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Salam Gripped by Fear over Deteriorating Situation

Prime Minister Tammam Salam voiced concern on Sunday over the crises gripping the country, considering that Lebanon is facing the unknown.

“Most of the current issues reached a standstill,” Salam's visitors quoted him as saying in comments published in An Nahar newspaper.

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Derbas Calls for Unity against Terrorism, Says Lebanon Cannot Bear More Refugees

Social Affairs Minister Rashid Derbas stressed on Sunday that Lebanon can no longer welcome any new Syrian refugees on its territories, calling for further unity among the Lebanese to face terrorists.

“The country is filled to capacity and we cannot contain more refugees,” Derbas said in comments published in the Kuwaiti newspaper Al-Siyassah.

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Report: Lebanon Pulled into War with Islamic State Group 

With all eyes on the Islamic State group's onslaught in Iraq and Syria, a less conspicuous but potentially just as explosive front line with the extremists is emerging in Lebanon, where Lebanese soldiers and Hizbullah are increasingly pulled into deadly fighting with the Sunni militants along the country's border with Syria.

The U.S. has been speeding up delivery of small ammunition to shore up Lebanon's army, but recent cross-border attacks and beheading of Lebanese soldiers by Islamic State fighters — and the defection of four others to the extremists — has sent shockwaves across this Mediterranean country, eliciting fear of a potential slide into the kind of militant, sectarian violence afflicting both Syria and Iraq, and increasingly prompting minorities to take up arms.

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Army Arrests Syrian who Killed Soldier in Arsal's August Attack

The Lebanese army on Saturday announced arresting a Syrian man involved in the deadly jihadist assault on the Bekaa border town of Arsal in early August.

“Following surveillance and investigations, army forces in the Arsal region arrested Syrian national Saleh Mustafa Amer, who was wanted for brandishing an assault weapon in the city of Baalbek and threatening citizens,” the army said in a communique.

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Mashnouq: Truth in al-Hassan's Case Imminent, We Refuse to be 'Sahwa Leaders'

Interior Minister Nouhad al-Mashnouq on Saturday announced that authorities are about to unveil the “truth” in the case of the 2012 assassination of General Wissam al-Hassan, the then commander of the Internal Security Forces Intelligence Bureau.

“We are on the verge of unveiling the truth behind the assassination of Maj. Gen. al-Hassan and it will be announced at the appropriate time and I'm responsible for my words,” Mashnouq said at a ceremony commemorating the second anniversary of al-Hassan's assassination.

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Man Robbed after Brief Kidnap in Baalbek as Family of 2 Abductees Blocks Road

Lebanese citizen Joseph George Ghanem, 50, was briefly abducted on Saturday in the Bekaa city of Baalbek, state-run National News Agency reported.

Ghanem, the representative of the Bush Hardware Company in the Bekaa, was freed around an hour from his abduction after the armed kidnappers robbed him of $4,000, a credit card and his personal cellphone, NNA said.

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Officials: Lebanon Sharply Limits Syrian Refugee Entry

Lebanon has all but closed its borders to refugees fleeing Syria's civil war, overwhelmed by an influx of over one million people displaced by fighting, U.N. and Lebanese officials said Saturday.

Quoted by al-Akhbar newspaper, Social Affairs Minister Rashid Derbas said Lebanon "no longer officially receives any displaced Syrians."

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Moqbel Begins Three-Day Visit to Tehran

Defense Minister Samir Moqbel on Saturday started a three-day visit to Tehran for talks expected to culminate in him securing military equipment to bolster Lebanon's fight against jihadists.

His visit comes two weeks after Iran vowed to supply the Lebanese army with much-needed equipment following its deadly clashes with fighters from the Islamic State group and al-Qaida affiliate, al-Nusra Front, on the Syrian border in August.

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More Than 20 Syrians Arrested in Raids throughout Lebanon

The Army Intelligence carried out on Saturday raids on Syrian refugee encampments in the northern city of Zgharta and the Mount Lebanon region of Iqlim al-Kharroub, reported the National News Agency.

It said that 15 Syrians were arrested during the operation in Zgharta.

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Report: Next Week's General Session to Set Date to Extend Parliament's Term

A general session aimed at electing members of parliamentary committees next week will be used to set the date for a session to extend parliament's term, reported the Kuwaiti daily al-Anba on Saturday.

Parliamentary sources told the daily that the parliament will approve the extension draft-law and speed up its implementation in a manner that will lead to its publication in the official gazette within five days.

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