Bin Laden threatens US over alleged 9/11 plotter

Osama bin Laden threatened in a new message released Thursday to kill any Americans al-Qaida captures if the U.S. executes the self-professed mastermind of the Sept. 11 attacks or other al-Qaida suspects. (more…)

UN team asked to quiz 6 Hezbollah members over Hariri murder

An international team investigating the 2005 assassination of former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik al-Hariri has requested to question six Hezbollah members about the crime, a security source said on Thursday.

A suicide truck bomber killed Hariri and 22 others in Beirut in February 2005. A U.N. investigation into the assassination first implicated Syrian and Lebanese officials but later held back from giving details of its findings. (more…)

Arab Summit to raise $500 million for Jerusalem

Egypt on Thursday proposed that the Arab League summit in Libya be called “The Jerusalem Summit,” in light of the tensions in the region over continued Israeli construction in East Jerusalem.

The Palestinians and other Arab League members hope to make East Jerusalem, which Israel annexed after the 1967 Middle East war, the capital of a future Palestinian state.

“Jerusalem is not a settlement. It is our capital,” Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Monday told AIPAC the leading pro- Israel lobby group in the United States. (more…)

Zebari: Iraqi delegation will not quit the summit in Libya

Iraqi Foreign Minister Hoshyar Zebari said he will attend the summit of Arab leaders in Libya after Baghdad and Tripoli resolved a dispute that had him ready to pack and go home.

“There is no more question of the Iraqi delegation pulling out (of the summit),” Zebari told reporters in the Mediterranean city of Sirte where he will represent his country at a summit of Arab leaders on Saturday and Sunday. (more…)

Lebanon arrests a Saudi Prince at Beirut airport

The Lebanese Internal Security Forces have seized 16 grams of cocaine from a Saudi Prince at Rafik Hariri International Airport, As Safir daily reported Thursday.
The newspaper said that 51-year-old Y.B.A.A. was arrested on Tuesday before boarding an Air France flight to Paris. (more…)

Berri: Designating Ziadeh confirms Lebanon’s boycott of the Libya summit

Lebanon Speaker Nabih Berri told the National News Agency (NNA) on Thursday that the cabinet’s decision on Wednesday to designate Lebanon’s representative at the Arab League, Khaled Ziadeh, as the country’s representative at Libya’s upcoming summit “only confirms Lebanon’s boycott of the summit,” as no high-ranking Lebanese officials are expected to attend it. (more…)

Najjar criticizes Assad while Hezbollah praises him

Justice Minister Ibrahim Najjar told Voice of Lebanon on Thursday that Syria did not change its policy toward Lebanon or any of its parties.

Syrian President Bashar al-Assad was clearly biased toward the Resistance during his Wednesday interview with Al-Manar television, said Najjar, adding, “Syria’s regional and strategic choice, similar to Iran’s, is to back the Resistance.” (more…)

Deep chill in U.S.-Israeli relations

Bad personal chemistry, public confrontation and mutual silence a full day after a two-hour meeting Tuesday night between President Barack Obama and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu have deepened the impression of a worsening fracture in the special relationship between the U.S. and Israel.

The visible gap between the two allies has offered encouragement to those who think only intense U.S. pressure can move Israel toward a resolution with the Palestinians. (more…)

Wahab: STL accusing Mughniyeh of killing Hariri

Former minister Wiam Wahab said Thursday told New TV that according to leaked information, the Special Tribunal for Lebanon is accusing slain Hezbollah commander Imad Mughniyeh of involvement in the assassination of Lebanon’s former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri.

Last week Wiam Wahab a staunch ally of Syria warned:

“A problem could take place in the country because the investigating panel will create strife,” Wahab told New TV on Saturday. He was referring to the summoning of Hezbollah members by the STL investigation team. (more…)

Former Lebanon MP brands Aoun a liar, Bassil a thief

During a press conference , Lebanon’s Former MP Farid Haikal al-Khazen launched an attack Thursday against Free Patriotic Movement leader MP Michel Aoun and his son -in-law Gebran Bassil . He accused Aoun of being a liar and Bassil of being a thief .

The former MP was responding to Aoun’s accusation that Khazen corruptly operated factories in the Mountain areas of Hrajil and Jeita.

“You have no right to ask us about anything, especially as you have not clarified the issue of the $35-million you took from the Treasury 15 years ago, before leaving for exile in France, (more…)