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Condemned U.S.-Lebanese Man Ruled Incompetent for Execution

A Lebanese-born inmate is too mentally ill to be executed for the killings of his wife and brother-in-law, a U.S. judge ruled Friday in a decision that comes just a week after the governor issued a reprieve hours before the man was set to die.

"Abdul Awkal presently lacks the capacity to form a rational understanding as to the reason the state intends to execute him," county Judge Stuart Friedman said. "Abdul Awkal may not be executed unless and until he has been restored to competency."

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Watkins Says Difficult to Maintain Lebanese Government’s Syria Policy if Situation Worsens

U.N. Humanitarian Coordinator for Lebanon Robert Watkins warned on Saturday that Lebanese authorities won’t be able to keep the policy of keeping Lebanon at a distance from the Syrian crisis if the situation in the neighboring country worsens.

In an interview with An Nahar daily following a tour to the eastern Bekaa valley, Watkins said the policy has been so far successful. “But it could be difficult to preserve it if the situation deteriorates in Syria.”

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Jumblat Says Neither March 8 nor March 14 Can Make Changes in Syria

Progressive Socialist Party leader Walid Jumblat advised both the March 8 coalition and the March 14 opposition to steer themselves clear of the Syrian crisis, saying local Lebanese parties won’t be able to change anything in the Syrian crisis.

In an interview with pan-Arab daily Asharq al-Awsat published Saturday, Jumblat said: “No matter what they thought, they won’t be able to change a thing in Syria.”

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Aoun Warns of Lebanese Civil War if Assad Falls

Free Patriotic Movement leader Michel Aoun has expressed fear that Lebanon would witness a new civil war if Syrian President Bashar Assad’s regime falls.

“The repercussions of what’s going on in Syria cannot take us to such a war,” Aoun told As Safir daily in an interview published on Saturday. Yet he warned that “the regime’s collapse could lead to a war.”

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Berri Says Parliamentary Session to be Held in 1st Week of July

Speaker Nabih Berri said Saturday that Prime Minister Najib Miqati’s travel to Brazil and preparations for the next round of all-party talks prevented him from calling for a parliamentary session end of June.

In remarks to An Nahar newspaper, Berri said the session would be held instead in the first week of July.

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Nasrallah Says Hizbullah Missiles Can Hit All Vital Sites in Israel

Hizbullah Secretary-General Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah said Thursday that the party’s missiles are now “capable of reaching vital targets inside Israel,” pointing out that the “Israelis themselves acknowledge Hizbullah’s missile power.”

In an interview with the Iranian television, Nasrallah added that the military capabilities of his group “cannot be compared to the previous phase,” describing Israel’s threats to attack Iran as “propaganda to blackmail the international community.”

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Palestinian Dead, 3 Hurt as Residents Clash with Army in Nahr al-Bared

A Palestinian was killed and three others were wounded on Friday when the Lebanese army opened fire during a spat at the Nahr al-Bared refugee camp in northern Lebanon, a Palestinian source told Agence France Presse.

The violence erupted after the army arrested two Palestinian men who were on a motorcycle and refused to stop at a checkpoint, the source said.

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Saniora: We Reject Dialogue that Tackles Marginal Issues

The head of the Mustaqbal parliamentary bloc MP Fouad Saniora stressed on Friday that national dialogue in Lebanon “must be begin with the acceptance of the other,” adding that the bloc agreed to resume the talks out of its desire to reach an agreement over certain issues.

He said during a press conference at his office in Sidon: “We don’t want to take part in a dialogue that tackles marginal cases that have nothing to do with the talks.”

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Miqati Heads to Rio for Sustainable Development Summit

Prime Minister Najib Miqati travelled to Brazil on Friday to take part in the U.N. conference on sustainable development that opens in Rio de Janeiro next week.

A statement released by his press office said Miqati will lead Lebanon’s delegation to the U.N. Rio+20 conference that is set to be held on June 20-22.

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Interior Ministry Confirms Security Agencies can Obtain Telecom Data

The interior ministry confirmed on Friday that the security agencies can have access to the telecommunications data after the competent judicial committee approved the decision.

According to a statement issued by the interior ministry, the telecommunications ministry is “no longer” linked to the issue as it has a “minor” role in deciding whether the security agencies can obtain this data.

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