The political aides to Hizbullah chief Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah and Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri reportedly returned from Damascus with no new developments.
Al-Liwaa daily on Friday said Hizbullah's Hussein Khalil and Berri's Ali Hasan Khalil headed back home late Thursday after meeting Syrian Foreign Minister Walid Muallem in an effort to help find a settlement to the ongoing Lebanon crisis.
Full StoryIran's ambassador to Lebanon Ghazanfar Rokn Abadi announced that a breakthrough in the Lebanon crisis is likely to be reached soon, stressing that there is no need to fear.
"Efforts to reach a compromise deal will achieve a breakthrough," he said in remarks published Friday by AL-Liwaa newspaper, adding that Prime Minister Hariri Saad Hariri's Tehran visit was "very successful" at all levels -- political, economic and social development.
Full StoryDefense Minister Elias Murr was reportedly giving U.S. diplomats advice to pass on to Israel for any Israeli attack on Hizbullah, the Los Angeles Times quoted a leaked WikiLeaks cable as saying.
Murr has dismissed the cables as "incomplete and inaccurate."
Full StoryFrance and Saudi Arabia were on Friday reportedly engaged in efforts to reach a settlement ahead of issuance of the indictment in the murder case of former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri.
Pan-Arab Asharq al-Awsat newspaper quoted Hizbullah sources as saying that while the U.S. was seeking issuance of the indictment before Dec. 15, Paris and Riyadh were trying to delay the decision by the Special Tribunal for Lebanon.
Full StoryLoyalty to the Resistance bloc MP Mohammed Raad has called for serious efforts to help the regional Saudi-Syrian initiative on Lebanon to succeed.
In remarks to As Safir newspaper, Raad said: “At a time when the Saudi-Syrian initiative is becoming more active to settle the crisis, this stage requires serious efforts to help the regional effort.”
Full StoryU.S. Permanent Representative to the United Nations Susan Rice has stressed that the Special Tribunal for Lebanon should not be compromised on.
Rice said it was important to remember that the Lebanese government and the people are the ones who asked for the establishment of the tribunal.
Full StoryMaronite Patriarch Nasrallah Sfeir hoped on Thursday that President Michel Suleiman would succeed in his efforts to relaunch national dialogue sessions.
“Lebanon is a small country dogged by crises … This small country is influenced by its neighbors that’s why its citizens are always worried,” Sfeir told a delegatiion from the Antonine University in Baabda.
Full StoryA high-ranking Hizbullah official has told opposition parties that the indictment of the Special Tribunal for Lebanon will not be issued anytime soon, pan-Arab daily al-Hayat reported Thursday.
“There is enough time to seek for a settlement over the indictment,” the official said.
Full StoryFormer Prime Minister Najib Miqati said he urged President Michel Suleiman to bring back Lebanese leaders together at national dialogue sessions.
The sessions were in addition to discussing the defense strategy aimed at keeping contact between officials during crises, Miqati told As Safir newspaper.
Full StoryPhalange party leader Amin Gemayel said that President Michel Suleiman has expressed concern over the political deadlock and the crippling of cabinet meetings and national dialogue sessions.
“President Suleiman is alone entitled to reveal the content of consultations” he is carrying out with Lebanese officials, Gemayel told al-Mustaqbal newspaper in remarks published Thursday.
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