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Report: Youssef Didn’t Hand Over Telecom Building Keys to Qahwaji

Sources close to Caretaker Prime Minister Saad Hariri denied that OGERO Telecom Director General Abdul Monhem Youssef had handed over to Army Chief Gen. Jean Qahwaji the magnetic cards of the controversial second floor of a building affiliated with the telecommunications ministry in Beirut’s Adliyeh area.

The sources told al-Akhbar daily that Qahwaji didn’t request to be delivered the keys during his meeting with Youssef on Wednesday. They noted that the meeting was limited to “exchanging points of view.”

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Fate of Central Bank Governor Lies in Hand of Indecisive Stances

The stance of President Michel Suleiman on how to renew the mandate of Central Bank governor Riyad Salameh is not clear yet as some sources say that he prefers the adoption of “mobile draft-laws” while others claim that the head of state favors a cabinet session.

Sources close to Suleiman told As Safir daily on Friday that he rejects the adoption of the so-called mobile draft-laws and prefers “a consensual cabinet session” to only settle the crisis of the Central Bank governor if a new government was not formed.

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ISF Seizes Documents, PCs from ‘Muslims Without Borders’ in Bekaa

The Internal Security Forces Intelligence Branch has seized documents and computers from the offices of “Muslims Without Borders” near the town of al-Marj in the Central Bekaa.

The raid took place on Thursday afternoon after the ISF summoned several activists from the movement at the Intelligence Bureau headquarters in Beirut.

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Ex-Mossad Chief: Attack on Tehran Will Drag Hizbullah, Syria into War

Former Mossad Chief Meir Dagan warned Israel against any military attack on Iran, stressing that any regional conflict with Tehran might drag Hizbullah and Syria into war.

During a conference at the Tel Aviv University Dagan said that a strike on Iran’s nuclear facilities should only be considered as the last resort and after all other means and methods have been exhausted.

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March 8 Forces are Highly Optimistic but Miqati Denies Deal

Premier-designate Najib Miqati has denied reports that a deal was reached to end the cabinet deadlock, saying he was still waiting for parliamentary blocs to provide him with the names of their candidates for the government seats.

“I haven’t been informed about anything,” Miqati told al-Akhbar daily in remarks published Friday.

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Jumblat Meets Gemayel Amid Efforts to Expand Centrist Forces

Progressive Socialist Party leader Walid Jumblat is reportedly exerting efforts to expand the “centrist” bloc in the country that mainly includes President Michel Suleiman and Premier-designate Najib Miqati and Jumblat.

An Nahar newspaper reported that the PSP leader invited Phalange party leader Amin Gemayel to dinner at his residence in Clemenceau on Thursday in his ongoing efforts to expand the “centrist force” in the country.

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Kfarkila Fence Boosted, Israeli Army Ordered to 'Act Firmly'

Israeli soldiers on Thursday put up new barbed wire on the border with Lebanon, three days ahead of a planned Palestinian march, a Lebanese security official said.

An Agence France Presse journalist at the scene saw the soldiers adding the wire on top of a fence already in place in the Adaisseh-Kfarkila sector facing the Israeli town of Metulla.

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Berri, March 14 MPs Bicker over June 8 Session

Deputy Speaker Farid Makari and some members of the Parliament Bureau Committee, MP Ahmed Fatfat, Marwan Hamadeh, Antoine Zahra, and Serge Toursakissian condemned on Thursday Speaker Nabih Berri’s decision to hold a parliament session on June 8, labeling it as “a blow to democratic parliamentary practices in Lebanon.”

They said in a statement: “His decision violates the privileges of the committee and parliament’s internal system in that he devised next week’s schedule by himself.”

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Williams: UNIFIL Attack Highlights Need to Form Govt

U.N. Special Coordinator for Lebanon Michael Williams stressed on Thursday the urgent need to form a cabinet that can address challenges at the security level.

“Incidents such as the attack on UNIFIL highlight the urgent need for a government in Lebanon that can address challenges at the security level,” Williams said about the roadside bomb that targeted U.N. peacekeepers in the south last Friday.

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WikiLeaks: Syria Likely behind Gebran Tueni’s Assassination

Syria was likely behind the assassination of MP Gebran Tueni in 2005, which was aimed at silencing his caustic remarks against the regime of President Bashar Assad, stated a leaked U.S. Embassy cable dated December 19, 2005, published exclusively in al-Jumhuriya newspaper on Wednesday.

The WikiLeaks cable added that the assassination was also a message to the Lebanese opposition that “no one can protect them.”

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