An employee for a mobile phone service company was released on bail on Thursday after he was imprisoned on charges of collaborating with Israel, reported the National News Agency.
It said that Charbel Qazzi was released from jail after paying L.L.10 million in bail.
Full StoryGuards thwarted an attempt by around 20 Fatah al-Islam prisoners to escape from Roumieh prison, the oldest and largest of Lebanon's overcrowded prisons, the National News Agency reported on Thursday.
NNA said the inmates had cut iron bars at the prison's library and were seeking to dig a hole in the wall of the workshop that had been burned in previous riots when the plot was uncovered on Thursday night.
Full StoryThe army urged on Thursday media outlets not to publish any information about the military during the delicate situation that Lebanon and the region are passing through, unless it was issued by the army command or army chief Gen. Jean Qahwaji.
According to a communique issued by the Army Command it pointed out that there is no high-ranking military source that has the right to issue statements about the army other than its leader or what the Army Command discloses.
Full StoryLebanon met the required costs to Turkish power company Karadeniz after a long delay, al-Akhbar newspaper reported on Thursday, pointing out that the first power-generating vessel is expected to arrive in April.
According to the daily, the Finance Ministry transferred the money to Electricite du Liban on November 7, which in turn transferred the cost of acquiring the two ships to the Turkish company on Wednesday after procedures with the Central Bank ended.
Full StoryThree charred bodies were retrieved from a vehicle heading to northern Lebanon after it overturned and burst into flames on the Jbeil-Barbara highway, the National News Agency reported on Thursday.
The agency said the Mercedes overturned multiple times and then caught fire.
Full StoryThe Interpol will not deal with the Syrian arrest warrants against former Prime Minister Saad Hariri, al-Mustaqbal MP Oqab Saqr and Syrian opposition member Louay al-Meqdad in line with its constitution and rules, al-Mustaqbal newspaper reported on Thursday.
According to a memo sent by the Interpol to its offices in the Arab countries, the organization decided not to keep the arrest warrants in its database and will not cooperate with them based on its regulations as “it is strictly forbidden for the organization to undertake any intervention or activities of political, military, religious or racial character.”
Full StoryPresident Michel Suleiman informed Interior Minister Marwan Charbel that he should continue his preparations for the 2013 parliamentary elections irrespective of vacancies in several posts, An Nahar daily reported on Thursday.
The newspaper quoted Charbel as telling a cabinet session held at Baabda palace on Wednesday that the government was yet to appoint governors and directors of several departments in the interior ministry - posts necessary to prepare for the polls.
Full StorySocial media like Facebook and Twitter have become important elements in political and social discourse in Lebanon with 34 percent of Lebanese saying they use social networking sites to share their views, a survey showed Thursday.
Among the social network participants in Lebanon, 68 percent said they shared views on politics, 81 percent on community issues and 8 percent on religion, a 21-nation survey made by the Pew Research Center found.
Full StoryPrime Minister Najib Miqati chaired on Wednesday a security meeting at the Grand Serail to tackle the threats directed against a number of March 14 opposition lawmakers and officials.
Interior Minister Marwan Charbel said after the meeting: “Regardless of all our training and preparations, we can only provide them with 50-60 percent protection.”
Full StorySyria accused on Wednesday former Premier Saad Hariri, Mustaqbal MP Oqab Saqr, and Syrian opposition member Louay al-Meqdad of committing terrorist crimes, reported Syria's SANA official news agency.
Damascus' First Attorney-General Mohammed Marwan al-Loji stated: “Failure to bring Hariri, Saqr, and Meqdad to justice is a violation of international law.”
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