Spotlight
Labor Minister Butros Harb on Friday suggested the Syrian judiciary to refer the file of a lawsuit filed by Maj. Gen. Jamil Sayyed against Lebanese politicians and other figures to the Lebanese judiciary to prosecute them if they were found guilty.
After the release of the indictment by the Lebanese judge, the file would be referred to cabinet to have the final say, Harb said.
Full StoryFree Patriotic Movement official Fayez Karam has reportedly confessed to meeting with Israeli officials in Paris and to providing Israel with Aoun-Hizbullah meetings.
While pan-Arab newspaper Al-Hayat cited well-informed sources as saying that Karam maintained contact with Israeli officers via telephone after his return to Lebanon, Asharq al-Awsat said the retired army general had been providing Israel with outcome of Aoun's meetings with Hizbullah.
Full StoryMustaqbal Movement official Mustafa Alloush on Friday said there is a tendency toward "cutting down threats" and wait for indictments to be issued by the Special Tribunal for Lebanon.
"There is a tendency to cut down threats that prevailed over the past several months and wait for issuance of the indictment," Alloush told the Voice of Lebanon radio station.
Full StoryUnknown assailants tossed two Molotov bombs early Friday in Dekwaneh and Borj Hammoud, inflicting material damage.
Local media said the first bomb targeted a shoe factory in Dekwaneh, shattering the show window.
Full StoryA Syrian-Saudi initiative aimed at finding a solution to the Lebanese crisis waits for a signal from Saudi King Abdullah, As-Safir newspaper reported Friday.
It cited a source who followed up on a visit to Paris by Syrian President Bashar Assad.
Full StoryJustice Minister Ibrahim Najjar on Friday said the solution to false witnesses is to allow the ordinary Lebanese judicial authority to deal with the issue.
"Had the judicial power launch an investigation we would have achieved a major breakthrough by now," Najjar told the Voice of Lebanon radio station.
Full StoryDeputy Russian Foreign Minister Alexander Sultanov is to visit Lebanon on Saturday for political talks with Lebanese officials, Ad-Diyar newspaper reported.
It quoted a source at the Russian embassy as saying that Sultanov will meet with President Michel Suleiman, Speaker Nabih Berri and Prime Minister Saad Hariri.
Full StoryPolice chief Maj. Gen. Ashraf Rifi commented on the indictment issued against retired Army Brig. Gen. Fayez Karam, accusing him of spying for Israel.
"I was confident that head of the Change and Reform bloc Gen. Michel Aoun, who launched a malicious campaign against security officers … would not win this battle," Rifi said in remarks published Friday by Ad-Diyar newspaper.
Full StoryFree Patriotic Movement leader Michel Aoun said the "abnormal situation we are in cannot remain like this."
His remarks came in an interview with OTV.
Full StoryIf the Special Tribunal for Lebanon indicts several Hizbullah members, the Shiite group could use an escalation against Israel to divert the political storm, the Israeli newspaper Haaretz wrote.
It said it is not clear in which direction Lebanon is heading: Is it a country on the verge of collapse? Is it heading toward a civil war? A war against Israel? Or is it just facing another political crisis that too will pass?
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