Lebanon
Latest stories
One Person Wounded as Syrian Forces Open Fire at Skiers in Mount Hermon

A Lebanese man was wounded on Monday when Syrian troops opened fire at skiers in Mount Hermon in the Rashayya district, reported the National News Agency.

It said that Antoine al-Hajj was shot in the shoulder, while three of his companions were left unhurt in the incident.

W140 Full Story
Army Detains Iraqi Woman Linked to Abduction of Two Saudis

The Lebanese army announced on Monday that an Iraqi woman, who was a complicit in the kidnapping of two Saudi nationals in Lebanon, was detained.

“The army intelligence bureau arrested Batoul Darwish Habib al-Mansouri, who confessed to luring (the Saudis) into an apartment in Doha al-Hoss (in southern Beirut) to financially blackmail them,” said a communique issued by the army.

W140 Full Story
Hariri Denies Reports of his Return to Lebanon

Former Prime Minister Saad Hariri denied on Monday a report in al-Akhbar newspaper that he is planning on returning to Lebanon.

He said via Twitter: “If this newspaper published the report, then it is definitely a lie.”

W140 Full Story
Israel Starts Building Wall along Lebanese Border

The Israeli military on Monday began building a wall that will run several kilometers along part of its border with Lebanon, a military spokeswoman told Agence France Presse.

"This construction, which began on Monday, is being carried out in coordination with UNIFIL (the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon) and the Lebanese army. The wall is intended to avoid frictions on the border," she said.

W140 Full Story
Strugar Denies UNIFIL Role in Syria, Stresses Cooperation with Lebanese Army

United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon Director of Political and Civil Affairs Milos Strugar said on Monday that the strategic dialogue with the Lebanese army is essential, denying any role for the UNIFIL in Syria.

“Dialogue is essential not only to boost the army’s abilities but to also enable it to progress towards a permanent ceasefire,” Strugar told As Safir newspaper in an interview.

W140 Full Story
Youth Kills Father after Opening Celebratory Gunfire in Bekaa

A man was accidentally shot after his son opened celebratory gunfire during a wedding in the town of Saadnayel in the eastern Bekaa valley, the National News Agency reported Monday.

NNA said 52-year-old Said al-Qassab, known as al-Badri, died at dawn at the Lebanese-French hospital, a day after he was injured in the incident.

W140 Full Story
Safadi Says Funding Crisis Became ‘Heavy Burden’ on March 8

Finance Minister Mohammed Safadi warned on Monday that the extra-budgetary spending has become a “heavy burden” on the ruling March 8 majority.

“Each spending made currently is illegal,” he said in reference to the law, which says that the government can’t allocate funds that exceed the last state budget of 2005.

W140 Full Story
Report: Growing Differences Led to Virtual Dispute between Suleiman and Aoun

The latest virtual dispute between President Michel Suleiman and Free Patriotic Movement chief MP Michel Aoun was the result of growing differences on the appointments of civil servants and the pressure exerted on the president to sign a $5.9 billion extra-budgetary spending bill, an informed source said.

Suleiman and Aoun accused each other of being political beggars after the FPM leader rejected a consensual president and said on his party’s Facebook page that the future president should lead a parliamentary bloc rather than beg at the door of some ministers.

W140 Full Story
Former Chief Investigator Confirms Concrete Evidence in Hariri Murder

Former chief U.N. investigator Nick Kaldas stressed that there is solid evidence and concrete facts in the assassination case of former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri.

The STL “isn’t politicized and the case is based on concrete evidence,” Kaldas told An Nahar newspaper on Monday.

W140 Full Story
Berri Hints Early Electoral Battle Aimed at Preventing the Cabinet to Work

Speaker Nabih Berri has hinted that some Lebanese political parties have launched their electoral campaigns a year before the scheduled polls to prevent the government from functioning.

“It would be better to close the file of the elections now and take care of the people’s needs,” As Safir daily quoted Berri as telling his visitors.

W140 Full Story