Prime Minister Tammam Salam stressed on Tuesday that Lebanon's stance at the Arab summit comes in harmony with the ministerial policy statement, threatening to suspend cabinet sessions if any party raised the matter at the upcoming meeting.
“Our stance falls in Lebanon's favor,” Salam's visitors quoted him as saying in comments published in al-Joumhouria newspaper.
Full StorySaudi Ambassador to Lebanon Ali Awadh Asiri on Monday hit out anew at Hizbullah chief Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah over the latter's criticism of Riyadh's military intervention in Yemen, noting that his fiery speech reflected a “psychological crisis.”
Asked about his interpretation of Nasrallah's speech, Asiri told MTV: “The only explanation I have is that, unfortunately, there is a psychological crisis.”
Full StoryProgressive Socialist Party leader MP Walid Jumblat reiterated on Monday his support for political dialogue in Lebanon, while voicing his rejection to “once again linking Lebanon's fate to Syria's.”
He said in his weekly editorial in the PSP-affiliated al-Anbaa website: “We stress the need to demarcate the border in the Shebaa Farms and Kfarshouba Hills to end the ongoing misconceptions over this issue.”
Full StorySweden's foreign minister is hardly the first diplomat to raise concerns about Saudi Arabia's human rights record, but when she used the word "dictatorship" in a speech last month she crossed a red line for the kingdom at a time of intense regional turmoil, igniting a diplomatic crisis.
The harsh response from Saudi Arabia and its Gulf allies jolted Stockholm's standing in the Arab world, threatened its Gulf business interests and may have imperiled its bid for a rotating seat at the U.N. Security Council. The crisis also underscored the perils of promoting reform four years after the Arab Spring, particularly in Gulf monarchies that rode out the ensuing unrest by clamping down on dissent.
Full StoryPrime Minister Tammam Salam has stressed that his announcement of Lebanon's backing to any Arab decision which preserves Yemen's stability was the result of his keenness on the unity of the Arab nation.
Addressing the Arab League summit held in the Egyptian Red Sea resort of Sharm el-Sheikh on Saturday night, Salam said Lebanon supported any decision to preserve the territorial integrity of Yemen.
Full StorySpeaker Nabih Berri has stressed that the dialogue between al-Mustaqbal movement and Hizbullah has become a “national necessity,” which helped restore calm.
The talks between the two rivals proved that they are a “national necessity that achieved a tangible stability.”
Full StoryGrand Mufti Sheikh Abdul Latif Daryan called Sunday for pressing on with the bilateral dialogue between Hizbullah and al-Mustaqbal movement, as he suggested expanding it into all-party talks.
“We support the dialogues that lead to positive results that can preserve this country's unity and security and its citizens' piece of mind,” Daryan said.
Full StorySaudi Arabian Ambassador to Lebanon Ali Awadh Asiri condemned on Sunday the latest speech of Hizbullah chief Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah, accusing him of misleading the public and defaming the kingdom.
He said in a statement: “His speech reflects the confusion of the sides he represents.”
Full StorySaudi-led warplanes bombed Yemen's main international airport and a renegade troop base in the capital Sunday, as Arab leaders vowed to pummel Iranian-backed rebels until they surrender.
The raids on the country's main airport came just hours after U.N. workers were evacuated following deadly fighting that has sent tensions soaring between Tehran and other Middle East powers.
Full StoryA series of explosions rocked an arms depot in Yemen's second city of Aden Saturday, killing at least 14 people as looters swarmed the facility, witnesses and an official said.
The blasts were heard across the city and pillars of smoke rose from the depot, where looting had broken out a day earlier, an AFP correspondent reported.
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