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 […]
Lebanon’s new government has won a vote of confidence, approving a policy statement recognising Hezbollah’s right to use all means possible to regain Israeli-occupied land claimed by Lebanon. One hundred members of the 128-seat parliament voted in support of the cabinet proposal on Tuesday, allowing the cabinet to finally start work. (more…)
Michel Sleiman, Lebanon’s president, is set for a historic visit to Damascus, where the establishment of diplomatic ties will dominate the agenda of talks with Bashar al-Assad, his Syrian counterpart.
The two-day visit, beginning on Wednesday, is the first by a Lebanese head of state since Syrian troops withdrew from Lebanon in 2005.
Sleiman and al-Assad, whose states have not had official diplomatic relations since independence more than 60 years ago, finally agreed to establish ties last month in Paris.
The agenda at Wednesday’s talks also features complicated issues such as a border demarcation, a review of longstanding accords, Lebanese detainees in Syria and the presence of pro-Syrian Palestinian groups in Lebanon, diplomatic sources said.
“Syria wants a stable, united and Arab Lebanon which does not serve as a trampoline for hostile activities,” Elias Murad, editor-in-chief of the newspaper of Syria’s ruling Baath party, said.
Al-Hariri assassination
Syria dominated Lebanon for three decades until its forces left in the wake of massive protests by Lebanese after the assassination of Rafiq al-Hariri, the former prime minister.
Damascus has repeatedly denied accusations that it was involved in the bomb blast in Beirut which killed al-Hariri in February 2005.
The visit comes after Lebanon’s new government won a vote of confidence, allowing a power-sharing cabinet to finally start work after an agreement on a unity government was reached in Qatar in May.
The policy statement recognised the right of Lebanon, its government, people and armed movements to use all means possible to regain land claimed by Lebanon, a reference to the Shebaa Farms and nearby Israeli-held parts of Ghajjar village. (more…)
A bomb explosion in the northern Lebanese city of Tripoli has killed at least nine people and left 31 others injured, according to security officials. The blast hit a military bus in central Nour Square early on Wednesday, officials said. The majority of the dead were reported to be Lebanese soldiers. The explosion happened near a bus pick-up point in the busy commercial district as people head to work. Television footage showed a small bus heavily damaged by shrapnel from the blast. Shattered glass could be seen lying in the streets. (more…)
Beirut (Lebanon), August 7 : An archaeological excavation team from the British Musuem in Sidon, Lebanon, have unearthed a new grave containing human skeletal remains belonging to a Canaanite warrior, dating back to 4,000 years. (more…)
Beirut - European Parliament President Hans-Gert Poettering started an official one-day visit to Lebanon Thursday for talks on the Middle East peace process. “European Parliament members are interested in knowing how Lebanese politicians view the development of the peace process in the Middle East,” Poettering said upon arrival in Lebanon late Wednesday. (more…)
BEIRUT: Lebanon needs to increase its current electricity output from 1,500 MW to close to 2,300 MW and this requires an investment of over $2 billion, Energy and Water Minister Alan Tabourian said on Wednesday. “We definitely need more power plants and [need to] modernize existing ones to meet the demand for electricity in Lebanon. We also need to secure energy-efficient plants so that the cost is lower,” the minister told The Daily Star in an exclusive interview. (more…)
BEIRUT: Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri said after meeting European Parliament chief Hans-Gert Pottering on Thursday that Lebanon was fully committed to implementing UN Security Council Resolution 1701, while accusing Israel of violating the resolution, which put an end to the 34-day war. (more…)
BEIRUT (AFP) Lebanon’s parliament on Friday started to debate a policy statement drawn up by the new unity government and focused on the thorny issue of Hezbollah’s arms, in only its second session in 22 months. (more…)
RTTNews) - Spanish police have detected an al-Qaeda plot to attack UN peacekeepers in the Lebanon and Afghanistan.A detailed set of instructions on the use of remote-controlled bombs targeting these troops was published online for al-Qaeda’s European cells, according to a Spanish radio station’s report. (more…)
The great Lebanese artist George Wasoof returned to Lebanon to give one of the great performances of this summer season. Wassof’s concert was held at “Al Fardous Restaurant” located in northern Lebanon. (more…)