Lebanese armed forces dispatched dozens of vehicles to the Bab al-Tebbaneh and Jabal Mohsen districts in Tripoli Thursday to enforce a cease-fire that killed four in recent gunbattles. Gunfire broke out late Wednesday and spilled over into the morning hours of Thursday as snipers killed at least two civilians of the Alawite community. Fighting had […]
Future parliamentary bloc leader MP Saad Hariri filed a legal suit Monday against suspects in the killing of his father, former Premier Rafik Hariri, who was assassinated in 2005, in a bomb blast in Beirut. The case was filed by lawyer Mohammad Mattar, who is representing Hariri, at Examining Magistrate Saqr Saqr's office. The claim […]
Israel has successfully tested a new defense system designed to intercept rockets fired from southern Lebanon and the Hamas-ruled Gaza Strip, public radio reported on Sunday. The "Iron Dome" system is expected to be fully operational within a year and will be able to intercept the military-grade Katyusha rockets used by Hezbollah and the cruder […]
BEIRUT (Reuters) – Lebanese leaders are close to a deal on the formation of a national unity government as stipulated in an agreement that ended the country's political crisis, political sources said on Saturday. They said the new government, in which Hezbollah and its allies would have a blocking minority, could be announced as early […]
General Michel Aoun launched today the National Christian Gathering. As I said before the idea is not bad, just that it pertains to a different time. President Suleiman did something similar and the impression is that the two men are in a contest. It is interesting to investigate, if Suleiman is in contest with Aoun […]
In a recent speech Sheikh Nasrallah dedicated the swap with Israel to Lebanon. Many things can be said about Hizballah, but they surely know how to spin almost everything in their favor. Hizballah claims that Israel is frail. Perhaps. However, in spite of its more recent victories, real or imaginated Hizballah is not the way […]
Hizballah Secretary-General Hassan Nasrallah acknowledged Wednesday his group had brokered a prisoner swap with the Israeli government of Prime Minister Ehud Olmert. The deal involves the remains of Ehud Goldwasser and Eldad Regev. Hizballah fighters abducted the Israeli soldiers in a cross-border raid in July 2006, an event that led to the July War between […]
Mohammed Ali Jafari, commander of the Revolutionary Guards Corps said that Iran will block “oil shipments through the strategic Hormuz Straits if attacked and pledged that Hizbullah could also respond by rocketing Israel.” Hizballah fighting for Iran?! Didn't they claim they are a Lebanese Resistance movement? Oh well. I recommend you read Mehdi Khalaji article […]
After countless negotiations a solution might appear to the deadlock. Sources say Hizballah may agree with Elias Murr taking the Defense Ministry. The catch is that Hizballah has to give the green light to the men that will take control of Lebanon's security services, army and intelligence. Most likely, Hizballah already assessed through its own […]
The news coming from Lebanon are anything but good. Suspicion, lack of trust and narrow agendas prevent progress on the ground. At the meeting, President Suleiman had with the spiritual leaders, he warned that “differences have reached the level of committing suicide.” Former Premier, Omar Karami talks of a temporary truce "because historical grudges still […]
UNRWA estimated the costs to rebuild Nahr el Bared, and 15 villages around it, at 445 million US dollars. Almost half of this amount will be put forward by Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Kuwait and the United Arab Emirates. The rest will be covered by Western and European countries. The Palestinians need a place to stay, […]
Lebanese troops on Monday moved into north Lebanon where two days of fierce sectarian battles killed are said to have killed 10 people, threatening to derail an accord to end the country's political crisis. The army threatened to use force to end the fighting that erupted on Sunday in the densely populated Bab al-Tebbaneh and […]
A conference of Arab businessmen that opened in Beirut yesterday warned of the serious consequences of the rising unemployment rate in the Arab world, which has reached 14%. The conference, organized by the Arab Chambers of Commerce, Industry and Agriculture, is being attended by 500 Arab and foreign participants from 21 countries. The chair of […]
After meeting with former President Emile Lahoud, Wiam Wahhab said Speaker Nabih Berri and Hezbollah would never betray Aoun, their opposition ally, in the subject of government.A sovereign ministry is the right of Michel Aoun, and without this ministry there is no sovereign government. The opposition is preparing for another stage another and another step, […]
Avigdor Lieberman, a far-right Knesset member, threatened to destroy the Syrian capitol, Damascus, if Hezbollah attacks Israel in revenge for the assassination of its top military commander, Imad Mugniyah, on February 13, 2008. We must negotiate with Syria only over security arrangements in Lebanon, not the Golan Heights, Lieberman said while meeting with Russian Jewish […]