Naharnet
Latest stories
Saudi Deputy Foreign Minister in Beirut

Saudi Deputy Foreign Minister, Khaled Bin Ibrahim al-Jindan, is expected to arrive in Lebanon Friday for talks with senior Lebanese officials, LBCI reported.

The Saudi diplomat's visit comes amid a flurry of diplomatic activity witnessed in Lebanon since the election of President Michel Aoun on November 31, that ended over two years of political vacuum, and the formation of PM Saad Hariri's cabinet.

W140 Full Story
Victim Injured in Baalbek Blast Succumbs to Wounds

A man who was reportedly injured in a blast in a town in Baalbek early this week, has succumbed to his wounds on Friday, the National News Agency reported.

Mahmouh Houri who was injured in a passenger bus blast in the town of al-Ain has died of his wounds early Friday, NNA added.

W140 Full Story
Army Busts Terror Cell in North Lebanon

The Lebanese army busted a terror cell in north Lebanon and confiscated arms and ammunition that were in their possession, the state-run National News Agency reported Friday.

The Lebanese Army Intelligence Directorate arrested a terror cell composed of three extremists in Tripoli's Bab al-Tabbaneh, NNA said.

W140 Full Story
Aoun Visits Riyadh on First-Leg of Gulf Tour

President Michel Aoun will kick start the first-leg of a Gulf tour in the middle of January, media reports said.

Preparations for President Aoun's first tour outside Lebanon have begun at the presidential palace and foreign ministry, amid reports saying Riyadh will be the first destination of his Gulf tour, al-Anbaa daily reported.

W140 Full Story
Report: Lebanese Forces Welcomes Hizbullah's 'Openness'

The Lebanese Forces welcomed Hizbullah's willingness for dialogue between the two parties and described the latest statement of a Hizbullah official in that regard as “positive and worth to be taken into consideration,” al-Joumhouria daily reported Friday.

“The latest statement of Hizbullah political council chief Ibrahim Amin al-Sayyed from Bkirki, as for the party's openness for dialogue with the LF and readiness to have a wider range of communication, is positive rhetoric that is worth to take into consideration,” an LF source told the daily on condition of anonymity.

W140 Full Story
Hariri's Cabinet Wins Parliament Confidence with 87 Votes

Prime Minister Saad Hariri won a parliamentary vote of confidence after 87 lawmakers voted in favor of his government on Wednesday.

Kataeb MPs Sami Gemayel, Nadim Gemayel and Samer Saadeh, and MP Khaled Daher withheld their confidence from the cabinet.

W140 Full Story
Army Stages Raids in Hermel, Searches for Corporal al-Qaq Killers

After the killing incident of army Corporal Ali al-Qaq on Monday, the Lebanese Army Airborne Regiment stormed several homes at dawn on Tuesday in the border town of al-Qasr in northeast of the Hermel district in search for the culprits, the National News Agency reported.

The army said the homes stormed in al-Qasr were of people suspected of involvement in the death of Qaq, who was gunned down while on vacation in Syria.

W140 Full Story
Report: Cabinet Disregards Qanso's Request to Include Syria Clause in Ministerial Statement

A request raised by State Minister for Parliament Affairs and Syrian Social Nationalist Party leader Ali Qanso to include a clause on Syria in the new drafted policy statement was not taken into consideration by the cabinet, the pan-Arab al-Hayat daily reported Tuesday.

In that regard, when the cabinet was drafting its policy statement last week, Qanso said the statement should include a clause about “coordination with Damascus with whom we have agreements,” a ministerial source told the daily on condition of anonymity.

W140 Full Story
Hajj Hassan: Devising New Electoral Law a Cabinet Priority

Industry Minister Hussein Hajj Hassan stated on Monday that the priority of the newly elected government is to issue a new electoral law for the upcoming parliamentary elections that ensures political stability in Lebanon, stressing that his (Hizbullah) party adheres to proportional representation, the National News Agency reported.

W140 Full Story
Parliament Launches Confidence Rounds Tuesday

Lebanon's parliament prepares to hold three consecutive sessions this week to discuss the government’s vote of confidence, which is expected to garner a confidence majority due to its composition that brought together most of the political spectrum, the Kuwaiti al-Rai daily reported Monday.

The parliament will convene on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday to discuss the ministerial statement of Prime Minister Saad Hariri's government, which was endorsed in a record time, on the basis of which the government would seek a vote of the parliament's confidence.

W140 Full Story