UN calls on regional powers to leave Lebanon alone

Lebanon has been hit by a new climate of “uncertainty” which could cause new instability across the region, UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon warned on Monday.

In a report released only days after a controversial visit to Lebanon by Iran’s President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, the UN chief called on regional powers to stay out of the country’s affairs and also said Israel must halt military overflights. (more…)

Gemayel: Too early to discuss false witnesses

Former Lebanese president , Phalange party leader Amin Gemayel told MTV on Sunday that nothing can be discussed about the false witnesses before the Special Tribunal for Lebanon (STL) issues its indictment.

The false witnesses issue is “made out of hot air ” since “even today we do not know who is a false witness,” he added. (more…)

Lebanon court fines Wahab for disturbing peace

Former minister Wiam Wahhab was fined by a Beirut court 10 million LL for “distributing fabricated news that disturbed the general peace” and directed him to pay an additional one million each to Lebanese Forces leader Samir Geagea and Simon al-Hajj as a compensation, National News Agency (NNA) reported. (more…)

rival forces battling for control of Lebanon army

As Lebanon hovers precariously on the brink of new upheaval, rival forces are battling for control of the army: the Western-backed government and the United States on one side, Hezbollah and its Iranian and Syrian mentors on the other.

The outcome of this increasingly intense competition will to a large extent determine where Lebanon is headed (more…)

U.S. presses for independent Hariri probe, report

The U.N.-backed tribunal investigating the 2005 assassination of a Lebanese political leader should be allowed to work independently, a U.S. official said.

The U.N.-backed Special Tribunal for Lebanon is investigating the 2005 assassination of former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik Hariri in downtown Beirut. Hezbollah and Damascus were believed to play a role in the slaying, though both denied the allegations. (more…)

Andraous: We dont need Ahmadinejad to tell us Israel is the enemy

Future Movement deputy head Antoine Andraous told Akhbar al-Yawm news agency on Monday that Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad committed a series of errors during his visit to Lebanon

He cited as an example Ahmadinejad’s branding of Turkey as a confrontation state while it actually maintains diplomatic relations with Israel. (more…)

Jumblatt brands meeting with Feltman, frank & friedly

Progressive Socialist Party leader MP Walid Jumblatt wrote in his weekly column to be published Tuesday in Al-Anbaa newspaper describing his meeting on Sunday with US Assistant Secretary of State for Near Eastern Affairs Jeffrey Feltman as friendly and frank.

He said that revolved around the Arab-Israeli struggle and Lebanese domestic affairs. (more…)

Reaction to Feltman’s visit to Lebanon

Assistant US Secretary of State for Near Eastern Affairs Jeffrey Feltman arrived in Beirut from Riyadh on Sunday and met with President Michel Suleiman to deliver a message from US President Barack Obama reaffirming US commitment to a “stable, secure, independent and sovereign Lebanon.” (more…)

Lebanon was main focus of Abdullah- Assad talks

Saudi Arabia’s King Abdullah held wide-ranging talks Sunday with Syrian President Bashar Assad which touched a range of bilateral and regional issues with special reference to the fate of the UN probe into the assassination of former Lebanese Premier Rafik Hariri, the political void in Iraq and an Arab response to the continued Israeli settlement. (more…)

MP Sakr: Hezbollah will be hurt most by Lebanon sedition

March 14 MP Okab Sakr said in an interview with Al-Arabiya television on Sunday that the sedition and the collapse of the calm atmosphere in Lebanon will damage Hezbollah before any other party.

If Hezbollah carries out a military coup, its image will suffer internationally, Sakr said, (more…)