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- 1 jan 2011
Hezbollah: Egypt attack serves US, Israel
Egyptian Christians mourn outside the church following the attack.
Hezbollah has said that a recent attack on a church in northern Egypt, which killed 21 people, is in the interests of Israel and the United States.
The fatalities were caused on Saturday after a bomber detonated and explosive device at the Saints Church in the Egyptian city of Alexandria, the country's Interior Ministry said. The incident also wounded 79 others, including eight Muslims.
The Lebanese resistance movement said later in the day that the attack "comes as part of the most dangerous conspiracies aimed at religious diversity, Lebanese website Naharnet reported.
The set of intrigues, the movement said, were targeting more than one Arab and Muslim country, it said.
They were meant to serve the Zionist scheme in occupied Palestine and the American scheme aimed at fragmenting our Arab and Islamic countries."
Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak has also blamed "foreign hands" for the deadly New Year attack, AFP reported. "All of Egypt is targeted this blind terrorism does not differentiate between Copts and Muslims," he said.
http://www.presstv.ir/detail/158211.html 24 feb 2011, 12:20 , Respect -
Lebanon indicts general over espionage
A Lebanese military judge has issued an indictment, urging the death penalty for a retired Lebanese army general for allegedly spying on his country.
Judge Riad Abu Ghida called for the death sentence on Monday against Colonel Antoine Abu Jawudeh, who was charged with spying for "the Israeli enemy," Lebanon's National News Agency (NNA) reported.
General Abu Jawudeh, who was arrested last August, is accused of having spied for Israel since 2006.
The colonel is also accused of having met with agents of Israel's intelligence agency Mossad to supply information on Lebanon's Hezbollah movement and the army in exchange for money.
Last month, a military judge issued arrest warrants for five Lebanese citizens for providing Israel with information on Hezbollah.
More than 100 people in Lebanon have been arrested on suspicion of espionage for Israel since April 2009, including army personnel and telecoms employees.
Five people have so far been condemned to death for espionage but none of the sentences has been carried out.
http://www.presstv.ir/detail/158500.html 26 feb 2011, 02:37 , Respect -
Lebanon to UN: Protect gas from Israel
Lebanese officials accuse Israel of drilling in fields that extend into Lebanon, state denies allegations.
Lebanon has asked the United Nations to protect the country's natural gas reserves along the maritime border with Israel.
Lebanese officials accuse Israel of drilling in fields that extend into Lebanon. Israel denies the allegation.
Last week, Texas-based Noble Energy Inc. announced an estimated 16 trillion cubic feet of natural gas found in a field off Israel's Mediterranean coast.
Late Tuesday, Lebanese Foreign Minister Ali Shami sent a letter to UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon urging him to "prevent Israel from exploiting Lebanon's oil and maritime wealth."
The United Nations demarcated the land border separating Israel and Lebanon in 2000, but there is no official naval border.
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4009416,00.html
Lebanon protests Israel's drilling
Lebanese Foreign Minister Ali Shami has sent a letter to the UN secretary general, protesting Israel's exploitation of Lebanon's energy resources.
The move comes a week after a Texas-based Noble Energy Inc. announced the discovery of a field with an estimated 16 trillion cubic feet of natural gas adjacent to Lebanese maritime borders.
The gas reserve is estimated to be worth more than USD 95 billion and is believed to be the largest amount of natural gas discovered in the world in the last decade, the Associated Press reported on Wednesday.
"Some of the discovered wells are in joint fields between Lebanon and Israel," the Lebanese foreign minister said in his letter to UN chief Ban Ki-moon.
Shami also called for the protection of Lebanese interests.
Lebanon also sent maps to the United Nations in 2010, proving that gas finds extend into the Lebanese territory.
The move comes in addition to previous warnings by several Lebanese officials and the resistance movement of Hezbollah. The past warnings were issued after the Dalit and Tamar natural gas were discovered.
Earlier last year, Speaker of the Lebanese parliament Nabih Berri urged Lebanon to start exploring its offshore natural gas reserves, warning that in case of any dillydallying, Israel would claim the resources.
http://www.presstv.ir/detail/158811.html
Lebanon to UN: Protect gas from Israel drilling
Lebanon has asked the United Nations to protect the country's natural gas reserves along the maritime border with Israel.
Lebanese officials accuse Israel of drilling in fields that extend into Lebanon. Israel denies the allegation.
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4009336,00.html 19 mar 2011, 07:40 , Respect -
UN fails to protect Lebanon resources
UN spokesman Martin Nesirsky
The United Nations has declined Lebanon's request to protect the country's natural gas reserves along its maritime border with Israel.
Earlier on Tuesday, Lebanese Foreign Minister Ali Shami sent a letter to the UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon, protesting Israel's exploitation of his country's energy resources.
The move came days after US firm Noble Energy announced that the gas field, offshore Israel, holds an estimated 450 billion cubic meters (16 trillion cubic feet) of natural gas.
Some of the discovered wells are in joint fields between Lebanon and Israel, Shami said in the letter addressed to the UN chief.
We request you do everything possible to ensure Israel does not exploit Lebanon's hydrocarbon resources, which fall within Lebanon's economic zone as delineated in the maps the foreign ministry submitted to the United Nations in 2010, he added.
UN spokesman Martin Nesirsky, however, said in response to the request that the international body was not prepared to intervene in the dispute, Israeli daily Ha'aretz reported.
Security Council Resolution 1701 does not include delineating the maritime border, Nesirky said.
We are talking about two different things - coastal waters and a disputed maritime border, the spokesperson went on to say.
The United Nations demarcated the land border separating Israel and Lebanon in 2000, but there is no official maritime border.
Lebanon, however, is planning to outline its maritime borders, and auction off rights to explore potential offshore natural gas and petrol reserves in 2012.
http://www.presstv.ir/detail/158867.html 20 mar 2011, 09:33 , Respect -
Controversy in Lebanon over property sales
By Rana Moussaoui
BEIRUT, Lebanon (AFP) - A draft law calling for a 15-year ban on property sales between Lebanese Christians and Muslims has sparked controversy, with many saying it is aimed at stemming the sale of Christian land to Hezbollah supporters.
"An unhealthy situation is developing and all I am doing is raising the alarm bells," said Labor Minister Boutros Harb, author of the proposal submitted last month.
"I am saying out loud what everyone else is whispering," he told AFP.
Harb, who is Christian, said he drafted the law out of concern for "organized or semi-organized" real estate purchases by one religious confession from another.
"Lebanon symbolizes coexistence between the various religions and if one pillar of this coexistence crashes, the whole country falls," he said. "I want to preserve Lebanon's diversity."
Although the minister did not specifically refer to any particular religion or political party, many Lebanese politicians and media reports say Harb's proposal is clearly aimed at preventing the powerful Shiite group Hezbollah and its allies from acquiring huge swaths of real estate in Christian areas.
"Hezbollah's expansionist real estate, security and demographic policies that translate into the purchase of land are part of a strategy that could change the face of Lebanon in 2020," warned an editorial in the Arabic-language daily An-Nahar this week.
Several Hezbollah officials contacted by AFP declined to comment for this article.
Christians once constituted the majority in Lebanon but they now make up an estimated 34 percent of the four million population, with Muslims -- both Shiites and Sunnis -- and minority Druze accounting for the rest.
Harb's proposal has sparked heated debate in the country with critics saying it smacks of racism, is unconstitutional and is a dangerous move toward "religious segregation" that harked back to the dark days of the 1975-1990 civil war.
Some critics also say that the real danger as far as real estate in Lebanon is concerned is from foreigners and wealthy Muslims from Saudi Arabia and other Gulf countries who have invested heavily in the sector.
An official from the Christian Maronite church recalled that during the civil war, in 1984, a Shiite religious leader had issued an edict forbidding the sale of property owned by Muslims to non-Muslims for fear of Shiites fleeing the country at the time en masse.
"Every time a community in Lebanon feels threatened it has this kind of reaction," said the official who requested anonymity.
He added that the situation today had become "worrisome" for Lebanon's Christians even though he did not believe they were being systematically targeted.
"We have a study that shows that in the eastern Bekaa region for example, nearly 68 million square metres (732 million square feet) of land owned by Christians was sold to non-Christians in the last five year," he said.
He also pointed to the central Mount Lebanon region, where it is said that companies with ties to Hezbollah are buying up tens of thousands of hectares (acres) to build high rises.
Edmond Gharios, head of the municipality of Chiyah, a mixed southern Beirut suburb located in Hezbollah's stronghold, said financial gains outweighed any religious considerations when it comes to real estate sales in the area.
"When one offers you 700,000 dollars for 200 square metres, you're going to take it and leave," he said. "No one knows whether this is all organized or not, but it's clear that it's the same people who keep on buying.
"Entire (Christian) families are leaving the area because you now have to be a millionaire to live there," he added.
"The civil war encouraged the Christians to emigrate in large numbers and money is now helping accelerate that process."
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=348962 30 mar 2011, 13:11 , Respect -
Lebanon's Hariri urges more UN pressure on Israel
Lebanese Prime Minister Saad Hariri
NEW YORK: Lebanon's prime minister urged the UN chief on Sunday to increase pressure on Israel to end all violations of Lebanese borders, and to help prevent it from exploiting Lebanese oil and gas, a Lebanese official said. In a one-hour meeting with UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon at a New York hotel, Lebanese Prime Minister Saad al-Hariri insisted on the "full implementation of UN Security Council resolution 1701," a member of Hariri's delegation told Reuters on condition of anonymity.
UN Security Council resolution 1701 halted hostilities in the Israeli-Hezbollah war in 2006 and banned all unauthorized weapons between the Litani River and the Blue Line, the UN-monitored border between Israel and Lebanon. It also called on Israel to halt unauthorized flights over Lebanese territory, though the United Nations says the Jewish state regularly sends aircraft over Lebanon.
Hariri "requested the utmost pressure on Israel to cease its violations in the air, on land and at sea," the source said. "He also said Lebanon is relying on the United Nations to prevent Israeli infringement of Lebanon's exclusive economic zone, including regarding oil and gas resources." Lebanon sent Ban a letter last week asking him to ensure that Israel's plans to drill for gas in the Mediterranean Sea do not encroach on its own offshore reserves.
But Ban's spokesman Martin Nesirky has said resolution 1701 does not cover delineating Lebanon's maritime border. Nesirky confirmed in a statement that Ban and Hariri discussed "the need to end Israeli air violations." He said they also touched on a UN tribunal's investigation into the 2005 bombing that killed Hariri's father Rafik al-Hariri, a powerful Sunni Muslim politician.
The Secretary-General reiterated his support for the work of the (Hariri) tribunal, and stressed that it is an independent body," Nesirky said. "He (Ban) hoped its work would help end impunity.-- Reuters
http://bit.ly/f7Hbce
UN to help Lebanon with sea borders for gas finds
United Nations official says organization will help Lebanon demarcate maritime border with Israel in order to ensure its gas reserves remain protected.
A United Nations official says the international body is willing to assist Lebanon demarcate its naval border with Israel to protect the country's gas reserves.
Michael Williams says Lebanon has every right to benefit from its potential off shore oil and gas resources.
His comments in Beirut Monday followed a request by Lebanon for the UN to protect the country's gas reserves along the maritime border with Israel, after a huge gas field was discovered off the coast.
The appeal was part of a growing dispute between the two warring countries over natural resources beneath the eastern Mediterranean.
Lebanon has accused Israel of drilling in fields that extend into its waters, an allegation Israel denies. There is no official naval border separating the two countries.
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4011768,00.html 11 apr 2011, 09:00 , Respect -
Hezbollah resigns from Lebanon government
10 ministers from Hezbollah and its allies step down, call on Lebanese President Michel Suleiman to form a new government.
Ten ministers from Lebanon's Hezbollah movement and its political allies announced their resignation on Wednesday and called on President Michel Suleiman to form a new government.
Eleven ministerial resignations would be enough to bring down the government of Prime Minister Saad Hariri. There was no immediate news on whether another minister, Adnan Sayyed Hussein, who Hezbollah supporters also expect to resign, was stepping down.
Hariri, whose coalition has been sharing power with the Iranian-backed militant group, met with U.S. President Barack Obama in Washington on Wednesday.
A United Nations-backed tribunal investigating the 2005 assassination of former Lebanese prime minister Rafik Hariri, Saad Hariri's father, is widely expected to name members of the Hezbollah in upcoming indictments, which many fear could re-ignite hostilities between Lebanon's rival Shiite and Sunni Muslims.
A Hezbollah minister had told Hezbollah's Al-Manar TV that ministers were planning to resign Wednesday afternoon unless Saad Hariri agreed to their demand to convene an urgent Cabinet meeting over the tribunal crisis.
Hezbollah and its allies had 10 ministers in Lebanon's 30-member Cabinet.
The impending indictments by the UN tribunal had paralyzed Lebanon's government.
Violence has been a major concern as tensions rise in Lebanon, where Shiites, Sunnis and Christians each make up about a third of the country's four million people. In 2008, sectarian clashes killed 81 people and nearly plunged Lebanon into another civil war.
Rafik Hariri's assassination in a 2005 bombing that killed 22 other people both stunned and polarized Lebanon. He was a Sunni who was a hero to his own community and backed by many Christians who sympathized with his efforts in the last few months of his life to reduce Syrian influence in the country. A string of assassinations of anti-Syrian politicians and public figures followed, which UN investigators have said may have been connected to the Hariri killing.
Hezbollah denied any role in the Hariri assassination and denounced the UN tribunal as a conspiracy against it.
On Tuesday, officials announced that a diplomatic push by Syria and Saudi Arabia had failed to reach a deal to ease political tensions in Lebanon.
http://bit.ly/haagmy
Lebanon government on brink of collapse
BEIRUT (AFP) -- Lebanon's unity government looked set to collapse on Wednesday after the powerful Hezbollah and its allies threatened to walk out over a UN probe into the assassination of former premier Rafiq Hariri.
Health Minister Mohamad Jawad Khalifeh, whose Amal party is allied with Hezbollah, said 11 ministers would tender their resignations Wednesday afternoon unless the cabinet convenes to discuss a long-running standoff over the UN-backed Special Tribunal for Lebanon.
"If the cabinet fails to meet, it means there is no government and as such 11 ministers will tender their resignations this afternoon," Khalifeh told AFP.
The Shiite group Hezbollah and its allies have for months been pressing Prime Minister Saad Hariri, son of the slain former premier, to disavow the STL on grounds it is part of a US-Israeli plot.
Hezbollah's camp, which is backed by Iran and Syria, on Tuesday gave the Western-backed Hariri, who is in Washington, until Wednesday to convene a cabinet meeting on the tribunal.
According to unconfirmed press reports, the STL is set to indict senior Hezbollah members in connection with Rafiq Hariri's 2005 assassination, a scenario the militant party vehemently rejects.
Environment Minister Mohammad Rahhal, who is close to Hariri, told AFP Hezbollah's threat to topple the government was aimed at paralysing the state and forcing the premier to disavow the tribunal.
"The scenarios put forth earlier were aimed at forcing Prime Minister Saad Hariri to reject the tribunal," Rahhal said. "When these scenarios failed, they declared political warfare on him today.
"They think that by piling the pressure on him, Hariri will bend but they are mistaken."
Hariri on Wednesday was to meet with US President Barack Obama to discuss the political crisis.
The Sunni premier has also held talks in recent days in New York with Saudi King Abdullah, US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, French President Nicolas Sarkozy and UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon over the crisis.
Mustapha Alloush, a senior member of Hariri's Future Movement, said Hezbollah and its allies had timed the announcement of the government collapse to coincide with the premier's meeting with Obama scheduled at 1500 GMT.
"They want Hariri to enter the meeting with the US president as an ex-premier or as head of a caretaker government," Alloush told AFP. "But the real goal is to deal a moral blow to the United States."
Lebanon's hard-won unity government is made up of 30 ministers, 10 of them representing Hezbollah and its allies.
In order for the government to collapse, Hezbollah needs to secure the backing of more than a third of the ministers. Political sources identified the 11th minister planning to submit his resignation as Minister of State Adnan Sayyed Hussein, close to President Michel Sleiman.
Contacted by AFP, Hussein refused to confirm that he planned to step down.
Syria and Saudi Arabia have for months been attempting to mediate the crisis but their efforts have failed, with rival Lebanese camps accusing each other of refusing to compromise.
"Saad Hariri was on the brink of making a major concession as concerns the tribunal but occult forces prevented him from doing so," Druze leader Walid Jumblatt, a former ally of Hariri, told AFP without elaborating.
The standoff between Hariri's camp and Hezbollah has paralysed the government for months and sparked concerns of sectarian violence similar to that which brought the country close to civil war in May 2008.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=350560
Hezbollah plans to resign from Lebanese government
Mohammed Jawad Khalifeh
BEIRUT The Islamic militant group Hezbollah and its allies plan to resign from the Lebanese Cabinet and topple the government on Wednesday over tensions stemming from the international investigation of the 2005 assassination of former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri, officials said.
The ministers were planning to resign in the afternoon unless Western-backed Prime Minister Saad Hariri the son of the slain leader agrees to their demand to convene an urgent Cabinet meeting over the tribunal crisis, Health Minister Mohammed Jawad Khalifeh said on Hezbollah's Al-Manar TV.
Hezbollah has denounced the tribunal as an "Israeli project" and urged Hariri to reject any findings by the court, which has not yet announced any indictments.
But the prime minister has refused to break cooperation with the tribunal.
Another official allied to Hezbollah confirmed the resignation plan, which calls for Hezbollah and its allies to step down along with one more minister who would tip the balance and force the government to fall.
Hariri, whose coalition has been sharing power with the Iranian-backed militant group, was to meet Wednesday with President Barack Obama in Washington to discuss the crisis.
A U.N.-backed tribunal investigating the elder Hariri's killing is widely expected to name members of the Hezbollah in upcoming indictments, which many fear could re-ignite hostilities between Lebanon's rival Shiite and Sunni Muslims.
To bring down the government, Hezbollah needs the backing of more than a third of the ministers. Hezbollah and its allies have 10 ministers in the 30-member Cabinet, and an official close to Hezbollah said an 11th minister close to President Michel Suleiman would also submit his resignation.
"It all depends on the prime minister's response to our call for a Cabinet meeting to discuss the crisis," the official told The Associated Press, asking that his name not be used because of the sensitivity of the matter. "We are considering our options and a resignation is top of the list."
The impending indictments already have paralyzed Lebanon's government.
Minutes after the Beirut Stock Exchange opened, the shares of the giant development company Solidere the largest company listed on the stock exchange dropped about 7 percent.
Hariri's office had no immediate comment on the resignation plans, but referred to his earlier statement late Tuesday that said:
"We will use all possible means to keep channels open to all the Lebanese to reach solutions that guarantee stability and calm and preserve national unity."
Violence has been a major concern as tensions rise in Lebanon, where Shiites, Sunnis and Christians each make up about a third of the country's four million people. In 2008, sectarian clashes killed 81 people and nearly plunged Lebanon into another civil war.
Hariri's assassination in a suicide bombing that killed 22 other people both stunned and polarized Lebanese. He was a Sunni who was a hero to his own community and backed by many Christians who sympathized with his efforts in the last few months of his life to reduce Syrian influence in the country. A string of assassinations of anti-Syrian politicians and public figures followed, which U.N. investigators have said may have been connected to the Hariri killing.
The Netherlands-based tribunal has not said who it will indict, but Hezbollah leader Sheik Hassan Nasrallah has said he has information that members of his group will be named.
Hezbollah denied any role in the assassination and denounced the court as a conspiracy against it.
On Tuesday, officials announced that a diplomatic push by Syria and Saudi Arabia had failed to reach a deal to ease political tensions in Lebanon. There had been few details about the direction of the Syrian-Saudi initiative, but the talks were lauded as a potential Arab breakthrough, rather than a solution offered by Western powers.
Hezbollah Cabinet Minister Mohammed Fneish said Tuesday the initiative was done in by "American intervention and the inability of the other side to overcome American pressure."
The collapse prompted Wednesday's push for an emergency Cabinet meeting, even though Hariri was out of the country and planning to meet Obama. The prime minister also has met in recent days with U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton, along with French President Nicolas Sarkozy, U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon and Saudi King Abdullah during a trip to the U.S.
http://yhoo.it/hxoPiz 20 apr 2011, 11:27 , Respect -
Lebanon PM resignation accepted
Lebanon's president has accepted the resignation of Prime Minister Sa'ad Hariri after the collapse of his government over tensions provoked by a US-backed tribunal investigating his father's assassination case.
"Since one third of the cabinet members quit, the government is now considered resigned," President Michel Sleiman said in a statement released on Thursday.
"For this reason, I request the caretaker government to carry out its duties until a new one is formed," the president added.
Lebanon's national unity government collapsed on Wednesday after eleven ministers, 10 from the Hezbollah-led March 8 Alliance and one close to Sleiman, resigned as he was on an official visit in Washington.
Sleiman has asked Hariri to continue managing the country's day-to-day affairs in a caretaker capacity until a new cabinet is formed.
The opposition bloc have for months been pressing Hariri to disavow the US-backed Special Tribunal for Lebanon (SLT), probing the 2005 assassination of former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafiq Hariri.
The western-backed majority, however, refused to make a compromise at the expense of the US-sponsored STL.
Rafiq Hariri and 20 other people were assassinated on February 14, 2005, when explosives equal to around 1,000 kilogram of TNT were blown up in downtown Beirut.
The Washington-sponsored STL was set up some two years later to look into the deadly incident.
Reports say that the court would likely issue an indictment against some Hezbollah members.
Hezbollah Secretary General Seyyed Hassan Nasrallah has vehemently rebuffed the allegations. He has described the plot as part of dangerous projects that are targeting the resistance movement.
The Lebanese As-Safir daily in November wrote that the United States is exerting "intensive" pressure on Hariri tribunal under the motto: "No discussions before an indictment is issued."
http://www.presstv.ir/detail/159948.html
Lebanese cabinet to act as caretaker
Prime Minister Saad Hariri's unity government has collapsed over tensions sparked by a US-led tribunal investigating the 2005 assassination of former PM Rafiq Hariri.
Lebanese President Michel Sleiman has called on the cabinet to stay on in a caretaker capability until the appointment of a new premier.
"In line with clause one of article 69 in the Lebanese constitution on the circumstances under which the government is considered to have resigned ... and as the government has lost more than one third of its members ... his Excellency ... has requested the cabinet act as a caretaker government until the formation of a new government," read a statement released by Sleiman's office on Thursday.
The Lebanese president is also expected to set a date for binding consultations with parliament members on the appointment of a new prime minister.
Lebanese Prime Minister Saad Hariri's 14-month-old government collapsed Wednesday evening after eleven ministers, 10 from the Hezbollah-led March 8 Alliance and one close to Sleiman resigned as he was on an official visit in Washington.
The 11th minister provided the minimum number of resignations required to topple the government.
The resignations came in protest to allegations made by US-backed Special Tribunal for Lebanon (STL) against Hezbollah.
The tribunal investigating the 2005 assassination of Hariri's father, former Premier Rafiq Hariri, has reportedly accused senior Hezbollah members of being involved in the attempt.
Hezbollah, however, has denounced the inquiry, describing it as part of an American-Israeli conspiracy against Lebanon.
Meanwhile, opposition sources said they will not name Hariri as premier during consultations with the president, As Safir reported.
Jebran Bassil, who resigned his post as energy minister ruled out the possibility of Hariri's return as premier.
"This cabinet has become a burden on the Lebanese, unable to do its work," Bassil said.
"We are giving a chance to another government to take over," he added.
The standoff between Hariri's camp and Hezbollah had virtually paralyzed the government since its creation in November 2009, and plunged the country into its worst political crisis since 2008.
It sparked fears of violence similar to the one which brought the country close to a civil war in May 2008.
http://www.presstv.ir/detail/159926.html
Israel troops on alert after Lebanon govt falls
JERUSALEM Israeli troops in the north were on alert Thursday over worries that the political turmoil in Lebanon might spill over into renewed violence on their shared border, following the collapse of the Lebanese government.
The Iranian-backed Hezbollah militant group and its allies threw the already volatile Lebanon into chaos on Wednesday by pulling out of the government and causing it to collapse.
Hezbollah, which clashed with Israel in a monthlong war in 2006, bolted over the government continued cooperation with a U.N. tribunal investigating the 2005 assassination of former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik Hariri.
Hezbollah expects the tribunal to indict some of its members. It timed the dissolution of the government to coincide with the White House visit of the current prime minister, Hariri's son Saad.
A senior officer in Israel's northern command said commanders were following events in Lebanon very closely for any sign Hezbollah might try to heat up the already jittery northern border to deflect attention from the political turmoil.
However, although troops have raised their level of alert, reserves have not been called up and no regular troops have been moved north from other areas, the officer said.
He spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to disclose military tactics.
Retired general Yaakov Amidror told Army Radio that the prevailing Israeli assessment is that Hezbollah has no interest at this point in a bruising war with Israel. Both the militant group and more important, Iran prefer to keep Hezbollah primed to assault Israel in the event Iran is attacked, Amidror said.
But in the current situation, Amidror said he would advise the military to "cast aside all these learned assessments from me and others" because the situation in Lebanon is so unsettled.
"Things are liable to slip out of the hands of decision-makers," he said. "You never know in such a volatile and delicate situation, where everyone has a lot of weapons, a lot of resentment, a lot of frustration you never know where it could lead."
Israeli Foreign Ministry spokesman Yigal Palmor said late Wednesday that Israel was "closely following events but this is a strictly internal Lebanese affair."
Israel's war with Hezbollah in 2006 was touched off by a Hezbollah border raid. Israel invaded Lebanon and Hezbollah retaliated with nearly 4,000 rockets fired into northern Israel in fighting that killed around 1,200 Lebanese and 160 Israelis, according to official counts from each side.
The Israel-Lebanon border has been largely quiet since. Hezbollah hasn't fired a rocket into Israel in the past four years though Palestinian groups have and the killing of an Israeli officer by Lebanese army fire in August was the military's first fatality on the frontier since 2006.
But although the U.N. truce that ended the fighting forbade Hezbollah to rearm, Israel believes the group has restocked its arsenal with even more powerful weapons.
http://yhoo.it/gxwiQF
US criticizes Hezbollah resignations
US President Barack Obama (R) meets with Prime Minister Saad Hariri (L ) of Lebanon in the Oval Office of the White House January 12, 2011 in Washington, DC.
US President Barack Obama has strongly criticized Lebanon's resistance movement Hezbollah over the collapse of the country's unity government.
Lebanon's unity government collapsed on Wednesday after 11 ministers resigned over tensions caused by a US-backed tribunal charged with investigating the assassination of former premier Rafiq Hariri in February 2005.
Among the ministers were 10 from Hezbollah's March 8 Alliance and the 11th was State Minister Adnan Sayyed Hussein, who is close to President Michel Sleiman.
Throwing its full support behind Lebanese Prime Minister Saad Hariri, the White House issued a statement later in the day, saying the actions by Hezbollah demonstrated its "fear and determination to block the government's ability to conduct its business and advance the aspirations of all of the Lebanese people," AFP reported.
Hezbollah resorted to mass resignation after its demands on Tuesday for an urgent cabinet session over the Special Tribunal for Lebanon (STL) crisis were rejected.
The move came at a time when Lebanese Prime Minister Saad Hariri is visiting Washington to meet President Barack Obama to discuss the STL and issues relevant to Lebanon's stability.
Obama and Hariri in their meeting expressed their determination to achieve "both stability and justice" in Lebanon.
"During their meeting, the president stressed the importance of the work of the STL as a means to help end the era of political assassinations with impunity in Lebanon," the statement said.
Lebanon has been the scene of bickering among pro-Western and pro-opposition factions over reports indicating STL's intention to indict Hezbollah over alleged involvement in Rafiq Hariri's murder, allegations the resistance movement has vehemently rejected.
Rafiq Hariri and 22 other people were killed on February 14, 2005, when his vehicle was targeted by explosives equal to around 1,000 kilogram of TNT in downtown Beirut.
http://www.presstv.ir/detail/159912.html
'US meddling triggered Lebanon crisis'
Lebanese minister hold a press conference in the northern Beirut suburb of Rabieh to announce their resignation, January 12, 2011.
The US administration's interference in Lebanon's internal affairs has created a new crisis in the country, a Middle East analyst says, as the Arab country's government has collapsed.
Hassan Hanizadeh, in an interview with Press TV on Wednesday, added that the resignation of 11 Lebanese ministers from the opposition led by Hezbollah has thrown the government of Saad Hariri into a new crisis.
The Lebanese government collapsed on Wednesday after the ministers resigned from the cabinet over tensions stemming from a US-backed probe into the assassination of former Premier Rafiq Hariri in a bombing back in 2005.
Following the resignation of the ministers, the cabinet of Saad Hariri has entered new crisis because based on the Lebanese Constitution withdrawal of 11 ministers mean the collapse of the cabinet, Hanizadeh said.
He noted that the major difference between the pro-Western March 14 alliance led by Saad Hariri and the opposition March 8 coalition led by Michel Aoun is due to US President Barack Obama and Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton's efforts aimed at disarming Lebanon's Islamic resistance movement.
On the other hand, the US is pursuing to name the Islamic resistance movement as the main suspect in killing of Rafiq Hariri and indict it by setting up the Special Tribunal for Lebanon, he said.
Saad Hariri was in the US for a meeting with President Barack Obama when his cabinet was collapsed.
Hezbollah's decision to quit the ruling coalition came after its calls for an urgent cabinet session over the crisis triggered by the Washington-sponsored tribunal were rejected.
Unconfirmed reports indicated that the US-backed court would likely issue an indictment against some Hezbollah members based on testimonies which have already proven false.
Hanizadeh said he believed that Hariri should prevent the court from issuing indictment against Hezbollah.
Although the assassination of Rafiq Hariri was a painful incident but the move should not lead to elimination of Lebanon, Hanizadeh warned.
Lebanon has been in a political turmoil since the establishment of the US-sponsored tribunal.
In November, the Lebanese daily As-Safir said that the US was imposing "intensive" pressure on Beirut, using the slogan, "No discussions before an indictment is issued."
Syria and Saudi Arabia entered "strenuous negotiations" aimed at preventing Lebanon from plunging into a political crisis on the back of such indictments.
On Wednesday, Leader of the Free Patriotic Movement Michel Aoun announced that Saudi Arabia and Syria had been unable to resolve the dispute. He quoted Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and Saudi King Abdullah as saying that the collaboration had drawn a blank.
http://www.presstv.ir/detail/159909.html
Lebanon: No comment on plans from PM
By Jocelyne Zablit
BEIRUT, Lebanon (AFP) -- Lebanon was plunged into political turmoil on Thursday after Hezbollah toppled the government over a long-running dispute linked to a UN probe into the 2005 assassination of ex-premier Rafiq Hariri.
The hard-won unity government of Prime Minister Saad Hariri -- son of the slain leader -- collapsed on Wednesday after months of wrangling between the premier and Hezbollah over the UN-backed Special Tribunal for Lebanon.
The move thrust the country into its worst political crisis since 2008 and sparked fears of sectarian Shiite-Sunni unrest.
The powerful Hezbollah and its allies withdrew from the government formed in November 2009 as Hariri was in Washington holding talks with US President Barack Obama on the crisis.
While Israeli officials have said that they believe unrest in Lebanon will not spill over into the area, Arab League chief Amr Moussa said Wednesday night that Lebanon's only hope for stability would be a unity government, saying he feared a new civil war.
The 40-year-old Hariri, who now heads a caretaker government, made no comment after the announcement and headed to France where he was to meet on Thursday with President Nicolas Sarkozy.
For months, Hezbollah, which is backed by Iran and Syria, has been pressing the Western-backed Hariri to disavow the special tribunal saying it is part of a US-Israeli plot.
According to unconfirmed press reports, the tribunal is poised to indict senior Hezbollah members in connection with Rafiq Hariri's 2005 assassination, a move the militant party vehemently rejects.
The White House accused Hezbollah of toppling the government out of "fear" and reaffirmed its full support for Hariri and the tribunal.
France, Britain and UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon also reiterated their unconditional support for the tribunal set up in 2007 following Hariri's murder and that of a number of anti-Syrian politicians.
Syria and Saudi Arabia have sought in recent months to mediate the crisis between Hariri and Hezbollah but diplomats said they would halt their efforts given the collapse of the government.
Lebanese newspapers predicted a long drawn out crisis but there was no fear of an immediate breakout of violence.Hezbollah: A powerful political and military force
"Hariri loses unity government... at Obama's doorstep," said the front-page headline of the Arabic-language daily As-Safir, close to Hezbollah.
"Lebanon entered a new phase yesterday, an open-ended one characterised by a profound and long-term political and government crisis," the paper said.
Hariri in recent days had discussed the crisis in New York with Saudi King Abdullah, US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, Sarkozy and Ban.
Clinton, who was in Qatar on Wednesday, said Hezbollah's attempt to undermine stability in Lebanon was bound to fail.
© AFPThe collapse came as Hariri was holding talks in Washington with Obama
©AFP Jim Watson
"We view what happened today as a transparent effort by those forces inside Lebanon, as well as interests outside Lebanon, to subvert justice and undermine Lebanon's stability and progress," Clinton said.
"Trying to bring the government down as a way to undermine the special tribunal is an abdication of responsibility, but it also will not work."
Egyptian Foreign Minister Ahmed Abul Gheit called on the parties to exercise "restraint" and to "act within the framework of (the country's) institutions to contain the crisis".
The standoff between Hariri's camp and Hezbollah had virtually paralysed the government since its creation and prompted fears of sectarian violence similar to that which brought the country close to civil war in May 2008.Hariri Tribunal: the first world court to try terrorism
The 2008 unrest that left around 100 people dead was the culmination of an 18-month political crisis that erupted in 2006 after Hezbollah withdrew its ministers from the government.
Under the constitution, the president must consult with MPs and appoint a new premier to form a government. The prime minister is always a Sunni and Hariri is likely to be reappointed.
The question is then whether he and his opponents would accept.
Ma'an staff writers contributed to this report
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=350697 2 may 2011, 11:18 , Respect -
Report: UNIFIL limits patrols along border
Newspaper affiliated with Hezbollah says UN forces reducing activity in south of country due to impending political crisis.
The United Nations is reducing its presence in southern Lebanon following the impending political crisis: Lebanese daily al-Akhabar, which is affiliated with Hezbollah, reported Friday that UNIFIL forces have limited their patrols along the southern border with Israel, fearing a looming civil strife.
Lebanese Prime Minister Saad Hariri is scheduled to return to his country later on Friday, after meeting US President Barack obama, French President Nicolas Sarkozy and Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan.
During Hariri's meeting with Obama in Washington, 10 Hezbollah ministers announced their resignation, leading to a collapse of the government.
Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu commented on the simmering tensions, saying "Lebanon's stability is very important to the stability of the region. We regard all Lebanese people as friends of Turkey."
Erdogan and Hariri did not hold a press conference following their meeting in Ankara on Friday.
The Special Tribunal for Lebanon, which was formed to investigate the murder of former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafiq Hariri, is expected to submit its findings in the near future.
According to estimates, the tribunal members will assign responsibly for the assassination to members of Hezbollah and issue international indictments against them.
In an effort to step up pressure on Hariri the son, the Hezbollah ministers announced their resignation during the Lebanese prime minister's meeting with Obama in Washington, turning the Beirut coalition into a transitional government.
The opposition members issued Hariri an ultimatum, saying he would be able to keep his seat only if he succumbs to Hezbollah's demands and immediately cease all cooperation with the UN tribunal.
Meanwhile, efforts to calm spirits in Lebanon continued. Hezbollah Secretary-General Hassan Nasrallah on Friday promised that his organization will not drag the country into civil war.
Shortly after his speech, two hand grenades were hurled at the headquarters of the Christian Free Patriotic Movement, led by Retired General Michel Aoun, who is regarded as Hezbollah's ally.
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4013659,00.html 5 may 2011, 22:44 , Respect -
Against Netanyahu's orders, Lieberman offers own opinion on Lebanon crisis
During a visit to Greece last week, FM Lieberman said that political crisis in Lebanon was an important test for the international community.
The Prime Minister's Bureau instructed all ministers last Wednesday to refrain from making public statements on the political crisis in Lebanon. A senior official said the Foreign Ministry recommended this to the Prime Minister's Office, so that Hezbollah could not argue that Israel was trying to intervene in Lebanese politics.
However, this was not enough to prevent Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman from stating during his visit to Greece on Thursday that the crisis is not only a domestic Lebanese matter.
Lieberman's office said in a statement, "At the end of the meeting with Greek Prime Minister George Papandreou, Minister Lieberman was asked by a member of the press about developments in Lebanon. The minister said that this is yet another example of Hezbollah's extortion and threats against the international community in order to block publication of the report by the tribunal investigating the Hariri assassination. This is not only an internal Lebanese matter but an important test for the entire international community."
http://bit.ly/i1jn3o 9 may 2011, 09:32 1 -
Sakr condemns Israeli violations of Lebanese sovereignty
Lebanon First bloc MP Okab Sakr issued a statement on Sunday condemning repeated Israeli attacks on Lebanese sovereignty.
Israeli [attacks were manifested as] its rude [interference] in [issues] pertaining to forming a cabinet in Lebanon. This [interference] is an attempt to [cause] sedition [and harm] the Lebanese.
What is worse than this Israeli behavior is that some Lebanese politicians and media are using this Israeli propaganda to criticize another party, he added.
Sakr called on the March 14 coalition to recognize the dangers threatening the country, and to rise above insults and threats.
Israeli Vice Premier Silvan Shalom on Saturday warned that Progressive Socialist Party leader MP Walid Jumblatt's decision to side with March 8 in the nomination of Lebanon's next premier creates a real danger of the establishment of an Iranian government on the northern border with Israel.
Lebanon's government collapsed on January 12 after Hezbollah and its allies withdrew their ministers. Hezbollah has for months demanded that Lebanon reject the Special Tribunal for Lebanon, whose prosecutor's indictment on former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri's 2005 assassination was submitted Monday.
Prime Minister Saad Hariri is now heading a caretaker government pending the outcome of consultations that will take place on January 24 and 25 between President Michel Sleiman and parliamentarians on the appointment of a new premier.
Hezbollah and the Free Patriotic Movement have said that they will not back Hariri for the premiership, while Jumblatt http://bit.ly/ijzMLp officially announced on Friday that his party will side with Hezbollah and Syria, leaving the rest of the Democratic Gathering bloc MPs decisions unknown.
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http://bit.ly/fdVDN5 10 may 2011, 10:46 , Respect -
'Israel considers war on Lebanon'
A Lebanese political analyst says the only thing that stops Israel from invading south Lebanon is that it knows what it would face from Hezbollah in the wake of such an attack.
In an interview with Press TV, Lebanese political analyst Radwan Rizk said Israel is seriously considering an invasion of south Lebanon over concerns about the formation of a Hezbollah-led government in the country.
What stops Israel is that it knows what is waiting for it in case of doing this move in the near future, Radwan noted.
Radwan said Lebanon needs to form a line of resistance against Israeli occupation and against those who are mulling to overpower the country and put it under the umbrella of Israel and the United States.
"Israel is looking for an allied government taking over in Lebanon and this is a dream for it because we will never let any government by any kind of force, politically or militarily, to take over a government in Lebanon," he went on to say.
I think Lebanon will not get out of this political crisis and won't be able to form a new government until the change of power among the political parties, he said.
Lebanon is grappled with its worst political crisis since 2008, over tensions provoked by the US-backed Special Tribunal for Lebanon, whose prosecutor's indictment on former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafiq Hariri's 2005 assassination was submitted last week.
The political parties are now negotiating to pick a new prime minister as Saad Hariri's government has fallen apart over the tensions.
Lebanese President Michel Sleiman is also set to launch parliamentary talks on Monday to decide on whom to appoint as the country's next prime minister.
http://www.presstv.ir/detail/161698.html 2 jun 2011, 16:07 , Respect -
'Israeli troops swarm Lebanon border'
Israeli troops on patrol along Lebanon's border with Israel (file photo)
Israel has escalated its military presence near the southern Lebanese border, stepping up their surveillance activities along the Lebanese frontier, reports say.
Israeli forces patrolled the border on Sunday, carrying out maintenance work at several positions from which they monitor Lebanon, reported pan-Arabic newspaper Asharq al-Awsat.
On one occasion, a three-vehicle patrol spent more than half an hour watching Lebanese farmers at the southern village of Abbasiyyeh.
The developments came following the January 12 collapse of outgoing Lebanese Prime Minister Saad Hariri's cabinet and amid efforts by new Lebanese Premier-designate Najib Mikati aimed at forming a new government.
Tel Aviv has launched several wars on Lebanon, killing around 1,200 Lebanese -- mostly civilians -- in the most recent round of offensives in 2006.
In the deadliest of Israeli incursions to follow the war, an Israeli patrol unit breached a border fence in August. The move prompted an exchange of fire with the Lebanese military, which killed three soldiers and a journalist on the Lebanese side of the border and also left a senior Israeli officer dead.
The Lebanese resistance movement of Hezbollah, which parried Israel's 33-day war against southern Lebanon in 2006, has vowed to respond to any new Israeli incursion.
http://www.presstv.ir/detail/162994.html