Hariri denies discussing STL indictments with Hezbollah chief

During his speech last Thursday Hezbollah leader Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah praised Prime Minister Saad Hariri and said before he traveled to Washington last May he visited him and briefed him about the indictments .

“Out of his keenness to ensure national unity, Hariri told me during the meeting that an STL indictment will be issued and will accuse some members of Hezbollah, (more…)

Hariri: Justice is not open for negotiation

During a conference on Saturday marking the official founding of the Future ( al Mustaqbal) Movement, Prime Minister Saad Hariri said, “There are some who imagine, fear,or probably wish that the issue of former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri’s assassination could be a cause for the eruption of a Lebanese crisis or sectarian strife. We say with all honesty and responsibility that there is no place in our national dictionary for these fears or allegations or even wishes.” (more…)

BLOM bank net profit up 13 percent, report

Lebanese BLOM Bank said first-half net profit rose 13.1 percent compared with the year-ago period to $156 million, supported by a buoyant domestic economy and strong consumer demand for loans. (more…)

Business Report: Lebanon is the real outperformer in the region

The three countries covered in this Business Forecast Report Jordan, Lebanon And Syria have all, to a greater or lesser degree, shrugged off the worst of the global economic slowdown. (more…)

Suleiman: Lebanon’s salvation is only through unity

President Michel Suleiman said Wednesday that Lebanon’s salvation would only come through the unity of its people and their united stance particularly towards national causes that constitute the backbone of political and security stability. (more…)

HRW urges Syria to free a man falsely held as Witness

Alkarama, Amnesty International, and Human Rights Watch issued a joint statement today in which they urged Syria to release Ziad Wasef Ramadan, who the Syrian authorities falsely claim is detained so he can be interviewed by the international body investigating the assassination of Rafic Hariri, former prime minister of Lebanon
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UN supports Suleiman’s call for calm says envoy

UN Special Coordinator for Lebanon Michael Williams lauded President Suleiman’s initiative, stressing to PM Hariri U.N.’s support for “calm and stability inside Lebanon.”

He said Suleiman’s ongoing talks with rival factions is an attempt to defuse political tension in the country. (more…)

France to help Lebanon repair underwater telecom cable

The Telecommunications Ministry announced Friday that Franc Telecom is preparing to send a ship to help Lebanon repair the malfunction in the underwater cable that caused the recent cuts in the land line service between Beirut and the South.
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Hariri tells expats: Lebanon is your future

Lebanon Prime Minister Saad Hariri said during an address to a delegation of Lebanese expatriates at the Grand Serail “Life in this country might be very difficult at some stages. But Lebanon is not a hotel….it is a country for life… It is your land, house, family, history and future. ” (more…)

Sayed Hassan Nasrallah: Why The Bluster?

By Ghassan Karam

“The Sayed doth protest too much, methinks” ; with apologies to Shakespeare; is possibly the most appropriate way of describing part one of Hezbollah’s two act play to explain