Lebanon

Those who have met Samir Geagea talk of a clever strategist, that has a vision not only for the Christian community, but for the country as a whole. Geagea and Aoun are rivals within the Christian community, and as such, Geagea will continue to attack the unholy alliance between Aoun's Free Patriotic Movement and Hizballah. […]

The international tribunal that will try the suspected assassins of former Prime Minister Rafiq Hariri is set to begin its work by the beginning of next year, a source at the U.N. told As-Safir on Thursday. The source, who is close to Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, said the U.N. chief “has pledged clearly that progress will […]

Hizballah has a new department for Arab relations run by Sheikh Hassan Ezzedin. In an interview with al Rai al Aam [Kuwait] he explained why the need for this department and what's the objective.  …Q: Hezbollah introduced changes to its organizational structure and created an Arab relations position. Does this have anything to do with […]

Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for Near Eastern Affairs and former American Ambassador to Lebanon Jeffrey Feltman said that he was “disturbed” to see “decent official figures” welcoming Kuntar and he criticized March 14 for not standing their ground against Hizballah. I agree with the former but not entirely with the latter. For some reason, […]

While almost 2,200 families fled their homes in Bab al-Tabbaneh and Jabal Mohsen because of the heavy fighting, Mika [the Lebanese born British singer] had a sold out concert in Martyr's Square on Sunday. Mika left and Tripoli is calm, so all's well when it ends well. Lebanon is a country of contradictions. No doubt […]

NOW Lebanon: Following the statements made by the Lebanese president and defense minister  on the security setback in the Bab al-Tabbaneh and Jabal Mohsen neighborhoods of Tripoli, which left nine dead, including one child, and at least 50 others wounded, the army has expanded its deployment and set up temporary centers in adjacent neighborhoods to […]

Deputy Speaker Farid Makari on Friday told NOW Lebanon that the situation in North Lebanon [the clashes started again in Bab al Tabbaneh and Jabal Mohsen in spite of the ceasefire agreement] had gone "back to ground zero,” and that without a solution to Hizballah's arms,  there would be no elections in 2009. Information Minister […]

Iranian Vice President Reza Aghazadeh said Thursday that negotiations with world powers on Tehran's nuclear program could solve problems in Lebanon and Iraq. “If the negotiations get under way, then solutions could be found for many problems like Iraq, Lebanon or fuel prices,” said Aghazadeh, who also heads Iran's Atomic Energy Organization. Come again? I […]

The policy statement of the new cabinet is still in the making. Three main issues that the nine men committee did not agree on yet:  Hizballah's private army and use of weapons Relationship with Syria State's sovereignty over the [whole] territory The majority believes that the decision to go to war or peace "should be […]

Walid Muallem, the Syrian Foreign Minister is today in Beirut to officially invite President Michel Suleiman to Damascus. While in Paris, Michel Suleiman received an invitation from the Vatican as well, but he said that Syria has priority. No doubt. The issue now is, will Suleiman ask President Assad to solve the problem of the […]

Tarek Mitri, the Information Minister announced that the cabinet already has a draft of the statement that is due to present to the nation, in the immediate future. In spite of its division, the cabinet has to come out with a unified vision of the national and political objectives, to pursue for the good of […]

At MESH you can read an interesting exchange of views on the topic. From 2005 to 2008, the U.S. Government provided over $1 billion to Lebanon, including nearly $380 million in assistance to the LAF. During this time, Washington's generosity toward the LAF made Lebanon the second-largest recipient of U.S. foreign military assistance per capita, […]