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Report: Lebanese Authorities Questioned Brothers of 4 Hariri Murder Suspects

The brothers of four Hizbullah members indicted in ex-Premier Rafik Hariri’s assassination have informed Lebanese authorities that they don’t know the whereabouts of the suspects, pan-Arab daily al-Hayat reported on Sunday.

The newspaper said the involved Lebanese judicial and security institutions questioned in vain the brothers of Salim Ayyash, Mustafa Badreddine, Hussein Oneissi and Assad Sabra.

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Soaid Demands al-Hout to Clarify Statements about al-Fajr Brigades

March 14 General Secretariat coordinator Fares Soaid expressed surprise on Saturday over the presence of an armed branch affiliated in the Jamaa Islamiyah.

“We stress that the March 14 forces are struggling to move to the state which is the only competent side tasked with defending Lebanon,” a statement by Soaid said.

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Hizbullah Slams Ban’s Visit, Describes Feltman as ‘Messenger of Evil’

Senior Hizbullah official Mohammed Yazbek slammed on Saturday United Nations Chief Ban Ki-moon’s scheduled visit.

“Ban, (U.N. Special Envoy) Terri Rod Larson, and the messenger of evil and conspiracy’s (U.S. Assistant Secretary of State for Near Eastern Affairs) Jeffrey Feltman are unwelcomed in Lebanon,” Yazebk said.

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Al-Hout Says al-Jamaa al-Islamiyah Arms Will be used if 'National Security is under Threat'

al-Jamaa al-Islamiyah MP Imad al-Hout slammed on Saturday those who are using sedition and sectarian rhetoric to create a rift between Lebanese.

“They will not succeed in their plan,” al-Hout said during a conference in Akkar.

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Govt. Adoption of Qaida Claims May Help Syrian Regime against Int’l Community

The Lebanese government’s position from Defense Minister Fayez Ghosn’s statements that al-Qaida terrorist group had infiltrated the country may impact the Syrian regime’s position on its crisis should the issue become internationalized, reported the pan-Arab daily al-Hayat on Saturday.

Sources monitoring the crisis in Syria explained: “Should the Lebanese government adopt Ghosn’s claims, the Syrian regime would be able to portray its crisis before the international community as a dispute between terrorism and its desire to implement reform.”

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Suleiman’s Call for Dialogue Falling on Deaf Ears

President Michel Suleiman is intensifying his efforts to resume the national dialogue in order to tackle a defense strategy for Lebanon and implement the decisions that were reached on the Resistance and Palestinians’ possession of arms, reported the Kuwaiti al-Anbaa newspaper on Saturday.

His calls for dialogue have so far been ignored by the rival March 8 and 14 camps over each side’s preconditions to hold the talks, seeing as the former refuses to discuss the Resistance’s possession of weapons, while the latter insists that it should be the sole topic of discussion.

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Roed-Larsen May Propose Shifting UNIFIL from Blue Line to Syrian Border

Special Envoy for the implementation of Security Council resolution 1559 Terje Roed-Larsen may propose during his upcoming visit to Lebanon with U.N. chief Ban Ki-moon deploying the U.N. Interim Force in Lebanon along the border with Syria, reported the Kuwaiti al-Qabas newspaper on Saturday.

It explained that the Norwegian official considers such a move an attempt to further isolate the Syrian regime and limit the smuggling of arms across the Lebanese-Syrian border.

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Syrian Official: We Will Settle Score with Jumblat When Time Comes

A high-ranking Syrian security official condemned on Friday Progressive Socialist Party leader MP Walid Jumblat’s recent calls to introduce “radical change” in the Syrian regime, saying that the Druze leader has once again allied himself with former Premier Saad Hariri and Lebanese Forces chief Samir Geagea, reported the Kuwaiti Al-Seyassah newspaper on Friday.

The official said before a Lebanese Druze delegation: “When the time comes for settling scores, Jumblat will be dealt with in the same manner as Hariri and Geagea, as well as U.S. Assistant Secretary of State for Near Eastern Affairs Jeffery Feltman.”

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Ghalioun: Nasrallah's Remarks Inappropriate Coming from a Resistance Leader

Syrian National Council leader Burhan Ghalioun said Friday that Hizbullah chief Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah’s recent remarks that the Syrian opposition had presented its credentials to the West were “inappropriate coming from the leader of a resistance movement and a spiritual figure.”

In an interview on Al-Arabiya television, Ghalioun added: “Neighboring Lebanon is a real brother of Syria and it is more than a neighbor.”

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Hizbullah Blames U.S. for Damascus 'Terrorist' Blast

Hizbullah on Friday accused the United States of being behind a bombing in Damascus which official Syrian media said killed 25 people and wounded dozens more, describing Washington as a "terrorist."

"This terrorist crime targeting the heart of the Syrian capital is the second installment of a plan by the evil force, the United States, to punish Syria for standing by the Resistance against the Zionist enemy," a statement by the group said.

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