French President Nicolas Sarkozy will urge his Syrian counterpart Bashar Assad to exert influence on his Lebanese allies to calm the situation in Lebanon, Arab diplomatic sources told al-Liwaa daily.
Assad will visit Paris on Thursday for talks with top French officials, including Sarkozy, who is making contacts with Arab officials involved with the situation in Lebanon to contain any incident that could erupt following the release of the indictment by the international tribunal.
Full StoryResistance is the only thing Israel understands, Iranian Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki said on Monday during a visit to Greece.
"History has shown that Israel understands no language other than resistance," Manouchehr Mottaki told a press conference on the sidelines of his two-day visit to Athens for talks with Greek leaders.
Full StoryU.S. Ambassador to Lebanon Maura Connelly stated Monday that the Special Tribunal for Lebanon represents a chance for Lebanon to move beyond political violence.
She said after holding talks with Prime Minister Saad Hariri: "There is no possible justification for threats of violence in relation to the STL's legal and judicial activities."
Full StoryFormer minister Farid al-Khazen reported Maronite Patriarch Nasrallah Sfeir as saying on Monday that the indictment is an "opportunity to test the Lebanese in confronting its repercussions if any Lebanese side is accused of being involved in the assassination of former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri."
He urged the need to fortify the internal governmental situation so that it may be up to the task of tackling any development that may take place before the indictment's release.
Full StoryMimix, a technology that translates spoken and written words into sign language backed by a Lebanese team, is now in a standoff against Brazil's Mindle to win the Global Title.
Mimix won the regional award during YallaStartup weekend in Beirut. It then competed against 13 global cities and won the Global Startup Battle 2010.
Full StoryLebanon warned "Iran telecom" was taking over the country after uncovering a secret communications network used by Hizbullah two years ago, a U.S. diplomatic cable released by WikiLeaks showed on Monday.
The Beirut government was shocked at the discovery in April 2008 of the extensive communications system used by the powerful Shiite party, which receives military and financial support from Iran, according to the cable.
Full StoryPrime Minister Saad Hariri told former U.S. Ambassador Michele Sison he feared another war with Israel would mean the "death" of his pro-Western March 14 alliance, leaked cables showed Monday.
A document reportedly obtained by whistleblowing website WikiLeaks and published on the website of local daily al-Akhbar quoted Hariri as saying he believed Hizbullah would rise again should there be another round of violence.
Full StoryA U.S. diplomatic source said the Special Tribunal for Lebanon was not just created for Prime Minister Saad Hariri.
"In the midst of the controversy over the indictment, we have forgotten that there was more than one victim," the source told pan-Arab daily Asharq al-Awsat in remarks published Monday.
Full StoryState Minister Jean Oghassabian on Monday accused the Hizbullah-led March 8 coalition of crippling the Government.
"We always call for separation between everything related to the International Tribunal and the political and day-to-day life of citizens," Oghassabian told LBC television station.
Full StoryMP Qassem Hashem of Speaker Nabih Berri's AMAL Movement on Monday said the indictment by the Special Tribunal for Lebanon has been "completed."
"The indictment has been completed and semi-finalized," he told al-Jadid television channel, adding that media leaks confirm that it will be issued before Dec. 15.
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