Lebanon on the brink as violence erupts
May 9th, 20080 Nasrallah hits out at government BEIRUT — Hizbullah's leader Hassan Nasrallah has warned that any crackdown by the government on the Shi'a organizaion would be tantamount to a "declaration of war." Hassan Nasrallah's comments were broadcast on television on Thursday, as street clashes in Lebanon between government loyalists and...
Bush to Nasrallah: An offer Hizbullah cannot refuse?
May 3rd, 20080 The Bush administration no longer believes there is a viable military option — American, Israeli or combined — for destroying Hizbullah "The Bush administration parking a flotilla from its U.S. 6th fleet off the coast of Lebanon was made necessary, it claims, to demonstrate Washington's 'commitment to...Christian divisions complicate politics
BEIRUT (IPS) — The political crisis gripping Lebanon has chipped away at what has been viewed by most since the 2005 parliamentary elections as an unlikely alignment of two political heavyweights. The recent falling out between Michel Aoun, head of the Christian Free Patriotic Movement (FPM) and Michel Murr, the Greek...Assassinations shake Christian town
BEIRUT (IPS) - The lush Bekaa Valley is nestled between snowy Mount Lebanon and the Syrian border. The region, reputed for its wine production, was this week the witness to a violent crime in the Christian city of Zahleh, where two members of the anti-Syrian Kataeb party (Phalangists) were gunned down. In the courtyard of Zahleh's...
Hizbullah has new weapons to wage war
April 11th, 20080 Teir Dibba — The Shi'a "martyrs" of this hill village are normally killed in the dangerous, stony landscape of southern Lebanon, in Israeli air raids or invasions or attacks from the sea. The Hizbullah duly honors them. But the body of the latest Shi'a fighter to be buried here — from the local Hashem family — was flown back to...Battle of Lebanon’s political players on billboards
BEIRUT — Hours after Hizbullah commander Imad Mughnieh was killed, huge billboards of his burly face stenciled like the iconic Che Guevara portrait or a photo of him in battle fatigues were printed and ready to display all over Lebanon. Pictures of this man on America's Most Wanted list are among the first images to greet visitors...A smart Arab investment
Social and industrial awakening in the Middle East and North Africa may start in unexpected ways. The most potent indicator of social change is the status of women's education. Nine years of schooling for every woman would wipe out a large segment of poverty. It would also significantly reduce children's school dropout rates and...Lebanon bans prize-winning animated film ‘Persepolis’
BEIRUT (AFP) — The Oscar-nominated film "Persepolis," which has annoyed authorities in Iran for its critical portrayal of the Islamic revolution, has been banned in Lebanon, an interior ministry official told AFP on Wednesday. The official, from the ministry's general security department, would not give a reason why the French...Hopes of peace remain unfulfilled
BEIRUT (IPS) — The pages of Lebanon's history are drenched in blood. And, more than 30 years after the start of the 1975 civil war, Lebanese factions are still pitted against each other in a...Time to step back from the brink
WASHINGTON (IPS) — Describing the current Lebanese political impasse as a moment "pregnant with incredible danger," a U.S. expert this week urged rival factions and their international patrons to adopt of a formula of "no victim, no vanquished" in order to mitigate a possible descent into civil war. "When I think back to...U.S. warship worries Lebanese
Regional crisis likely, given Saudi Arabia's threat to boycott Arab summit Beirut — Washington's decision to deploy the USS Cole off Lebanon's coast is kindling grim memories of a past conflict here — and fresh concerns over another war. While the U.S. State Department says the Cole and other warships are being sent to...Why Lebanon hasn’t slipped into civil war
Rival factions have worked hard to defuse points of conflict. Washington — Lebanon's former prime minister, Rafik Hariri, was killed by a huge explosion near downtown Beirut in February 2005. Since then, the country has seen – in addition to the Israeli bombardments of summer 2006 – more than a dozen other mysterious assassinations....
Mughnieh murder could trigger retaliation
February 16th, 20080 'This is something that Hizbullah cannot let pass' Beirut — A shadowy senior Hizbullah commander, thought to have masterminded spectacular terrorist attacks in the 1980s, was killed Tuesday in a Damascus car bombing that will almost certainly trigger a retaliation from the militant Shi'a group. Hizbullah top military leader Imad...Nasrallah: We’re ready to fight
As Hizbullah mourns official, March 14 bloc observes anniversary of Hariri murderBEIRUT — In a speech to supporters mourning the death of a senior commander, the secretary-general of Hizbullah has said that his movement is ready for open warfare with Israel, accusing Israel of killing Imad Moghniyeh in a car bomb blast in the Syrian...Lebanon: The show must go on
BEIRUT (IPS) — A bomb tears through the bustling Chevrolet area on the outskirts of Beirut. Bad news travels fast: Captain Wissam Eid from the Internal Security Forces has been killed in the blast. This is a typical day for Lebanese citizens. The year 2007 has already been grim for most Lebanese businesses. Crisis after crisis has......
Lebanon edges closer to civil war
February 7th, 20080 BEIRUT — There will be blood. That was the message this week in the neglected southern suburbs of Beirut. At least eight persons were killed and more than twenty injured when shots were fired at crowds of demonstrators protesting the power outages that have been plaguing their areas. Details of the incident that took place near the Mar...The struggle for Lebanon
Syria has vital security issues with regard to Lebanon, and sees its lesser neighbor as an essential \geo-politicalpartner. And Syria's security necessities could help stabilize Lebanon's political crisis, if the Arab World -- particularly Saudi Arabia — can come to terms with Damascus. It does not look as if the long-running Lebanese......
Lebanon vote delayed again
BEIRUT — A parliament session scheduled for Monday to elect Lebanon's president has been postponed to February 11, despite Arab mediation to break the deadlock. The latest delay brings to 13 the number of sessions that have had to be postponed since September 25 to pick a successor to Emile Lahoud, the president who stepped down in...Attack on U.S. vehicle in Beirut kills 4
As Bush tours Mideast, was this a message? BEIRUT — An explosion targeted a U.S. Embassy vehicle Tuesday in northern Beirut, killing four Lebanese and injuring a local embassy employee, American and Lebanese officials said. In Washington, State Department spokesman Sean McCormack said two embassy employees — including...Is Suleiman up to the challenge?
In Lebanon over the last three months, ten parliamentary sessions to elect a new president have been postponed. By tradition the president has to be a Maronite Christian; this tradition is a problem that has never been addressed adequately. The eleventh parliament election session, scheduled for December 29, is expected to be...
Bombing kills Lebanese general, deepens crisis
December 15th, 20070 The assassination of Brig. Gen. Francois Hajj may have been revenge for a summertime campaign against Islamic militants. Beirut — The political crisis here deepened this week when a senior Army general was killed in a powerful car bombing, the ninth high-profile attack on a prominent Lebanese in a sporadic campaign of assassinations......
Will army commander take control of Lebanon?
December 9th, 20070 BEIRUT (IPS) — As the constitutional clock ticks away the last few hours of Emile Lahoud's presidential term, Lebanon faces its worst political deadlock since the end of the civil war. Five parliamentary sessions to elect Lahoud's successor have already been postponed since Sep. 24, with the danger of civil strife looming over the...
The U.S. narrative for Lebanon
December 2nd, 20070 Even if France were tempted to play guardian again for the Christians in Lebanon — with the approval of the American Empire, instead of the Ottoman Empire this time — the official Arab and international order could not directly imprint itself on Lebanon in a way favorable to the opposition, not even the Christian opposition, which makes......
Divided Lebanon has no president
November 24th, 20070 Country unable to elect a president, vote delayed for another week Beirut — Lebanese President Emile Lahoud on Friday handed over the task of securing law and order in Lebanon to the country's army commander until a political consensus is reached and a new president is elected, after efforts to again chose his...Presidential election tops international agenda
BEIRUT (AFP) — U.N. chief Ban Ki-moon warned Lebanese leaders Friday that their country stood on the brink of an "abyss" if they failed to put their differences aside to elect a new president by a November 23 deadline. "If the responsibilities are not shouldered, there might be a move to the brink of an abyss," the U.N. chief said after......