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Security Forces Liberate Hostages after New Roumieh Mutiny

Army and police commandos on Thursday managed to contain a new mutiny by inmates in Lebanon's notorious main prison of Roumieh, less than two days after quelling similar four-day riots at the same jail.

Around 4:00 p.m. Thursday, prisoners at Roumieh's bloc D took two policemen and three workers hostage, prompting security forces to launch an operation to liberate them.

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Hizbullah Hits Back at Hariri: His Stances are in Line with U.S. Plot to Sow Discord among Region States

Hizbullah snapped back Thursday at caretaker premier Saad Hariri, who earlier in the day accused Tehran of trying to turn Lebanon and Gulf states into Iranian protectorates.

Hariri’s “provocative stances sincerely echoed U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates’ latest remarks about the Iranian role in the region,” read a statement released by Hizbullah's media relations department.

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Qassem: March 14 Wants Lebanon a ‘Farm’, Not a State

Hizbullah deputy chief Sheikh Naim Qassem on Thursday noted that his party has achieved “great, significant accomplishments” through the “army-people-Resistance equation.”

These accomplishments are “the humiliating Israeli pullout (from South Lebanon) in 2000, the grand victory in July 2006 in the face of the Israeli war on Lebanon … and the participation in a national unity cabinet that aims to prevent civil strife,” said Qassem.

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U.S. Embassy Convoy Attacked Again in Sidon

U.S. embassy officials visiting south Lebanon Thursday were attacked, but unhurt, by residents accusing them of being "Israeli conspirators," in the second such incident in a week, an Agence France Presse correspondent said.

Around 60 supporters of leftist groups gathered outside a government office in the port city of Sidon and pelted an embassy convoy with stones as it drove by, with some shouting "Americans, Israeli conspirators, in our government offices."

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Stalemate in Lebanon amid Arab Uprisings, Analysis

As popular revolts continue to shake the Arab world, the political stalemate in Lebanon is unlikely to end soon because key players Syria and Saudi Arabia are busy on other fronts, analysts say.

"The situation is very tense in the region and everyone is waiting to see how the political landscape is going to change," said Hilal Khashan, political science professor at the American University of Beirut.

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French Army Saves Lebanese Expats in Abidjan

"We saw a helicopter in the sky, we called for help and the soldiers picked us up" in Ivory Coast's embattled economic capital Abidjan, a rescued Lebanese woman said after being flown to Senegal.

The woman, who declined to give her name, said that she and seven rescued members of her family had been trapped by heavy fighting and also at the mercy of looters.

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AMAL Responds to WikiLeaks: Claims are Part of Conspiratorial Political Campaign against Party, Berri

The AMAL party condemned on Thursday the recent WikiLeaks report that focused on a meeting between party leader Speaker Nabih Berri and former U.S. Ambassador to Lebanon Jeffrey Feltman, which it said was part of a “political campaign aimed at eliminating AMAL and tarnishing it reputation.”

The cable is part of a conspiratorial political plan that has failed before and will fail again, the party said in a statement.

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Suleiman Discusses Prison File with Najjar, Rifi: Prisons Will Be Priority for New Government

President Michel Suleiman stressed on Thursday that the prison file will be a priority for the new government where it will implement “radical solutions to its chronic problems.”

He made his statements during a meeting with caretaker Justice Minister Ibrahim Najjar, Internal Security Forces chief Ashraf Rifi, and acting gendarmerie chief Salah Jebran on the prison file.

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Hariri Orders Formation of Committee to Aid Lebanese Expatriates in Ivory Coast

Caretaker Prime Minister Saad Hariri ordered the formation of a committee to support and aid the Lebanese expatriates in the Ivory Coast based on recommendations of the Higher Relief Commission’s latest meeting.

The committee will be place a plan to help evacuate expatriates seeking to flee the African country, as well as provide their basic needs through the cooperation of ministries, public administrations, security forces, and the Lebanese Embassy in the Ivory Coast.

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Geagea: Magical Equation of Army-People-Resistance Does Not Exist

Lebanese Forces leader Samir Geagea criticized on Thursday the equation of the army-people-Resistance, saying that the idea of a state and Resistance cannot exist at the same time.

He stated: “The other camp’s statements indicate that their idea of a nation is the resistance, while the nation we are seeking to establish is insignificant to them.”

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