The Israeli navy has intercepted what it claims was shipment of weapons from Iran bound for Lebanon to be used by Hizballah. The weapons were seized Wednesday off the coast of Cypress by Israeli commandos. Hizballah has denied any ties to the weapons. The weapons were being offloaded by the Israeli navy, and so far […]
Lebanon has been without a working government since its June parliamentary elections, but now with all the major external hurdles cleared Lebanon looks to within to form its cabinet. Syria and Saudia Arabia hold tremendous influence in Lebanon, and the frosty relations between them were seen as a one of the largest obstacles to Lebanon […]
Lebanon was elected yesterday to the United Nations Security Council. It is the first time since 1952 that Lebanon, a founding member of the United Nations, will serve on the council. Lebanon received 180 out of 192 votes from the General Assembly, greatly surpassing the two-thirds majority needed for Security Council membership. Advocates claim that […]
King Abdullah’s much anticipated visit to Damascus is expected to take place this week. Last month, Syrian President Bashar Assad traveled to Saudi Arabia to attend the opening ceremony of a new high-tech university, which had been a personal pet project of the King’s. There, President Assad extended an invitation for the King to come […]
Scores of Lebanese Shiites have recently been expelled from the United Arab Emirates, allegedly for their refusal to inform on Hizballah. The expulsion of the Lebanese nationals started after the June 7 parliamentary elections in Lebanon, but had not been widely known or reported on until the group went public. Lebanon’s President Suleiman reportedly traveled […]
The visit of Syrian President Bashar Assad to Jeddah, Saudi Arabia for the opening of Saudi King Abdullah’s new state-of-the-art, mixed gender university is expected to have a positive influence on Lebanese Prime Minister Saad Hariri’s effort to form a cabinet. Both Syria and Saudi Arabia hold significant influence in Lebanon and their cooperation is […]
After briefly stepping down last week, Saad Hariri has been reassigned the task of forming a new cabinet. Hariri had been trying since he was appointed prime minister back in June to come up with a cabinet line-up that would suit the very fickle political tastes of Lebanon. Hariri submitted a list to the president […]
Two katyusha rockets were fired into Israel from Lebanon today, and minutes later Israel returned fire with a barrage of 14 artillery shells of its own. The rockets that were fired into Israel landed outside residential areas, and no injuries were reported as a result. The return fire from Israel also landed in an unpopulated […]
The opposition government has rejected the cabinet lineup proposed by Prime Minister-designate Saad Hariri. Hariri presented his selections to President Suleiman, but it is probable that the president will not endorse it on the grounds that it does not have bipartisan support. The crux of the dispute (between the Hariri-led March 14 coalition and the […]
The climate of cooperation that followed the June parliamentary elections has evaporated and efforts to form a new government have come to a standstill. After the results of the elections were announced, the March 8 coalition graciously accepted its “defeat”, while Saad Hariri’s March 14 alliance promised to work closely with the new opposition. Now, […]
A man closely linked with the group Fatah al-Islam has been recaptured by Lebanese authorities after a day on the run. According to the Associated Press, “Eight members of an Islamic militant group sawed bars off their cell windows in a high-security Lebanese prison on Tuesday, scaled down the building using blankets tied together, then […]
The verbal sparring between Hizballah and Israel has been intensifying as of late, and it seems that every week brings a new threatening exchange between the two regional rivals. According to Danny Ayalon, Israel’s deputy foreign minister: “If, God forbid, one hair falls off the head of any Israeli representative abroad, or of even an […]
A bomb exploded yesterday in Tripoli, wounding three people. According to the AFP: Three people, including a child, were wounded on Thursday when a bomb exploded in northern Lebanon, a security official said. Zein al-Alouf, 10, was seriously wounded when the bomb exploded in the mainly Alawite Jabal Mohsen area of the northern port city […]
Officials from Hizballah and Israel have been exchanging hostile words recently. Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak indicated that all of Lebanon would pay the price for any Hizballah transgressions against Israel. Hizballah representatives indicated that the guerrilla group is more than prepared for another confrontation with Israel, and is suspected of possessing over 40,000 rockets. […]
Druze leader Walid Jumblatt has announced his departure from the March 14 coalition. Jumblatt takes with him a bloc of eleven votes, which greatly dents the victory of pro-Western March 14 coalition in the June parliamentary elections. Jumblatt has stated that his bloc will not be joining the pro-Syrian March 8 bloc, but will maintain […]