Lebanese lawyers representing Syrian refugees in northern Lebanon filed a lawsuit to the first chief prosecutor of the Hague-based International Criminal Court (ICC) Luis Moreno-Ocampo against Syrian President Bashar Assad, the Kuwaiti al-Anba newspaper reported on Thursday.
The refugees accused Assad, who is the supreme commander of the Syrian Army and armed forces, and his accomplices of committing “murders, war crimes, genocides and crimes against humanity” in Syria since the March 2010 uprising against the regime.
Full StoryProgressive Socialist Party leader Walid Jumblat rejected a proposal made by Speaker Nabih Berri to consider Lebanon a single electoral district in a proportional representation law that would be adopted in the upcoming parliamentary elections and lead to the establishment of a senate.
“Honestly, I am not excited for a senate now because if we want to implement the Taef Accord literally then the formation of the senate is linked to the abolishment of political confessionalism which I don’t think is appropriate for the time being,” Jumblat told As Safir daily published Thursday.
Full StoryPrime Minister Najib Miqati denied on Thursday that a meeting was held with Tripoli MPs and cabinet ministers to tackle the crisis gripping the northern city’s municipal council.
According to a statement issued by his press office Miqati said: “The report is completely inaccurate.”
Full StoryPresident Michel Suleiman expressed confidence on Thursday that the parties rejecting proportional representation in the parliamentary elections will eventually support it.
“Those publically standing against proportionality today will be with it in the future,” Suleiman told As Safir daily about al-Mustaqbal movement leader ex-PM Saad Hariri and Progressive Socialist Party chief Walid Jumblat.
Full StoryA Hizbullah commander accused of targeting U.S. soldiers in Iraq may be released from prison within weeks, his lawyer predicted, claiming that flimsy American evidence has kept his client behind bars for nearly five years.
The case has been a thorn in diplomatic relations between Baghdad and Washington since the American military pullout last December.
Full StoryTen vehicles belonging to the team of U.N. observers overseeing Syria’s shaky ceasefire arrived at the Beirut Rafik Hariri International Airport on Wednesday.
“Over the past hours, a private Italian jet landed at the Beirut Rafik Hariri International Airport carrying a Land Cruiser SUV. It was followed by three other planes coming from the Czech Republic and carrying nine vehicles belonging to the U.N. observers in Syria,” Lebanon’s state-run National News Agency reported.
Full StoryThe evening round on the second day of parliamentary debate on the government’s policies was rife with harsh criticism from the opposition and calls for better performance from the ruling camp, amid several verbal clashes over Hizbullah’s controversial arsenal of weapons.
MP Hassan Fadlallah, member of Hizbullah’s Loyalty to Resistance bloc, snapped back at the rival March 14 camp over accusations that his party had notably remained silent over the recent controversial release of Brig. Gen. Fayez Karam from prison, less than two years after he was convicted of collaborating with Israel.
Full StoryThe Appeals Chamber of the U.N.-backed Special Tribunal for Lebanon has ruled in a decision issued Wednesday that only relevant documents that may explain why former General Security chief Maj. Gen. Jamil Sayyed was detained or why he should have been released must be disclosed by the Prosecutor, the STL announced.
“The Judges directed that the relevant documents should be disclosed by 18 May at the latest. They also decided that the Prosecutor does not need to hand over exact copies of previously disclosed documents,” the STL said.
Full StoryThe remains of five corpses, likely to belong to Syrian soldiers, were found in the Jezzine town of Kfarhouna on Wednesday, reported Voice of Lebanon radio.
It said that the soldiers were probably killed during Israel’s 1982 invasion of Lebanon.
Full StoryEconomy Minister Nicolas Nahhas announced on Wednesday that the Bakeries Union has decided to call off its strike that was scheduled for Thursday.
He said during a press conference that the strike was cancelled after an agreement was reached to subsidize flour with LL70,000, meaning that the bakeries will receive a ton of flour at the cost of LL440,000 instead of LL510,000.
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