Higher Defense Council to tighten security in Lebanon

The Lebanese Higher Defense Council (HDC) on Tuesday decided to tighten security across Lebanon and enforce stricter security measures in Beirut and the South.

The Council meeting was chaired by President Michel Suleiman and was attended by : (more…)

Berri rejects attempts to brand shiites as rebels against the state

Lebanon Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri said on Tuesday during the 32nd anniversary of the disappearance of Imam Moussa Sadr that he rejects attempts to brand the Shiites as “rebels against the Lebanese regime and that their weapons are a threat to the State and other sects.”

“We assure you that the project of state-building is a benefit and an article of faith for the Shiites,” he added, voicing support for the cabinet to fulfill its duties to serve the social needs of the Lebanese people. (more…)

4 Israelis killed on eve of Mideast summit

Four Israeli civilians in a car were shot dead in the West Bank on Tuesday on the eve of a U.S. sponsored Middle East peace summit in Washington, an Israel Army spokeswoman said.

“This was a terrorist attack and the army is treating it as a grave incident,” Lt-Colonel Avital Leibovitch told reporters in a telephone briefing. (more…)

Hezbollah chief: The clash with Al-Ahbash was ‘unfortunate’

Hezbollah chief Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah reportedly described the clashes between his party and Al-Ahbash gunmen as “unfortunate” but said they showed there were “premeditated intentions.”

Nasrallah’s remarks came during an iftar banquet to families of martyrs on Monday, al-Akhbar daily said Tuesday. (more…)

Hariri says Bourj Abi Haidar clashes target him, report

As-Safir newspaper quoted on Tuesday an unnamed source as saying that Prime Minister Saad Hariri told Syrian President Bashar al-Assad during the former’s Syria visit that last week’s Borj Abi Haidar clashes target him. (more…)

Army arrests 2 on suspicion of spying for Israel

The Lebanese army intelligence has reportedly arrested two young men in the Bekaa valley in Eastern Lebanon to question them over phone calls they had received from numbers used by Israeli intelligence to contact Mossad agents in Lebanon.

Al-Akhbar daily said Tuesday that the army began questioning them to determine whether they were spying for Israel or not. (more…)

Hariri: Arms proliferation law does not targets any particular group

Lebanese Prime Minister Saad Hariri said during a Monday Iftar that his call to apply the law to resolve the issue of weapons proliferation is not directed at any particular side.

This comes after cabinet last Wednesday agreed to form a commission to deal with arms proliferation in the country following the clashes in the Beirut neighborhood of Borj Abi Haidar last Tuesday night (more…)

Lebanon Energy Ministry’s budget approved

The Parliamentary Finance and Budget Commission approved on Monday the Energy Ministry’s budget in the presence of Energy Minister Gebran Bassil and Finance Minister Rayya al-Hassan, according to local reports. (more…)

Shi’a Imam Sadr still alive, says son

Imam Moussa Sadr, who disappeared during a visit to Libya 32 years ago, was still alive and being held captive by Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi, his son Sadreddine Sadr said Monday in an interview that was published Monday by National News Agency.

He said Gadhafi had claimed that the three men traveled to Rome “but Italian judicial authorities and Lebanese investigations and a lot of other information have proved that they did not leave Libya.” (more…)

UNIFIL mandate extended for another year

The UN Security Council Monday unanimously adopted a resolution to extend for another year the mandate of the UN peacekeeping mission in southern Lebanon. (more…)