—–which is located right next to the town of Hoop.

Wait. I can barely stand it. hoick hoick blubber blubber snurfle snurfle bllllaaaaaap!

I say to you that hoick blubber snurfle 40 of our peole blubber blubber hoick were killed in an outrageous snurfle wheeze attack by the nazi bllllaaaaap hoick Israelis.

Hold on a sec……

Oh, I am informed that only one person was killed…… ‘

Scuse me. …

I am informed that someone tripped on a roller skate and ripped his pants. That is all. hoick blaaaaap wheeze snurfle blubber.

I’m so upset.

Also chagrined.

And moderately downcast.

Back to our regularly scheduled program: “Falafal. Safe to store in your shorts?”