Lebanon News

BEIRUT: Grand Mufti Sheikh Mohammad Rashid Qabbani expressed confidence Friday that the recent Saudi-Syrian talks will reflect positively on the overall situation in Lebanon.

As Lebanon picks up the pieces from its latest round of civil strife, a brief flare-up in the Beirut neighborhood of Aisha Bakkar, we should remember that there is life beyond S and S, or Syria and Saudi Arabia.

Syria's leader sent a July 4 message full of praise to President Barack Obama on Friday and invited him to visit Syria - the latest signs Damascus is hedging its bets in Mideast politics, warming up to its rival the United States at a time when its longtime ally Iran is in turmoil.

A French comedian of Jewish descent is welcome to perform in Lebanon, a cabinet minister in Beirut said Tuesday.

BEIRUT: Lebanon is once again experiencing severe electricity rationing this summer as thousands of Lebanese and Arab visitors flock to the country, increasing strain on power stations that meet less than 60 percent of the country's electricity needs.

Beirut- Hezbollah's Shura Council held a meeting recently and decided not to participate in the new government according to informed sources of Lebanese news Agency al Markaziyah.

Metro-east residents are set to celebrate the nation's 233rd birthday this weekend with an explosion of concerts, picnics, sports tourneys and, of course, fireworks.

Independence Day might be Saturday, but fireworks are not allowed in the City of Lebanon.

Date : Tue, 30 Jun 2009 16:42:24 +0500 HARIRI SAYS MPS SHOWED OPENNESS, LEBANON'S 2 VOICES SHOULD BE UNITED Naharnet Beirut, 29 Jun 09, 21:38 Premier-designate Saad Hariri said after day-long consultations with parliamentary blocs on the future cabinet that MPs showed openness and stressed the "two voices" of Lebanese should be united in the ...

Son of murdered former Lebanese PM holds talks with Hezbollah to discuss new national unity government Sa'ad al-Hariri, the Sunni Muslim leader of Lebanon's parliamentary majority and head of the western-backed Future movement, is poised to become prime minister tomorrow after seeking to mend fences with the Shia movement Hezbollah.

When the Lebanese poet Safwan Haidar walked out of his Beirut prison last week, his first request stunned the Lebanese journalists who had secured his freedom.

A deadly street clash between rival political groups this weekend - the worst factional violence in the Lebanese capital in over a year - underlines the challenges lying ahead for Saad Hariri, Lebanon's top Sunni politician, who has been appointed Lebanon's next prime minister.

One woman was killed and several other people wounded, including a Lebanese soldier, Sunday night when rival Shiite and Sunni partisans traded gunfire in the Aisha Bakkar district of west Beirut.

The outbreak of violence was a reminder of the lingering tensions that exist in Lebanon, even though the country's political leaders have made efforts lately to achieve reconciliation.

BEIRUT: Four people suspected of links to Al-Qaeda were charged Monday with planning attacks in Lebanon and Syria, judicial officials said.

French-Jewish stand-up comedian Gad Elmaleh has cancelled his performances in a Lebanon festival, after media in Lebanon reported he had served in the Israel Defense Forces.

BEIRUT: Lebanese Prime Minister-designate Saad al-Hariri began parliamentary consultations on Monday aiming to form a unity government with rivals including the Iranian-backed Hezbollah.

Toufic Machnouk The reality in Lebanon remains unreported while the world press debates whether it was the "Obama effect" or the will of the Lebanese majority that led to the win of the US backed ruling coalition in this month's Lebanese parliamentary elections.

Christian heads of both the majority and the opposition have raised their stakes ahead of the imminent formation of the Lebanese government headed by Sunni leader Saad Hariri.

Israel on Sunday warned the incoming Lebanese government that Beirut would be held to account in the event Hezbollah launches attacks against the north.

At least one woman was killed and three wounded Sunday when clashes erupted in Beirut between followers of the Western-backed ruling majority and those of the Hezbollah-led opposition, Lebanese police said.

Sunni supporters of Lebanon's prime minister-designate and Shiite rivals from the parliament speaker's political faction traded gunfire in a Beirut neighborhood Sunday.