Suicide bomber kills 38 Yemeni soldiers in Sanaa

A suicide bomber killed 38 Yemeni soldiers at a military parade rehearsal in the capital Sanaa on Monday in one of the deadliest attacks in the city in months, military officials and witnesses said. (more…)

Syria accuses Lebanon of “incubating” terrorists

Damascus has sent a letter to the United Nations accusing some Lebanese areas of helping al Qaeda and the Muslim Brotherhood to take root along the Syrian border, adding to its criticism of Turkey and Libya for allegedly providing arms to Syrian rebels.

“Some Lebanese areas next to the Syrian border are incubating terrorist elements (more…)

U.S. Embassy ruled out the return of Syrian army to Lebanon

The U.S. Embassy ruled out on Thursday the return of the Syrian army to Lebanon, calling on Christians to open the doors of dialogue instead of focusing on fears.

This comes in response to Rifaat Eid, the head of the Arab Democratic Party, who called on Wednesday for the return of the Syrian army (more…)

13 year old boy killed in renewed Tripoli clashes

A 13-year-old boy was killed and at least four other people wounded by sniper fire in the Lebanese city of Tripoli in north Lebanon on Wednesday . (more…)

Pity the tiny nation

Woe, again, is Lebanon. Pity the tiny nation that seems condemned to be dragged into virtually every one of the region’s conflagrations. Such is the fate of a perennially divided country.

Right from the start of the uprising against Syria’s Bashar al-Assad, it was inevitable that similar tensions would echo inside the borders of Syria’s smaller, weaker, more subdivided neighbour ( (more…)

Charbel: Al-Qaeda doesn’t exist in Lebanon

Interior Minister Marwan Charbel said Wednesday that there are individuals in Lebanon who sympathize with Al-Qaeda, but that the group as an organization does not exist in the country does not have any bases and does not receive any funding. (more…)

Renewed fighting rocks Lebanon’s Tripoli

Heavy fighting rocked Lebanon’s northern port of Tripoli for a fourth day on Wednesday, wounding
at least six people in a city where sectarian tensions have been growing over the revolt in neighbouring Syria, security sources said.

The fighting in Tripoli, 70 km (43 miles) from Beirut, has highlighted how violence in Syria can spill into Lebanon (more…)

ceasefire only partly observed, says Syrian opposition

A U.N.-backed ceasefire that took effect in Syria at dawn is only being “partially observed” as heavy weapons and government troops remain deployed in cities, the main opposition movement said on Thursday.

“There is no evidence of a significant withdrawal,” (more…)

Syrian army colonel defected with hundreds of soldiers, report

A Syrian army colonel said on Saturday that he has defected with “hundreds” of soldiers and warned the regime against launching a crackdown on the eastern oil hub of Deir Ezzor. (more…)

Syrian infighting suggests Assad’s grip on power is slipping

The US defence secretary, Robert Gates, has become the latest Obama administration official to suggest President Bashar al-Assad has lost the legitimacy to rule Syria. But a more pressing question for the international community as it contemplates the regime’s ever more vicious and shambolic efforts to crush the pro-democracy uprising is whether Assad has lost the plot. (more…)