Chamoun calls on Nasrallah to return to reason

National Liberal Party leader MP Dori Chamoun addressed on Thursday an open letter to Hezbollah Secretary General Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah urging him to “return to reason, learn from others’ errors, and avoid dragging the country into destructive wars.”

He said that the clashes were reminiscent of the Lebanese civil war when parties were armed and turned against each other to bolster their power on the streets (more…)

Zahra : All Lebanon should be arms, millitia free

Lebanese Forces bloc MP Antoine Zahra told the Voice of Lebanon (VOL) on Thursday that all Lebanese regions must be arms an militia free, and not just Beirut.

“It’s time for the Lebanese state to take quick measures to announce Beirut a weapons and militia free city,” the March general-secretariat said in a statement following its weekly meeting. (more…)

Hezbollah will cooperate only with the Lebanese judiciary, not STL

Hezbollah has said it would cooperate only with the Lebanese judiciary if it requests information unveiled by Hezbollah leader Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah about former PM Rafik Hariri’s assassination.

“Our stance from the court is known. We don’t recognize it and we don’t cooperate with it,” Hezbollah sources told An Nahar daily in remarks published Thursday. (more…)

Al Ahbash official: No one knows who the killers are

Al-Ahbash group’s media officer Abdul Kader Fakhani said during an interview with Now Lebanon that “no one has information about the killers involved in Tuesday’s clash,” stressing that the clashes broke out due to personal reasons, and not political.

Clashes broke out in the Beirut neighborhood of Bourj Abi Haidar on Tuesday between supporters of the Association of Islamic Charitable Projects – also known as Al-Ahbash – and Hezbollah, (more…)

Hariri: widespread use of weapons not acceptable anymore

During an an iftar banquet he hosted in honor of families from across the South, Prime Minister Saad Hariri on Wednesday stressed that “it is about time we learn that no matter what happens, no group will be able to defeat the other.”

He added: “Everyone is to be blamed – politicians, journalists and TV networks – (more…)

Analysis:Was Burj Abi Haidar a battle by proxy?

The Burj Abi Haidar battle was, perhaps, the first armed confrontation between Iran and Syria in Lebanon, through proxies

As Safir is misleading the public over STL decisions, report

The pro-Syrian media continues to undermine the Special Tribunal for Lebanon by leaking information that is not credible with the aim of eliminating the Tribunal according to Lebanese legal experts.

The most active pro-Syrian newspaper has been the As Safir daily (more…)

UNIFIL finalizes its report on Lebanese-Israeli clash

UNIFIL issued a statement on Wednesday announcing the finalization of its report regarding the border clashes that that took place on August 3 between Lebanese and Israeli troops, the National News Agency (NNA) reported. (more…)

Lebanon forms a commission to deal with firearms

Lebanon Information Minister Tarek Mitri briefed the media following Wednesday’s cabinet session at the Grand Serail

Firearms

The ministers agreed to form a commission headed by Prime Minister Saad Hariri, (more…)

Saudi scholar calls for Panda boycott over women cashiers

A Saudi scholar has broken the official rule restricting the issuing of fatwas to senior clerics and called for a boycott of a supermarket chain that has hired female cashiers, local media reports on Wednesday.

A YouTube video clip, which was taken from Al-Usra TV, shows Yousuf Al-Ahmad saying it is dangerous and hypocritical to hire females to work as cashiers, the Saudi Gazette reports. (more…)