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Zasypkin Backs Stability in Lebanon, Rejects Meddling in its Affairs

Russian Ambassador to Lebanon Alexander Zasypkin reiterated on Wednesday that his country supports stability and security in Lebanon, stressing that Moscow rejects any intervention in the country's local affairs.

“We back stability and security in Lebanon. The members of the U.N. Security Council all voiced their support to maintaining stability and security in Lebanon,” the ambassador said.

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Rebels Say they Lost Battle for Qusayr but Vow to Fight 'Lebanese Mercenaries'

Syria's rebels conceded on Tuesday they had lost the battle for the strategic town of Qusayr but vowed to fight “thousands of Lebanese mercenaries” after the army seized total control of it and the surrounding region.

The main opposition National Coalition shrugged off the defeat, declaring the "revolution will continue".

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EU Kickstarts Discussions on Blacklisting Hizbullah Military Wing

European Union countries mulled on Tuesday placing Hizbullah's military wing on its list of terrorist organizations ahead of a wide meeting for EU foreign ministers in Luxembourg on June 24.

According to As Safir newspaper, several EU countries, including Austria are questioning the “motives behind blacklisting Hizbullah.”

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Eid Has Reservations Over Army Raids, Berri Hints 5th Column Involved in Tripoli Fighting

The head of the Arab Democratic Party, Rifaat Eid, has expressed reservations over raids carried out by the Lebanese army in his stronghold in the northern city of Tripoli as Speaker Nabih Berri hinted that a fifth column was seeking to create tension in the area.

In remarks to An Nahar daily, Eid said the army made unusual steps in the neighborhood of Jabal Mohsen on Tuesday by “raiding our homes and ransacking them and we haven't made a move against it.”

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White House Condemns 'Nasrallah's Game in Syria' as FSA Threatens of Move Battle to Lebanon

The White House on Tuesday condemned Hizbullah's involvement in Syria's war, expressing that the party's leader Sayyed Hasan Nasrallah is “playing a dangerous game,” as the Free Syrian Army threatened to move the battle to Lebanon.

"We are deeply concerned by the continued fighting in (the Syrian border town of) al-Qusayr and condemn the indiscriminate killing of civilians by Assad's forces and his proxies, including Hizbullah fighters," White House spokesman Jay Carney said.

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Mustaqbal Demands Implementing 'Effective Security Plan' in Tripoli, Penalizing 'Negligent Officials'

Al-Mustaqbal parliamentary bloc Tuesday urged political and security officials to adopt an “effective plan” that draws an end to the ongoing violence in the northern city of Tripoli, demanding the penalization of “those who failed in controlling the situation.”

“We call on political and security authorities to quickly act to end the crime taking place in Tripoli and to implement an effective security plan,” the bloc stated after the MPs' weekly meeting at the Center House.

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Jumblat Says Tripoli Frontier Can't Change Course of Syrian Conflict

Progressive Socialist Party leader MP Walid Jumblat on Tuesday urged an end to the fighting in Tripoli, noting that any attempt to affect the course of battles in Syria through igniting the situation in the northern city is futile.

“As major world powers stand idly by regarding the martyrs that are falling everyday across Syria, and given their inability to reach a common vision on the implementation of the desired political solution that aims to rescue the Syrian people, igniting the fire in the city of Tripoli will not change the equations of the complicated and worsening Syrian situations,” Jumblat said in a press release.

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Geagea Calls On Suleiman, Salam, Berri to 'Assume Responsibility': Hizbullah Is Getting out of Control

Lebanese Forces leader Samir Geagea stated on Tuesday that Hizbullah is “getting out of control,” urging the president of the republic and the premier-designate to “announce that they are in charge of things.”

"We are in front of two options which are either to go along with Hizbullah or to act taking into consideration the Lebanese people's higher interests through the formation of a salvation cabinet,” Geagea said in an interview with the Central News Agency.

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Aoun Calls for Replacing Security Officials, Says FPM MPs Won't Resign

Free Patriotic Movement leader MP Michel Aoun on Tuesday said the Constitutional Council “cannot but accept” the challenges filed against the extension of parliament's term, calling for the replacement of security officials over the dire security situation in Tripoli.

“We extensively discussed the challenge we have filed and the possible effects should it be accepted. We agreed that as is the case with any vacant seat, elections would have to take place within 60 days and the parliament would be dissolved,” Aoun said after the weekly meeting of the Change and Reform parliamentary bloc in Rabiyeh.

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Mansour Heads to Cairo: We Can't Accept that Hizbullah be Labeled Terrorist

Caretaker Foreign Minister Adnan Mansour on Tuesday stressed that Lebanon cannot accept that Hizbullah be labeled as a “terrorist organization,” noting that Lebanon is still committed to the so-called self-dissociation policy.

Ahead of leaving Beirut for Cairo, where he will take part in an extraordinary meeting for Arab foreign ministers on Wednesday, Mansour said: “The meeting will be focused on the Syrian issue and the latest developments in this regard.”

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