Lebanon
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Offshore Natural Sources Back to Forefront as Tenders Await Appointment of Oil Committee

Prime Minister Najib Miqati stressed on Monday that escalation will not benefit any side in Lebanon as tranquility is the only way to resolve disputes and maintain stability.

“It’s the same old rhetoric, escalation will not benefit anyone, and calm is the only way to resolve the issues,” Miqati told As Safir newspaper.

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Report: LF Mulling to Boycott Meeting of Christian MPs in Bkirki

Lebanese Forces MPs are mulling to boycott a meeting of Christian lawmakers in Bkirki next month over their dispute with Maronite Patriarch Beshara al-Rahi on his stance from the Syrian revolution, sources told pan-Arab daily al-Hayat on Monday.

But the Phalange party, which is their ally in the March 14 opposition coalition, believes that there is no excuse for not attending the April 3 meeting, the sources said.

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Treasury Department Official Tightens Noose on Syria Through Beirut Visit

A top U.S. Department of the Treasury official is expected to urge Lebanon on Tuesday to abide by the U.S. and European Union sanctions imposed on Syria, Lebanese dailies said.

An Nahar newspaper quoted political sources as saying that Under Secretary for Terrorism and Financial Intelligence David Cohen will urge Central Bank Governor Riyad Salameh and other high-ranking officials to prevent Lebanese banks from offering any support that would help the Assad regime escape the sanctions.

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Power-Generating Vessels Committee to Convene Monday as Lebanon Sinks in Darkness

Prime Minister Najib Miqati will chair on Monday a meeting of the ministerial committee tasked with finding a solution to Lebanon's prolonged electricity crisis at the Grand Serail, local newspapers reported.

“The committee will discuss the technical reports by experts concerning the two companies (a Turkish and an American) that won tenders” to provide Lebanon with electricity through power-generating vessels, Environment Minister Nazem al-Khoury told al-Akhbar newspaper.

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Report: Baragwanath to Arrive in Beirut on April 1

President of the Special Tribunal for Lebanon Judge Sir David Baragwanath will arrive in Lebanon on April 1, al-Akhbar newspaper reported on Monday.

“Baragwanath has informed the Lebanese authorities about his expected visit in an official letter sent to Lebanon’s embassy” in the Netherlands, sources told the daily.

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Authorities Seek to Regulate Chaos of Special Passports

Speaker Nabih Berri is expected to discuss with the Parliament’s Bureau on Monday complaints that Special Passports are being granted to people not entitled to get them in contravention with the Vienna Convention that regulates diplomatic relations.

Berri brought up the issue with President Michel Suleiman and Premier Najib Miqati after he learned that high-ranking military personnel, judges, advisors of ministers and even some journalists and clergymen were being granted the passports, An Nahar daily said.

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Jumblat Says Laying Rebel Flag on Father's Tomb Freed Him from 'Big Prison'

Progressive Socialist Party leader MP Walid Jumblat said Sunday that by placing the Syrian rebel flag on his father’s tomb he had “exited the big prison of the Syrian regime.”

“I believe that when I placed the flag of the Syrian revolution on the grave of Kamal Jumblat -- who was assassinated by the Syrian regime and the bunch manipulating Syria’s fate – I believe that that had cleared my conscience and that I have exited the big prison the Syrian regime, or the pro-Assad bunch, had put us in for decades,” Jumblat said in a phone interview with Al-Arabiya television.

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Syrian Thief Arrested after Committing over 20 Robberies

The security forces arrested on Sunday a Syrian national who has committed over 20 robberies in Beirut and its suburbs, reported the National News Agency.

Born in1995, Majd Youssef was detained in the Hay al-Sillum neighborhood in Beirut’s southern suburbs.

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Aridi Calls for Law that Sets Limit of Govt. Spending

Minister of Transportation and Public Works Ghazi al-Aridi stated that a law on government spending should not speak of the mechanism and auditing of spending, reported the daily An Nahar on Sunday.

He explained: “A draft law on the matter should set the limit of government spending.”

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Parliament Meeting May Develop into Session to Question Confidence in Ministers

A meeting for the parliament office on Monday may turn into a session to voice confidence in ministers, reported the daily An Nahar on Sunday.

“The way have been opened for it to develop into a session during which ministers may be placed before a vote of confidence due to several pending contentious ministerial issues,” said the daily.

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