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U.N. Wants Capable Government, Urges Politicians to Support Lebanese Army

U.N. Special Coordinator for Lebanon Derek Plumbly said the formation of a capable government facilitates the work of the United Nations in Lebanon.

In an interview with As Safir daily published on Thursday, Plumbly said it was up to the Lebanese to decide on the form of the new cabinet but it was “important to form a capable government as soon as possible.”

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United States Says It Is 'Ready' for Any Retaliatory Attack by Hizbullah

The United States announced on Wednesday that it is ready to respond to any possible attack launched by Hizbullah as a retaliation to the anticipated U.S.-led operation against the Syrian regime.

"Our Navy is ready to respond to any retaliatory attack by Hizbullah,” U.S. army chief General Martin Dempsey said during a hearing before the U.S. House of Representatives Committee on Foreign Affairs.

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Abu Faour Attends Geneva Talks on Syria Refugees, Says 'We Really Need Help'

The U.N. refugee agency and Syria's overburdened neighbors Lebanon, Turkey, Jordan and Iraq on Wednesday urged the international community to put differences aside and find a common solution to end the "cycle of horror."

"We strongly appeal to the international community to overcome existing differences and come together to stop the fighting," Antonio Guterres, the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees, said as he read a joint statement after talks with ministers from the four countries.

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Minkara after His Release Urges Dialogue with Rafehi, Says Gharib Retracted All Confessions

After his release from detention on Wednesday, Sheikh Hashem Minkara announced that Sheikh Ahmed al-Gharib, the first suspect arrested over the Tripoli blasts, has retracted all his confessions, calling for a dialogue conference with Salafist cleric Sheikh Salem al-Rafehi.

“The bombings that targeted the al-Salam and al-Taqwa mosques two weeks ago are strongly condemned. It is a vile act and it is absolutely haram (impermissible in Islam). Only someone who has a black heart and deep hatred towards humanity could do such an act,” Minkara, head of the pro-Syria Islamic Tawhid Movement-Command Council, said at a press conference he held following his provisional release.

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March 14 General Secretariat: To Punish Syrian Regime for Chemical Weapons' Use

The March 14 General Secretariat held the Syrian regime responsible for the bombings that rocked the Dahieh area and the city of Tripoli in August, and backed the decision of the Arab League foreign ministers to punish the Syrian regime for using chemical weapons against its own people.

In a statement issued following its weekly meeting on Wednesday, the Secretariat said that the involvement of the Syrian regime in the bombings that targeted the southern district of Beirut and the northern city of Tripoli has been proved, pointing that the vicious schemes come to complement the schemes of Mamlouk-Samaha.

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15 Charged for Firing Rockets at Baabda, Beirut's Southern Suburbs

State Commissioner to the Military Court Judge Saqr Saqr on Wednesday charged 15 suspects, seven of whom are in custody, for firing rockets at Baabda and Beirut's southern suburbs.

The seven suspects include two Lebanese and five Syrians, said the state-run National News Agency.

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Suleiman Hopes Economic Committees Would Make Voices Heard

President Michel Suleiman hoped on Wednesday that parliamentary blocs and political leaders would heed the requests of the Economic Committees and exert efforts to form a new government.

“It is important for blocs and political leaders to hear this scream and be positive in their political work by exerting efforts to form an all-embracing cabinet in which everyone would assume his responsibility,” Suleiman told a visiting delegation of Economic Committees led by Adnan Kassar.

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Maronite Bishops Warn against Repercussions of Syria Strike

The Council of Maronite Bishops condemned on Wednesday the alleged use of chemical weapons in Syria but rejected the use of force, saying the war should be resolved peacefully.

The war in Syria is “taking dangerous turns” since the alleged use of chemical weapons and threats to strike the country, said the bishops following their monthly meeting under Patriarch Beshara al-Rahi at his summer residence in Diman.

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Miqati in Diman for Talks with al-Rahi, Says Dialogue is Essential

Caretaker Prime Minister Najib Miqati visited on Wednesday Maronite Patriarch Beshara al-Rahi at his summer seat of Diman where he attended part of the meeting of the council of Maronite bishops.

Miqati was accompanied by Caretaker Ministers Hassan Diab, Walid al-Daour and Ahmed Karami and the head of the Council for Development and Reconstruction, Nabil al-Jisr.

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Report: ISF Members Questioned over Celebratory Gunfire

The Internal Security Forces Intelligence Branch is interrogating eight members of the Regional Drug Control Office in the Bekaa for using their arms for celebratory gunfire, al-Akhbar daily reported on Wednesday.

The newspaper said the eight officers used their guns to fire in the air during the wedding of the bureau's chief, Captain Bassel Nasser, at Hotel Massabki in the Bekaa town of Chtaura.

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