Lebanon names former Bloomfield Hills resident Gabriel Issa as its ambassador to Washington
July 20th, 20170 BEIRUT — On Thursday, the Lebanese Cabinet passed long-awaited diplomatic appointments as President Michel Aoun called for “improving the state's revenues” in the wake of parliament's approval of a new wage scale for civil servants and the armed forces. As per protocol, the names of the appointed ambassadors will be announced...
Rights group urges Lebanon to probe deaths of Syrians in custody
July 5th, 20170 BEIRUT ― Human Rights Watch on Wednesday demanded an independent inquiry into the deaths of four Syrians who died while in Lebanese army custody and said anyone responsible for wrongdoing should be held to account. The Lebanese army said on Tuesday that the four Syrian men arrested during a raid on a refugee camp on Friday had died...
Lebanese ministry bans ‘Wonder Woman’ film over Israeli actress
June 2nd, 20170 Lebanon's Interior Ministry banned the new "Wonder Woman" film from cinemas on Wednesday because an Israeli actress plays the lead role, a ministry source and a security official said. Lebanon considers Israel an enemy country and the Ministry of Economy and Trade oversees a boycott of any business transactions concerning...
Lebanese army chief visits Washington, meets officials
May 5th, 20170 WASHINGTON, D.C. — Newly-appointed army commander General Joseph Aoun arrived in Washington, D.C. April 29 on an official visit, the first since assuming his post in March. The visit, which runs through May 6, is part of the ongoing Lebanese-U.S. military cooperation. Aoun received the invitation "through the established...
Lebanon’s Aoun takes tumble as Arab summit starts
March 29th, 20170 AMMAN ― Lebanese President Michel Aoun tripped and fell face down as Arab heads of state gathered at the start of their summit at the Dead Sea in Jordan on Wednesday, television footage showed. Aoun, 82, appeared to trip on a low, red-carpeted podium where flags of Arab states had been arranged. Two men in suits rushed to help him...
Lebanon’s Gumblatt affirms son as political heir
March 19th, 20170 BEIRUT - Lebanon's main Druze leader, Walid Gumblatt, on Sunday publicly confirmed his son Taymour as his political heir, extending the tradition of dynastic politics that plays a big part in the country's sectarian government. Gumblatt, the leading politician of the minority Druze community, took off his Palestinian koufieh...
Lebanese consulate moves to accomodate community growth
March 15th, 20170 SOUTHFIELD — A vast, green vista, dotted with skyscrapers and notable landmarks, unfolds below the large windows of a contemporary office – a landscape reminiscent of millions' homeland of Lebanon. Bilal Kabalan, consul general of Lebanon, looks through binoculars from his office and points out the several observable towns where...
Lebanon appoints new army chief
March 10th, 20170 BEIRUT — Lebanon appointed General Joseph Aoun as army commander on Wednesday, replacing General Jean Kahwaji at the head of a force that has been guarantor of civil peace since the 1975-90 civil war. The Lebanese government also filled several high-ranking security and judicial posts, Information Minister Melhem Riachi said in a...
Lebanese security forces foil suicide attack in Beirut’s crowded street
January 21st, 20170 BEIRUT, Lebanon - Lebanese security forces arrested a would-be suicide bomber inside a crowded cafe in one of the busiest neighbourhoods in the capital Beirut on Saturday night, security sources told AFP. The sources, speaking on condition of anonymity, said a man wearing an explosive bomb belt had been detained by authorities after...‘Switzerland of the Middle East’ looks for revival
BEIRUT (IPS) Lebanon was long dubbed the 'Switzerland of the Middle East' for its advanced banking sector. It lost its status 23 years ago at the dawn of the 1975 civil war, which lasted 15 years. The country has since been unable to regain the title, in spite of the brief economic revival witnessed in the 1990s. Since 2005,...
Bomb blast rocks north Lebanon
August 15th, 20080 A bomb explosion in the northern Lebanese city of Tripoli has killed at least 18 people, including nine soldiers. The blast, which also left 45 others injured, hit a military bus in central Nour Square early on Wednesday, officials said. The explosion happened near a bus pick-up point in the busy commercial district as people...Hizbullah influence likely to hold
BEIRUT Lebanon's politicians squabbled this week over whether or not to enshrine Hizbullah's resistance to Israel in a ministerial statement to be adopted by the fledgling national unity government. But with the balance of power in favor of the Shi'a movement laid bare since the May strife, analysts said there was little doubt the...Bodies swap is uneasy triumph
BEIRUT (IPS) The image of 199 coffins covered with Lebanese, Palestinian and Hizbullah flags neatly aligned in a southern Beirut compound was broadcast last week on all national Lebanese TV stations. On Tuesday this week, 144 of these remains were transferred to Syria, their final place of rest. Such images have stirred varying...Cancer on the rise in Lebanon
BEIRUT (IPS) Reports of a rising incidence of cancer now worry many families across Lebanon. Over the past 40 years, reported cases of cancer have risen from 3,000 to about 8,000 a year. "Cancer has certainly increased in terms of real figures. Statistics in the 1960s show 100 incidents per 100,000 individuals. The most recent...
Historic prisoner swap
July 18th, 20080 The Israeli cabinet's decision to strike a prisoner exchange deal with the Hizbullah movement in Lebanon on the eve of the anniversary of the war between the two sides of July 12 August 14, 2006 will not be remembered as one of Israel's most glorious moments. Even its chief architect, Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, has referred to......
Is Doha unraveling in Lebanon?
BEIRUT Unresolved disputes and sectarian rancor have bubbled to the surface in Lebanon this week, jeopardizing the brief respite provided by the Doha agreement to end the 18-month political crisis. Having filled a six-month presidential void by the election of Michel Suleiman on 25 May, the country may be on the brink of yet...
Hizbullah affirms prisoner swap
July 5th, 20080 BEIRUT Hassan Nasrallah, the secretary-general of Hizbullah, has announced his group's agreement to a prisoner exchange deal with Israel. In a televised speech on Wednesday, the Hizbullah leader said he expected the swap to take place in one to two weeks. He said that the exchange should include the release of Samir Kantar, a......
Hamas and Hizbullah gain, almost hand in hand
CAIRO (IPS) Hizbullah's dramatic seizure of Beirut last month stunned observers and dealt a heavy blow to Washington's Lebanese allies. In Cairo, analysts compared the episode to last year's takeover of the Gaza Strip by Palestinian resistance faction Hamas, noting that both actions were pre-emptive rather than offensive in...Questions abound on Hariri’s relation to radical Salafist backers
Almost two weeks after the Doha agreement put an end to 18 months of political conflict in Lebanon, the situation on the ground remains shaky. Sectarian and partisan-inspired incidents have become almost a daily occurrence in Beirut and other areas. In the past week alone, Lebanese opposition forces documented 37 instances in which...Celebrities and celebration take their toll
BEIRUT (IPS) In the dark streets across from the main Hamra road, one of the major commercial arteries in the Lebanese capital Beirut, light streams from behind the drapes of a first floor apartment. A politician's speech blaring from a TV resonates loudly in the night. As music cues the closing credits of the show, sudden...
Siniora to head Lebanon government
May 30th, 20080 The U.S.-backed March 14 bloc nominated Fouad Siniora as prime minister Tuesday, although members of the Hizbullah-led opposition signaled they were unhappy with Siniora becoming head of the new cabinet. President Michel Sleiman's office made the announcement on Wednesday, following the president's meeting with legislators and the......
Will the U.S. negotiate with Hizbullah?
Editor's note: This is the fifth and final installment of Franklin Lamb's series on Hizbullah, reprinted from counterpunch.org. What the Bush administration wants from Hizbullah A public announcement of, and adherence to, a Hizbullah policy that separates Islam from terrorism in the minds of the Western public, i.e. between...Will U. S. policy in Lebanon and the Middle East ever change?
"Absolutely not! Without a credible deterrent force, there is no real Lebanese sovereignty. Israel came very close to getting nearly all it wanted with the 1983 May 17th agreement. Had Hizbullah not prevented this, Lebanon today would be colonized with near confederation status with Israel. The Bush administration's democracy and......
A victory for Lebanon
May 23rd, 20080 The agreement gives Hizbullah and its opposition allies enough control in the government to have veto power over legislation. Beirut After 18 months of living on the streets in an encampment that has paralyzed this city's downtown, Lebanon's opposition supporters started going home Wednesday. They dismantled their...Lebanon’s Sunni bloc built militia, officials say
The Future Movement used a security firm to assemble a private force, officials say. But the fighters were no match for Hizbullah. BEIRUT For a year, the main Lebanese political faction backed by the U.S. built a Sunni Muslim militia here under the guise of private security companies, Lebanese security experts......
