Lebanon
Latest stories
STL Public Affairs Chief Says Indictment Release Date Unchanged

The release date of the indictment in the 2005 murder of ex-PM Rafik Hariri has not changed, Special Tribunal for Lebanon Chief of Public Affairs Crispin Thorold has noted.

In an interview with Lebanese daily Sada al-Balad to be published Friday, Thorold said the U.N.-backed STL is still committed to the 6-10 weeks deadline it had announced before for the indictment to be examined by the pre-trial judge.

W140 Full Story
Harb after Meeting Gemayel: Lebanon Cannot Remain a State within a State of Illegitimate Arms

Caretaker Labor Minister Butros Harb stated on Thursday that the ongoing consultations in among the March 14 camp are aimed at devising ways to positively deal with Prime Minister-designate Najib Miqati’s proposals and confront the campaigns against the president and government in a way that would preserve Lebanon’s political system.

He said after holding talks with Phalange Party leader Amin Gemayel: “The March 14 camp is in a constant state of consultation and meetings are held away from the media spotlight in order to maintain its unified position from the government.”

W140 Full Story
ISF Arrests Lebanon’s Most Wanted Individual at Baroud’s Orders

Security forces succeeded on Thursday in arresting Abbas Abu Munthir Tleis, Lebanon’s most wanted individual in a raid in the Brital region in the Bekaa.

Internal Security Forces chief Ashraf Rifi stated that the raid took place at Caretaker Interior Minister Ziad Baroud’s orders.

Full Story
Israel: Barak and Gantz’s Visit to North Attempt to Calm Border Situation

Israel’s Channel 1 reported on Thursday that Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak and Chief of Staff Benny Gantz’s recent visit to the Lebanese-Israeli border was part of efforts to calm the situation on Israel’s northern border.

It said: “Such a visit by the minister and chief of staff less than 24 hours from his appointment to his position is supposed to deliver a very clear and strong message to Hizbullah that we are here and don’t tamper with our nerves.”

W140 Full Story
Suleiman Responds to Barak: Entering Lebanon No Longer Walk in the Park

President Michel Suleiman condemned on Thursday Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak’s recent threat against Lebanon, saying that it was a violation of international law and U.N. Security Council resolution 1701.

The president said that the threat was aimed at lifting the Israeli army and the new Israeli chief of staff’s morale “because he knows full well that entering Lebanon is no loner a walk in the park as demonstrated by the July 2006 war.”

W140 Full Story
France Committed to Stability along Blue Line and Respecting Resolution 1701

French Foreign Ministry spokesman Bernard Valero stressed on Wednesday his country’s commitment to stability and the ceasefire along the Blue Line.

Commenting on Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak’s recent threats against Lebanon, he said: “France is committed to stability and respecting U.N. Security Council resolution 1701 that calls for a ceasefire between Lebanon and Israel.”

W140 Full Story
Shammas Says Companies Won’t Receive Fuel Tomorrow, Brax Warns of Black Market

Energy Minister Jebran Bassil refrained on Wednesday from signing the weekly fuel price list “in an attempt to lower the prices of fuel.”

Meanwhile, fuel importing companies were unable to designate the weekly price and halt the losses that they are incurring as a result of the stabilization of the prices.

W140 Full Story
Washington Monitoring Banks that Hizbullah 'is Hiding behind'

An American official stressed that slain former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri had “long protected Lebanon’s bank sector from attempts to impose sanctions on it.”

He told the Kuwaiti al-Rai newspaper in remarks published on Thursday that Hariri used to justify his position by informing the Americans that “Lebanon’s stability depends on its bank sector that survived the long years of the Lebanese civil war.”

W140 Full Story
Miqati Continues Consultations with All Parties and Prepares 2 Draft Cabinet Line-ups

Prime Minister-designate Najib Miqati is reportedly preparing two draft cabinet line-ups – one includes March 14 ministers along with the Hizbullah-led alliance and the other is only made up of March 8 figures.

Miqati visited President Michel Suleiman on Tuesday night and informed him about his consultations with the different parties on the formation of the cabinet.

W140 Full Story
WikiLeaks: U.S. Suspects Hizbullah Presence in Chile

Leaked U.S. embassy cables carry U.S. suspicions that Hizbullah raised funds and maintained contacts among Chile's small community of Islamic fundamentalists.

An unclassified embassy cable dated February 27, 2006, and released Tuesday by WikiLeaks, said a "radical fundamentalist presence" was centered in the northern city of Iquique, and to a lesser degree in Santiago.

Full Story