Yemen targets Al-Qaida Leader in an air strike

Yemen has launched an air strike in Maarib province, east of Sana’a, on the house of Ayed al-Shabwani , a suspected leader of the Yemen-based wing of al-Qaida.
The suspected senior member of al-Qaida in the Arabian Peninsula was one of six militants the Yemeni government said died in an air strike last week. Al-Qaida said none of its members were killed in the strike. VOA

More than 400 killed in Nigeria’s Muslim-Christian clashes

Clashes between Muslims and Christians in the central Nigerian city of Jos have killed more than 400 people and injured 4,000 more, a domestic human rights group said.
Most of the fighting in three days of violence occurred in the city’s poor neighborhoods where security forces arrived late, Shehu Sani, president of the Civil Rights Congress, said today by phone from Jos. Earlier, New York-based Human Rights Watch put the death toll at 216. Hospitals are overwhelmed and have run out of supplies to treat the injured, Sani said.
Nigerian Vice President Goodluck Jonathan ordered the police and army to “immediately” contain the crisis, Aliyu Bilbis, minister of state for information, told reporters today in Abuja, the capital. The government is “greatly concerned, worried and disturbed” about the situation in Jos, he said.Bloomberg

An elderly Lebanese lady died in Haiti due to earthquake

Lebanon’s ambassador to Caracas has informed the Ministry of Foreign Affairs that an elderly Lebanese lady died from the devastating earthquake that struck Haiti .

Many Lebanese have reportedly suffered material losses due to the earthquake and looting

In an expression of solidarity with the victims of earthquake in Haiti, the Lebanese community in Santo Domingo organized a campaign to raise donations for the Haiti victims . The funds were sent to Haiti through the Red Cross of the Dominican Republic

The Lebanese aid plane is expected to return to Lebanon Thursday morning and will bring Nancy Garjoura a Lebanese national and eight other Palestinian and Syrian nationals

Parliament to meet Monday to lower voting age to 18

Lebanon’s Speaker Nabih Berri called for the parliamentary legislative session to meet Monday to amend Article 21 of the constitution to lower voting age from 21 to 18 for the upcoming Lebanese municipal elections, which are scheduled to take place in May
Berri said the session will also discuss electing members to the Higher Council for Trying Presidents and Ministers.

US special envoy met Syrian president Assad

George Mitchell, the US special envoy to the Middle East, held talks in Syria Wednesday with President Bashar al-Assad, Syria’s official news agency SANA said. Their meeting was expected to focus on the Middle East peace process and Syria-US relations. Mitchell arrived in Damascus from Lebanon, the first stop in his latest tour of the region.
Mitchell, during talks with Lebanese officials earlier Wednesday, stressed that Lebanon would play a key role in building a comprehensive peace in the region.
Mitchell also told Prime Minister Saad Hariri that Washington “will not support the forced naturalization of Palestinians in Lebanon,” according to the embassy. DPA

Mitchell says Lebanon is key to ME peace

U.S. Middle East envoy George Mitchell says Lebanon is key to regional peace.
He was in Beirut on Tuesday and Wednesday at the start of a regional tour aimed at restarting Middle East peace talks.
Mitchell’s visit is part of a U.S. effort to forge a wider peace that would end Israel’s conflicts with the Palestinians, Syria and Lebanon and normalize Israel’s ties with the rest of the Arab world.
In a statement, Mitchell said Lebanon would play a key role in the effort to build a lasting and comprehensive peace and stability in the Middle East. AP

U.S. Middle East envoy George Mitchell ( L) with Lebanese President Michel Suleiman at the Baabda Palace Wednesday Jan. 20, 2010

Four Seasons opens new hotel in Lebanon

Kingdom Hotel Investments (KHI) has opened its five-star Four Seasons Beirut hotel, as the Lebanese city’s hospitality sector continues to grow.

The front of the hotel has been brightly lit and the interiors of the hotels were inspired by Lebanese culture. The hotel features Lebanese artwork, carved screens and gilded calligraphy. A few minutes’ walk away from the hotel is downtown Beirut, with art galleries, boutiques, antique shops, cafés and restaurants.

The 230 room hotel, in which KHI has a controlling 38 per cent stake, opened its doors on Sunday and was expected to cost US$146 million (Dh536.25m). The Saudi billionaire Prince Alwaleed bin Talal bin Abdulaziz al Saud founded KHI and is its majority shareholder. Hotel Designs

Aoun: Dialogue useless if it only addresses Hezbollah’s arms

Following his parliamentary bloc meeting in Rabieh on Tuesday , Change and Reform bloc leader MP Michel Aoun said that the National Dialogue is useless if its sole purpose is to address the issue of Hezbollah’s arms.

Aoun called for a new municipal election law and said that not amending the current law means that there is negligence to the interest of the country.
“We need a comprehensive law for municipal elections instead of amending some points only.” He said
On eliminating political sectarianism, Aoun said that abolishing sectarianism cannot be achieved through the initiatives of political leaders, but rather through the will of the people.

2009 was best year ever for Tourism in Lebanon

The Tourism Ministry says about 1.9 million tourists came to Lebanon in 2009, the highest number of visitors to come to the mountainous Arab nation ever.
The new figure exceeds those from the time before Lebanon’s 1975-90 civil war, when Beirut was dubbed the “Paris of the Middle East.”
Figures released this week show that 1,851,081 tourists visited Lebanon in 2009, a 39 percent increase from the previous year. The 2009 number is the highest ever and broke the 1974 record of 1.4 million tourists, the ministry reported.
Tourism Minister Fadi Abboud estimated the country’s annual income from tourism at up to $7 billion, or about 20 percent of gross domestic product. Businessweek

Mitri briefs media on results of cabinet session

Lebanon’s Information Minister Tarek Mitri briefed the media on the results of the cabinet session that was held at the Baabda Palace
- The cabinet has decided to postpone the discussion of the municipal Elections until Tuesday January 26
- The cabinet confirmed that state sovereignty is non negotiable and no Palestinian arms should be outside the camps. This was in reference to the statement of Abou Moussa , leader of Fatah al Intifada who said that he refuses to disarm outside the camp
- Prime Minister Saad Hariri briefed the cabinet on his recent trip to the UAE and said the UAE is ready to immediately start training the Lebanese helicopter pilots on the 10 planes that UAE donated to Lebanon. He also briefed the cabinet about the discussions he held with his Turkish counterpart, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who reportedly expressed an interest in visiting Beirut.

- President Suleiman discussed the need to set up a mechanism for appointments, and said the issue requires further discussion during another cabinet session.
Update:

Al Nahar sources have reported that the cabinet endorsed a “technical” 1-month postponement of the municipal elections, in addition to holding the elections over several days instead of one day only.