| The Daily Star How did Michel Aoun interpret the important statement this week of the speaker of Parliament, Nabih Berri? In remarks to As-Safir, Berri said that he would not vote for Aoun as president, after the general said that parliament was illegitimate. “I personally do not accept this logic, and I refuse to… اقرأ المزيد
Hasan LakkisHussein Dakroub| The Daily Star BEIRUT: The Cabinet meets Wednesday with no signs of any breakthrough in the contentious issues of the decision-making system and security and military appointments, stoking fears of a new clash with MP Michel Aoun that would throw the executive body into disarray. “There is no breakthrough at all in the [decision-making] mechanism… اقرأ المزيد
Hasan LakkisHussein Dakroub BEIRUT: The Cabinet is expected this week to fail to appoint a new Army chief of staff due to a lack of consensus among ministers, prompting Defense Minister Samir Moqbel to extend the incumbent’s mandate for two years, ministerial sources said Sunday. However, the expected extension of Army Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Walid… اقرأ المزيد
BEIRUT: Lebanese leaders marked Army Day Friday with calls for the quick election of a new president, as Army chief Gen. Jean Kahwagi urged the military to be ready to confront threats posed by Syria-based Islamist militants and Israel. U.S. Ambassador to Lebanon David Hale expressed continued U.S. support for the Army, stressing that regional developments –… اقرأ المزيد
Hasan LakkisHussein Dakroub| The Daily Star BEIRUT: The Cabinet meets Thursday in the absence of any consensus over the thorny issues of the decision-making system and the appointment of military and security chiefs, ministerial sources said Wednesday, stoking fears of an indefinite postponement of sessions to avert a new clash with MP Michel Aoun. A… اقرأ المزيد
President Bashar Assad’s address last weekend, in which he admitted that the Syrian armed forces were losing territory because they were suffering from “manpower” problems, revealed a great deal about what lies ahead in Syria. In his remarks, Assad stated that his forces were short on men, and went on to outline what this meant… اقرأ المزيد