Lebanon
Latest stories
Safadi Seeks World Financial Support, Says ‘Cabinet Not Controlled by Hizbullah’

Finance Minister Mohammed al-Safadi sent a message to senior officials during his visit to Washington that the current Lebanese cabinet isn’t controlled by Hizbullah and “will never be Hizbullah’s government,” As Safir newspaper reported on Monday.

Safadi held meetings on Sunday with U.S. Assistant Secretary for International Finance Charles Collyns, International Monetary Fund chief Christine Lagarde, World Bank head Robert Zoellick and Saudi Arabia's Finance Minister Ibrahim al-Assaf.

W140 Full Story
Ban Concerned Over Oil Dispute, Urges Lebanon to Start Exploration

U.N. chief Ban Ki-moon has expressed concern over Lebanese accusations about Israel’s encroachment on Lebanese waters, saying that any unilateral action would harm all countries in the region, a U.N. source said.

The source told An Nahar daily published Monday that Ban told President Michel Suleiman during his visit to New York last week that the U.N. can play a role in the delineation of Lebanon’s maritime borders under a Security Council resolution.

W140 Full Story
Report: U.S. Not Seeking to Cancel al-Rahi’s Entry Visa

The State Department does not intend to cancel Maronite Patriarch Beshara al-Rahi’s entry visa to the U.S. over his controversial statements on Hizbullah’s weapons and Syria, As Safir daily reported Monday.

The report came after Ad-Diyar newspaper said Sunday that the Department might cancel the visa to snub al-Rahi for linking the fate of Hizbullah’s arms to the liberation of the remaining occupied Lebanese territories and for saying that Syrian President Bashar Assad should be given the chance to introduce reform.

W140 Full Story
Saudi King Reiterates Support for Lebanon's 'Unity, Stability'

Saudi Arabia remains committed to Lebanon’s “security, unity, Arab identity and stability,” Saudi King Abdullah bin Abdul Aziz al-Saud stressed Sunday.

“Our tours and visits to some Arab capitals last year were aimed at bridging differences … and the kingdom’s efforts were focused on preserving civil peace in Lebanon, which we still support its security, unity, Arab identity and stability,” the king said in a statement addressed to the Saudi Shoura Council, which also tackled other domestic and Arab affairs.

W140 Full Story
Charbel: I'll Oppose Resistance Arms if Army Becomes Well-equipped

Interior Minister Marwan Charbel on Sunday said “Hizbullah’s arms won’t be a problem anymore if we lay out a (national) defense strategy.”

In an interview with Radio Orient, Charbel added that Lebanon could benefit from these weapons within the framework of such a strategy.

W140 Full Story
'Hizbullah Commander' Arrested in Iraq Could Get Military Tribunal in U.S.

The Obama administration is considering a military trial in the United States for a Hizbullah commander now detained in Iraq, U.S. counterterrorism officials said, previewing a potential prosecution strategy that has failed before but may offer a solution to a difficult legal problem for the government.

While the U.S. hasn't made a decision, officials said a tribunal at a U.S. military base may be the best way to deal with Ali Mussa Daqduq, who was captured in Iraq in 2007. He has been linked to the Iranian government and a brazen raid in which four American soldiers were abducted and killed in the Iraqi holy city of Karbala in 2007.

W140 Full Story
Bride Kidnapped, Groom Assaulted on their Way to Hotel in Bekaa

Three unknown assailants have assaulted a groom and briefly kidnapped his bride in eastern Lebanon’s Bekaa Valley, the National News Agency reported Sunday.

NNA said that around 3:00 am three men riding a Mercedes assaulted the newlyweds, who were heading in their Kia to Monte Alberto Hotel in Dhour Zahle to spend their honeymoon there.

W140 Full Story
Miqati in New York: Lebanon's Interest Lies in Respecting U.N. Resolutions

Lebanon’s interest lies in “respecting U.N. resolutions and avoiding selectivity in their implementation,” Premier Najib Miqati said in New York, where he arrived Sunday for a several-day visit during which he would chair Security Council meetings and hold talks with top U.N. officials, including Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon.

“We must regard Lebanon’s interest as a priority and I don’t believe that any faithful Lebanese can be against their country’s interest,” Miqati added, when asked by reporters about the U.N.-backed Special Tribunal for Lebanon.

W140 Full Story
Al-Rahi: Lebanon Can’t Overstep Security Council

Maronite Patriarch Beshara, who is on a three-day tour to the South, said Sunday that Lebanon cannot overstep the U.N. and the Security Council, in reference to resolutions issued by the world body.

In his sermon at the Sayyida church in Hasbaya, al-Rahi said: “Lebanon is going through a difficult and sensitive stage.”

W140 Full Story
Lebanese in North Lose Source of Income Over Syria Crisis

The Buqayaa smugglers' market on Lebanon's border with Syria, once a hive of shoppers, has become a ghost street since the uprising there, with most shops closed and not a customer in sight.

The once flourishing smuggling operations that supplied the souk have all but halted as Syria boosts security at the border as part of its crackdown on more than six months of anti-regime protests, in which thousands of Syrians have fled violence at home to seek refuge in Lebanon.

W140 Full Story