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Saudi Court Rejects Death for Lebanese 'Sorcerer'

Saudi Arabia's high court has rejected the execution sentence of a Lebanese man convicted of sorcery and recommended that he be deported after a new trial, a newspaper reported Thursday.

The Supreme Court in Riyadh said that the death sentence for Ali Sabat was not warranted because he had not harmed anyone and had no prior offences in the country, Okaz said.

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Hariri Denies Receiving Phone Call from Feltman and Statements Attributed to him on Extremists

Prime Minister Saad Hariri denied on Thursday that he received a phone call from U.S. Assistant Secretary of State for Near Eastern Affairs Jeffrey Feltman during Wednesday's Cabinet session.

Hariri's Press Office stressed in a statement that this information is fabricated, incorrect, and baseless.

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Hbeish: Nahhas' Statements Pave Way for Future Assassinations

Mustaqbal MP Hadi Hbeish criticized on Thursday Telecommunications Minister Charbel Nahhas' statements that the Mustaqbal movement is being pressured by Israel.

He told ANB television: "Such statements are treasonous and are a direct threat that would lead to future assassinations."

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Williams after meeting Sfeir: U.N. Worried about Tensions in Lebanon

U.N. Special Coordinator for Lebanon Michael Williams on Thursday said the United Nations was worried about tensions in Lebanon.

He made his remarks after meeting Maronite Patriarch Nasrallah Sfeir in Bkirki.

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Clinton, Abul Gheit Won't Tolerate Attempts to Undermine STL

U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton on Wednesday reiterated Washington's support for the Special Tribunal for Lebanon, stressing that attempts at weakening the tribunal will not be tolerated.

Clinton said, on her behalf and on behalf of her Egyptian counterpart Ahmed Abul Gheit at a joint news conference in Washington, that they condemn any attempts at obstructing STL's work.

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Cabinet Postpones Discussing 'False Witnesses' Until after Eid al-Adha

A consensus on postponing the thorny issue of "false witnesses" until after the Eid al-Adha holiday was reached during Wednesday's cabinet session, "after each side stated its point of view," Information Minister Tareq Mitri said after the session.

Mitri quoted President Michel Suleiman as saying that "there is no use of putting the issue -- of referring the false witnesses issue to the Judicial Council -- to the vote of the cabinet."

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Jumblat Reiterates Support for Syria: Press Leaks Confirm STL's Politicization

Upon his return from Damascus, Progressive Socialist Party leader MP Walid Jumblat on Wednesday said that his point of view intersected with that of the Syrian leadership regarding the importance of making the most of the Syrian-Saudi rapprochement "through preserving the national unity government and enabling it to face the major challenges."

In a statement issued by PSP's Media Department, Jumblat noted the need to "be alert of the continuing Western efforts to disrupt this Saudi-Syrian rapprochement by sending Western delegates to Lebanon and by adhering to the STL without the slightest regard to stability."

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Rifi Says 16 Arab States Contest Syrian Arrest Warrants

Representatives of 16 Arab states meeting in Doha for an Interpol general assembly have contested the validity of 33 Syrian arrest warrants mostly against Lebanese, Lebanon's police chief said Wednesday.

"I was the target of one of these arrest warrants, and I raised the issue at this meeting," Major General Ashraf Rifi, leading the Lebanese delegation in Doha, told Agence France Presse.

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Connelly Hands Over Nuclear-Radiological Materials Detection System to Lebanese Customs

U.S. Ambassador to Lebanon Maura Connelly on Wednesday attended the official hand-over ceremony of the Lebanon Megaports project to the Lebanese government.

"Sponsored by the National Nuclear Security Administration at the U.S. Department of Energy, the Megaports Initiative seeks to deter, detect, and interdict illicitly trafficked nuclear and radiological materials by deploying fixed, mobile and handheld detection equipment," according to a communiqué issued by the U.S. Embassy in Beirut.

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Loyalty to Resistance: Media Leaks on Indictment Confirm its Politicization

The Loyalty to the Resistance bloc noted on Wednesday that the media leaks over the indictment in the investigation into the assassination of former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri confirm without a doubt that it is politicized.

It said after its weekly meeting that the politicization of the indictment is aimed at achieving Israeli interests and those of the international powers supporting its plans against Palestine, Lebanon, and the region.

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