Syria deploying army in Damascus to crackdown on protests

Reinforcements are being sent to two Damascus suburbs amid a security sweep and dozens of arrests in the capital. (more…)

Hezbollah condemned for calling indicted criminals ‘holy’

Kateb bloc MP Elie Marouni said that Hezbollah MP Nawwaf Moussawi has crossed the line by comparing human beings to saints and icons and should be summoned for investigation. (more…)

Iran working to replace Syrian influence in Lebanon

Future Movement official Mustafa Allouch told Future News television on Monday evening that Iran wants to “weaken” the Syrian influence in Lebanon in order to “strengthen its [own] project.” (more…)

Jumblatt: Hezbollah should learn from Norway’s tragedy

Progressive Socialist Party leader MP Walid Jumblatt said that Norway’s tragedy should serve as a “lesson” to some regime leaders who do not understand the importance of political reform, and who continue to “violently confront” the rightful demands of their people. (more…)

Dialogue with Hezbollah is pointless says Geagea

Lebanese Forces leader Samir Geagea condemned the crackdown on pro-democracy protests in Syria and said that change in the country is “inevitable.”

Geagea added that he does not see the point of holding national dialogue meetings meetings if the Syrian- Iranian-backed Hezbollah group is not willing to address the use of its arms. (more…)

Syria talks reform while executing deadly crackdown

Syria’s government has endorsed a draft law that it says will allow the formation of political parties alongside President Bashar Assad’s ruling Baath Party, part of a series of promised reforms that the opposition has dismissed as largely symbolic. He has coupled his pledges of reform with a deadly crackdown on protesters that activists say has killed at least 1,600 people. (more…)

Protests on the rise in Damascus followed by mass arrests

Syrian armed forces have arrested several people after demonstrations against President Bashar al-Assad’s regime were held across Damascus, rights activists said on Monday. On Saturday, the military arrested at least 26 people in the Damascus neighborhood of Jawbar, many of whom were returning to their homes, said the Observatory. (more…)

FPM has faith in Hezbollah’s arms

In response to statements that the issue of Hezbollah’s weapons must be discussed in the national dialogue, Culture Minister Gabi Layoun said he rejects attempts to disarm the Shia group. (more…)

Jumblatt coming back to March 14 says Chamoun

National Liberal Party leader MP Dori Chamoun said on Monday that national dialogue in Lebanon “has become a joke.”

He also said that he expects Progressive Socialist Party leader MP Walid Jumblatt to eventually realign with the western-backed March 14 coalition. (more…)

Hezbollah: Every victim of 2006 war should sue Lebanon

Victims of the July 2006 war with Israel should file lawsuits against Lebanese officials and Western governments for assisting the Jewish state during the conflict, Loyalty to the Resistance Bloc MP Nawaf Mousawi said Sunday.

“Those who were harmed from the Israeli aggression should file lawsuits in Lebanese courts and international courts against those who colluded with Israel against them in 2006 and against Western governments, especially the U.S. government, who provided the enemy with missiles to be fired at our neighborhoods and homes,” Mousawi said during a ceremony organized by Hezbollah to commemorate those who died during the war. (more…)