From the New York Times: The chief of United Nations peacekeeping forces, Alain Le Roy, has told the Security Council that a series of explosions in southern Lebanon on July 14 most likely came from an illegal Hezbollah arms cache. He gave a speech behind closed doors on Thursday, and reporters obtained copies on Friday. […]
The Lebanese government has charged 17 people in a plot to harm UN peacekeepers stationed in the southern part of the country. So far, ten people have been arrested and the other seven, including the groups alleged leader, were charged in absentia. The group, reportedly made up of people from Lebanese, Syrian and Palestinian origins, […]
Earlier this week, there was a large explosion in southern Lebanon about 10 km from the Israeli border. UNIFIL officials said that the blast was likely from a Hizballah weapons deposit and could constitute a breach of UNSC resolution 1701 which ended the 2006 War between Hizballah and Israel. This week marks the three year […]
This Sunday will mark the third anniversary of the start if the 2006 War between Israel and Lebanon, and it’s still unclear what was accomplished. Lebanon suffered tremendous damages, both economically and in terms of lives lost. Israel didn’t suffer nearly the same damages, but the brief war tarnished the image of the IDF as […]
Saudi King Abdullah and Syrian President Bashar Assad are expected to meet Monday in Damascus to discuss regional affairs. The two nations are rivals in the Middle East and are often at odds with each other. Last week Saudi Arabia sent two lower level envoys, including the King’s son Prince Abdul Aziz, to Syria with […]
It has been nearly three weeks since the Lebanese parliamentary elections, and the current climate of cooperation and reconciliation is cause for optimism. The highly contentious June 7 elections pitted Amal and Hizballah, along with General Aoun’s Christian Free Patriotic Movement bloc against the Saad Hariri-led March 14 coalition composed of Sunni, Christian, and Druze […]
Breaking news: Beirut – Lebanon charged five people on Wednesday on charges of planning to murder Libya’s prime minister to avenge the 1978 disappearance of a Shi’ite spiritual leader, a judicial official said. The defendants, three Lebanese, one Libyan and a Palestinian, are accused of planning to send a booby-trapped package to Libyan Prime Minister […]
Hizballah leader Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah met Thursday night with Druze leader Walid Jumblatt to discuss the aftermath of the June 7 parliamentary elections. The apparent Shiite/Druze reconciliation comes nearly two weeks after Hizballah’s March 8 block failed to win a majority in parliament. Hizballah candidates had a solid showings in their districts, however, and its […]
Within one week of each other Iran and Lebanon held national elections, the outcomes of which could not be more different. In volatile Lebanon, the chance for trouble before, during, and after the polling was high. With so many religious sects, ethnicities, and political parties, as well as its recent history of violence between them, […]
The votes have been counted, the results have been reported, and the triumphant victory speeches have been delivered. Now the real work begins. As the pro-March 14 celebrations are dying down around Lebanon- as well as Washington and Riyadh- the nation’s politicians are gearing up for the next battle. Saad Hariri and his Sunni and […]
Not about Lebanon, but regionally relevant and interesting: From Stratfor By George Friedman June 8, 2009 Amid the rhetoric of U.S. President Barack Obama’s speech June 4 in Cairo, there was one substantial indication of change, not in the U.S. relationship to the Islamic world but in the U.S. relationship to Israel. This shift actually […]
Two days have passed since Lebanon’s parliamentary elections, and everything is still all quiet on the Middle Eastern front. The Western-backed March 14 coalition retained a majority in Lebanon’s 128 seat parliament. Both Hizballah and its Shia ally Amal had strong showings in their districts, but it was not enough to put its March 8 […]
Hizballah has reportedly been meeting with IMF officials before the June 7 polls to make sure that Lebanon will continue receive IMF support in the event of a Hizballah win. IMF officials have confirmed the report. The Hizballah-led opposition (to the Western-backed March 14 coalition) is considered by many to be favored in their effort […]
It has been five days since the release of the Spiegel magazine article claiming Hizballah was responsible for the assassination of Rafik Hariri in 2005. So far the streets of Beirut are still quiet, save for the occasional gunshots and fireworks that go off after a speech. But this calm might not necessarily reflect what […]
German news website Spiegel Online is reporting, according to “sources close to the tribunal”, that Hizballah was behind Rafik Hariri’s 2005 assassination. Until recently, Syria was thought to be responsible for the murder, which also claimed the lives of 22 others. The new allegations come just two weeks before the Lebanese parliamentary elections. It is […]