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Lebanese Pilgrims Return to Beirut after Bus Bombing in Iraq

Around twenty-eight Lebanese pilgrims whose bus was targeted by a bomb blast in Iraq returned to Beirut on Wednesday aboard an Iraqi plane, the National News Agency reported.

NNA said flight number 139 from Najaf landed at Rafik Hariri International Airport at noon carrying 145 passengers on board, including two pilgrims who were injured in Monday's bombing in Samarra, 125 kilometers north of Baghdad.

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Gemayel Urges Officials to Agree on Electoral Law, Rejects Attempt to Postpone Polls

Phalange Party leader Amin Gemayel voiced hope on Wednesday that the rival parties would reach consensus over the new electoral law, rejecting attempts to thwart the upcoming 2013 parliamentary elections.

He revealed after talks with Maronite Patriarch Beshara al-Rahi at Bkirki that the March 14 opposition leaders held a meeting on Tuesday night to discuss a proposal by Speaker Nabih Berri to resume the meetings of an electoral subcommittee tasked with studying electoral draft-laws.

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Reports: STL Sets 2013 Budget at 59.9 Million Euros

The U.N. Special Tribunal for Lebanon, set to try ex-Premier Rafik Hariri's suspected assassins, has set its annual budget for 2013 at 59.9 million euros, al-Joumhouria daily quoted well informed sources as saying on Wednesday.

The STL, which is headquartered in the Dutch town of Leidschendam, informed Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon on the budget.

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Miqati, Mustaqbal Bloc Engage in Verbal Spat over Tripoli Statements

Prime Minister Najib Miqati and al-Mustaqbal parliamentary bloc were involved in a verbal duel over statements issued by the premier regarding the recent clashes in the northern city of Tripoli.

Al-Mustaqbal bloc lashed out on Tuesday in a statement after the MPs' weekly meeting at the Center House at Miqati's comments on Tripoli's events, saying that his remarks are a “political scandal serving the Syrian regime.”

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Lebanon to Retrieve Bodies of Last Three Fighters Killed in Tall Kalakh Next Week

Syrian authorities will hand over to Lebanon the bodies of the remaining three fighters who were killed in an ambush by regime troops in the town of Tall Kalakh, local newspapers reported on Wednesday.

According to As Safir newspaper, Lebanese authorities will receive the last batch of corpses during the upcoming week in the third and last round of such transfer.

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Opposition Studies Proposal by Berri for March 14 MPs to Stay at Hotel Near Parliament

Speaker Nabih Berri has suggested that March 14 opposition lawmakers, many of whom have received death threats, reside at a hotel near parliament to attend the meetings of a parliamentary subcommittee after they said they were fearing for their lives.

March 14 MP Marwan Hamadeh, who held a telephone conversation with Berri, told As Safir daily published on Wednesday that the speaker suggested that the lawmakers reside at the hotel and hold the meetings in parliament after guaranteeing enough security protection to them.

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U.N. Envoy Brahimi to Visit Lebanon as Part of Regional Tour

International peace envoy to Syria Lakhdar Brahimi is expected to visit Lebanon during his upcoming tour of the region, al-Liwaa newspaper reported on Wednesday.

Diplomatic sources told the newspaper that Brahimi will arrive in Beirut after a short visit to Egypt and Syria after President Bashar Assad sets the date for a meeting.

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U.S. Official 'Cautiously Optimistic' on EU Sanctions against Hizbullah

A U.S. State Department official has expressed a cautious optimism at prospects for a European designation of Hizbullah as a terrorist organization.

“We've been engaging with our partners in Europe, and we are cautiously optimistic about the prospects for an EU designation of the group,” the State Department’s coordinator for counterterrorism, Daniel Benjamin, said in an address at the Brookings Institution on Tuesday.

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Plumbly Visits UNIFIL, South, Stresses Security Made Possible by Implementation of Resolution 1701

United Nations Special Coordinator for Lebanon Derek Plumbly visited southern Lebanon on Tuesday where he toured part of the area along the Blue Line. He also viewed development projects and met with Lebanese local authorities.

During all his meetings, he emphasized the link between the security and stability, which was made possible in southern Lebanon by the implementation of U.N. Security Council resolution 1701 and the longer term development of the region.

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Mustaqbal to Miqati: Your Comments Tarnish Tripoli's Reputation, Serve Syrian Interests

Al-Mustaqbal bloc criticized on Tuesday Prime Minister Najib Miqati's comments on Tripoli's events, saying that his remarks are a “political scandal serving the Syrian regime”.

"They (Miqati's comments) suggest that the north is a hub for extremists and terrorists,” the bloc said in a released statement after the MPs' weekly meeting at the Center House.

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