Prime Minister Najib Miqati praised on Friday Speaker Nabih Berri and Hizbullah chief Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah for their efforts in ensuring the release of the 11 Lebanese pilgrims who were released from captivity in Syria earlier on Friday.
He said in a statement: “We hope this occasion will enable the Lebanese to overcome all obstacles that prevented them from holding dialogue given the goodwill showed by all sides.”
Full StoryEgypt looks set for a run-off presidential vote between the Muslim Brotherhood's Mohammed Mursi and Mubarak-era minister Ahmed Shafiq, pitting the Islamists who helped oust a dictator against his last premier.
A run-off between Shafiq and Mursi will further polarize a nation that rose up against president Hosni Mubarak's authoritarianism 15 months ago but has since suffered a spike in violence and a declining economy.
Full StoryHizbullah Secretary-General Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah is expected to tackle on Friday the latest developments in Lebanon and the region.
He will deliver his speech via video link to mark “Liberation Day” at a rally that will be held in the southern town of Bint Jbeil.
Full StoryThe request of the March 14 forces for the formation of a neutral salvation government during a conference held on Thursday came after three weeks of preparations when the opposition discovered that the Syrian regime is preparing to ignite tension in Lebanon, high-ranking March 14 sources said Friday.
“The preparation for the meeting began around three weeks ago when it became clear that the Syrian regime had decided that the decision of steering Lebanon clear (of the crisis in Syria) was over and that this regime was preparing something for Lebanon,” sources told An Nahar daily.
Full StoryPrime Minister Najib Miqati said on Friday that the price of his resignation would be consensus among Lebanese on the dialogue table.
“I am ready to do whatever (the officials) agree on during the dialogue,” Miqati told al-Liwaa newspaper.
Full StoryTop Lebanese officials rejected conditions set by the March 14 opposition for the resumption of dialogue, saying the March 14 coalition should participate in the all-party talks without providing any excuses.
“Before calling for (the formation of) a neutral cabinet, let it first participate in the dialogue,” Speaker Nabih Berri’s visitors quoted him as saying.
Full StorySpeaker Nabih Berri urged Iraq and Iran to limit the visits for Lebanese Shiites pilgrims to the holy sites in those two countries to flights by air.
An Nahar newspaper reported on Friday that the speaker contacted Iraqi Ambassador to Lebanon Omar al-Barzanji and Iranian Ambassador Ghazanfar Roknabadi to demand them to halt all visits by land.
Full StoryAs one diplomatic effort after another fails to end more than a year of brutal violence in Syria, the Obama administration is preparing a plan that would essentially give U.S. nods of approval to arms transfers from Arab nations to some Syrian opposition fighters.
The effort, U.S. officials told The Associated Press, would vet members of the Free Syrian Army and other groups to determine whether they are suitable recipients of munitions to fight the Assad government and to ensure that weapons don't wind up in the hands of al-Qaida-linked terrorists or Hizbullah that could target Israel.
Full StoryPresident Francois Hollande said Friday that France would coordinate with NATO allies the withdrawal of its combat troops from Afghanistan.
The French head of state said the pullout would take place with "good understanding with our allies" particularly U.S. President Barack Obama, during a visit to a military base in Kapisa, where most French troops are stationed in Afghanistan.
Full StoryKuwait's Finance Minister Mustafa al-Shamali resigned on Thursday following a marathon grilling in which opposition MPs accused him of wide-ranging financial irregularities.
"I submit my resignation from my post," declared the 69-year-old minister after a passionate address in parliament following the 11-hour questioning.
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