Countdown to Jumblatt’s visit to Syria: April 4

Ad-Diyar newspaper reported Sunday that Progressive Socialist Party MP
Walid Jumblatl will visit Damascus April 4 for a meeting with Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.

Asked about the timing Jumblatt’s expected visit to Syria during an interview with Hezbollah’s al Manar TV , Assad said Damascus would receive Jumblatt after the Arab League summit in Libya.

Ad-Diyar said Jumblatt will travel to Damascus alone. Previous reports indicated that Jumblatt will travel with his son Taymour. (more…)

Lebanon aims to become hub for inter-faith dialogue

Lebanon, home to a myriad of religious communities that once fought a long and bloody civil war, is working towards encouraging inter-faith dialogue to send a message of tolerance for other Middle Eastern countries which are often torn by extremism.

Muslim Shiite cleric Sayyed Hani Fahs, a founding member of the Arab Working Group on Muslim-Christian Dialogue, notes that “Lebanon is the result of dialogue.” (more…)

Al-Maliki, Allawi vie for right to form next Iraqi government

Iraq’s main political groupings, feuding over the results of the country’s elections, sought to broker alliances in a bid to form the biggest bloc of seats in parliament and earn the right to name the next prime minister.

Former Prime Minister Ayad Allawi, whose secular alliance won a small majority in parliamentary elections on March 7, said he initiated talks yesterday to form a coalition and vowed to reach out to political allies and foes alike. His rival, Prime Minister Nuri Al-Maliki, was also engaged in talks after declaring that his second-placed Shiite Muslim group won’t accept the results and might even challenge them in court. (more…)

Israel dominates Arab summit talks

Arab leaders are about to release a statement detailing a strategy to tackle Israel’s illegal occupation of East Jerusalem, on the final day of a regional summit in Libya.

The leaders met behind closed doors in the northern city of Sirte on Sunday for the final session of the two-day Arab League Summit to work out a united strategy against Israel’s settlement policy.

Saeb Erekat, the Palestinian chief negotiator, said he hoped the final statement would be a strong one.

But he said Arab leaders were also reassessing their options regarding the Middle East peace process. (more…)

FPM MP: Give Syria a chance

Free patriotic Movement MP Alain Aoun told OTV on Sunday that the Lebanese should improve relations with Syria, and some parties should abandon their negative attitude toward Damascus.

Aoun was referring March 14 alliance which has blamed Syria for the assassination of Lebanon’s former PM Rafik Hariri . (more…)

Earth goes dark for an hour

In a campaign initiated by World Wildlife Fund for Nature (WWF), more than 1 billion people from over 1,000 cities in 125 countries and territories around the world switched off their lights for one hour between 8:30 p.m. and 9:30 p.m. on Saturday. (more…)

Syria, Libya pressure Palestinians to quit talks

Delegates to an Arab leadership summit say Syria and Libya are teaming up to pressure the Palestinian leader to quit peace talks with Israel.

The delegates say Syria’s President has urged Mahmoud Abbas to abandon a stalled U.S.-backed peace strategy and resume armed resistance to Israel.

They say summit host Moammar Gadhafi of Libya has also warned that his nation will withdraw support for an Arab peace initiative calling for exchanging land for peace with Israel. (more…)

Netanyahu suffers worst week of his second premiership

The last week must rank as the worst of Binyamin “Bibi” Netanyahu’s second term as Israeli prime minister. It produced headlines no leader would want to read, even allowing for the sometimes excitable tone of the Israeli press: “Ambush in the White House”, “A hazing in stages” and “With his back to the wall.”

Netanyahu flew to Washington a week ago hoping to mend fences after an extraordinary rupture in relations but found only a frosty reception. (more…)

Mothers Day and Honour Killings

By Ghassan Karam
Last Sunday Lebanon and all the Arab countries recognized March 21, the first day in spring, as Mothers Day.

Hezbollah chief to comment shortly on STL

Hezbollah issued a statement on Saturday that its secretary general, Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah, said during a scouts event that he might comment within the coming days on the latest reports on the Special Tribunal for Lebanon (STL), including those on the tribunal’s interrogation of Hezbollah members. (more…)