Hussein DakroubHashem Osseiran| The Daily Star BEIRUT: Former Prime Minister Saad Hariri blasted Hezbollah’s role in Syria and rejected entangling Lebanon in regional conflicts, while strongly defending his Future Movement’s ongoing dialogue with the party as “a national necessity” to defuse sectarian tensions. Taking an indirect swipe at Hezbollah leader Sayyed Hasan Nasrallah for… اقرأ المزيد
BAALBEK, Lebanon: The Lebanese Army, backed by security forces, staged a series of raids in the northern Bekaa Valley Friday, rounding up 56 wanted people and confiscating weapons and drugs on the second day of a security plan designed to crack down on crime and killings in the mostly deprived region. Interior Minister Nouhad… اقرأ المزيد
The legacy of the late Rafik Hariri is naturally in the national spotlight one decade after his untimely death. He was a giant figure, and even many of his political rivals have concluded that history is likely to focus on Hariri’s considerable achievements, which represented the vision of a man who was truly ahead… اقرأ المزيد
Hasan Lakkis| The Daily Star BEIRUT: Speaker Nabih Berri was reported Wednesday to have voiced support for Prime Minister Tammam Salam’s push to change the Cabinet’s decision-making mechanism adopted since the presidency became vacant in favor of a voting mechanism. Meanwhile, the parliamentary Future bloc warned of dire consequences of the continued presidential vacuum,… اقرأ المزيد
Bashar Assad’s smugness in a series of recent interviews may be justified. As the Syrian president looks around him, he sees that several regional developments are going his way. Whether this means his regime is saved is another question, but for the first time in four years his barbaric policies appear to be paying off.Assad’s… اقرأ المزيد
Hussein Dakroub| The Daily Star BEIRUT: Maronite Patriarch Beshara Rai has pleaded with France and the Vatican to help in the election of a new Lebanese president, officials said Tuesday, in the latest attempt by the influential Maronite Church to end the 9-month-old vacuum in the country’s top Christian post. Rai made the plea… اقرأ المزيد