Posted by Wires
Former US President Jimmy Carter is scheduled to visit Lebanon in December, the Lebanese Central News Agency (CNA) said on Wednesday.
CNA reported hat Carter was scheduled to meet with Lebanese President Michel Suleiman, House Speaker Nabih Berri and Prime Minister Fouad Seniora on a “private visit.”
Carter is also to meet with […]
Monday, September 01, 2008
Report
Executive Summary
1. Security Council resolution 1701 (2006) called upon the Government of Lebanon to secure its borders and all entry points to prevent the entry into Lebanon without its consent of arms or related material.
2. At the invitation of the Security Council, and in close liaison with […]
Mahmoud Darwish, the renowned Palestinian poet, has died after open heart surgery at the Memorial Hermann medical centre in Texas. Ann Brimberry, Memorial Hermann’s spokeswoman, confirmed that Darwish died at 1.35pm (18:35 GMT).
Siham Daoud, a fellow poet and friend […]
Israel will transfer $23 million (72 million shekels) to the Gaza Strip to pay the salaries of Palestinian civil servants, according to Israeli sources. Matan Vilnai, the deputy defence minister, did not specify how the transfer would be carried out in his statement to public radio on Tuesday. “These funds will be transferred by the […]
Agencies- An Arab summit failed on Sunday to clinch a breakthrough on Lebanon, spotlighting the rift between hosting Syria and stay-away US allies which blame Beirut’s political crisis on Damascus. Meanwhile, all eyes are focused on whether Arab League chief Amr Moussa would return to Lebanon to pursue the implementation of a three-point Arab initiative to end Lebanon’s ongoing political crisis. (more…)
Like a free show or the many comedic and tearful scenes originating from the Arab world, the Damascus summit was indeed an event worth watching. Here we witnessed scenes that at best could be described with the words of the Poet Ahmed Shawqi who once wrote, “You spoke and you were a disaster”. (more…)
Agencies- Maronite Patriarch Nasrallah Butros Sfeir described the continuing 15-month-old political standoff in Lebanon as “lethal.”Sfeir, in his weekly sermon at Notre Dame Church in Bkirki, also described the split between the governing coalition and opposition as “unprecedented” and called for “unifying our ranks … to help our stumbling nation rise again.” (more…)
Agencies- Commander of the UN Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) Major General Claudio Graziano said on Sunday that Israel’s ongoing occupation of parts of the border town of Ghajar was a violation to UN Resolution 1701. “Israel still occupies the northern part of the town of Ghajar and this goes against UN Security Council Resolution 1701,” Graziano said. (more…)
Posted by The Daily Star
Former Interior Minister Suleiman Franjieh said Lebanon should have made use of the Arab summit in Damascus to express it point of view. “If inter-Arab or international-Arab agreement is not reached, how will the situation be in Lebanon? Definitely worse than now,” Franjieh added. (more…)
Agencies-An Arab summit, subdued in the absence of leaders critical of Syria, told Israel on Sunday Arab countries would review an Arab peace offer unless the Jewish state changes its behavior.
Posted by Naharnet
Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak said Syria remains a threat due to its support for Hizbullah, noting that revival of peace talks with Damascus is a key foreign policy objective provided it departs from the cycle of extremism, according to a statement released on Sunday. (more…)
Posted by BBC
A recent study has found that some Christian men in Lebanon carry a DNA signature hailing from Western Europe while Muslim men in the country had a DNA linked to expansions from the Arabian Peninsula, BBC News reported. (more…)
Posted by The Daily Star
Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri along with MPs Yassine Jabre and Walid Khoury visited the Greek capital on Friday for the fourth Euro-Mediterranean general parliamentary meeting. During the gathering presided over by the speaker of the Greek Parliament, Dimitris Sioufas, the main parties discussed Euro-Mediterranean parliaments’ role “in serving different issues such as human rights, politics, security, environment, economy and society.” (more…)
Posted by The Daily Star
On the eve of the Arab Lague summit in Damascus, Lebanese Prime Minister Fouad Siniora said Friday that his government was staying away from the gathering to demonstrate the Lebanese people’s refusal to accept a presidential vacuum. In a televised speech, Siniora addressed the Arab community, stressing that “Lebanon should only be represented by its Christian president, who reflects the country’s diversity and is the only Christian Arab president,” Siniora said. (more…)
Posted by AFP
Jordan is to send a low-level official to this weekend’s Arab summit, a minister said on Friday, adding to a list of countries protesting host Syria’s perceived role in Lebanon’s political crisis. (more…)
Posted by Naharnet
Grand Ayatollah Mohammed Hassan Fadlallah, Lebanon’s senior-most Shiite cleric, said there is no end to the ongoing political stalemate in Lebanon so long as the country is linked to a regional crisis. (more…)