Interior Minister Marwan Charbel stated that the situation in the northern city of Tripoli is improving “day after day”, questioning the motives of the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, and Qatar’s travel restrictions to Lebanon, reported the pan-Arab daily Asharq al-Awsat on Sunday.
He told the daily An Nahar: “The restrictions are a precautionary measure ahead of the touristic summer season.”
Full StorySpeaker Nabih Berri noted that all sides in Lebanon are aware of the dangers“being imposed on the country,” saying that all powers should work together for the sake of Lebanon, reported the daily An Nahar on Saturday.
He told the daily that former Premier Saad Hariri’s reply to his call to resume the national dialogue “is not negative.”
Full StoryA Syrian was shot dead and two others wounded as they tried to cross the border from Lebanon back into their country Saturday, security and medical sources said.
The three men had left the northern Lebanese village of Muqaibleh and were trying to reach the nearby Syrian village of Msherfeh when they were shot at, the sources said.
Full StoryPrime Minister Najib Miqati chaired on Saturday a security meeting with senior officials in Tripoli to follow up the latest developments in the northern port city.
The meeting was attended by Finance Minister Mohammed al-Safade, State Minister Ahmed Karami, Youth and Sports Minister Faisal Karami, MP Mohammed Kabbara, head of the Lebanese Army Intelligence bureau in the north, Brigadier Amer al-Hasan, and ISF commander in Tripoli General Bassam al-Ayoubi.
Full StoryPrime Minister Najib Miqati urged on Saturday the United Arab Emirates, Qatar and Bahrain to reconsider their travel warning to Lebanon.
The premier said "the procedures taken by some Gulf countries are not justified," urging "the three countries to reconsider the travel restriction advisory to Lebanon."
Full StoryWestern diplomatic sources said on Saturday that the recent incidents in the northern city of Tripoli are the “beginning of a Salafist revolution aimed at providing the Free Syrian Army in Homs with ammunition.”
The sources told As Safir newspaper that the “Salafist revolution will begin in Tripoli and gradually expand to Akkar.”
Full StoryShelling between the rival Tripoli neighborhood of Bab al-Tabbaneh and Jabal Mohsen on Friday left three people wounded, a security official and hospital sources told Agence France Presse.
The security official said at least four shells and grenades fell on the two districts in early evening.
Full StoryFormer prime minister Saad Hariri on Friday responded to Speaker Nabih Berri’s recent call for national dialogue, saying he welcomes “the principle of dialogue” but noting that it is “unacceptable” to turn dialogue over Hizbullah’s arms into dialogue over the latest unrest in Tripoli.
“We welcome the principle of dialogue and the call for dialogue; however, we remind that our permanent stance is: We were not the ones who withdrew from the national dialogue, and we demand its resumption on the bases that were agreed upon, and on the items that were included on its agenda,” said Hariri in a statement.
Full StorySome Lebanese areas near the Lebanese-Syrian border “have become an incubator for terrorist elements from the al-Qaida and the Muslim Brotherhood organizations who are tampering with the security of Syria and its citizens,” Syria’s foreign ministry said in a statement addressed to U.N. chief Ban Ki-moon.
These elements “are seeking to undermine the six-point plan of U.N. Special Envoy to Syria Kofi Annan,” said the letter sent by Bashar al-Jaafari, Syria’s Permanent Representative to the U.N. Security Council.
Full StoryPresident Michel Suleiman urged officials on Friday to resort to dialogue in order to resolve any dispute or problem.
He expressed relief for the adopted measures in the northern city of Tripoli, hoping that the tranquil security situation would remain in the city.
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