Nicholas Blanford BEIRUT: The Israeli intelligence officer who warned of an invasion of Galilee by Hezbollah in the event of another war has merely picked up on a tactic to which Hezbollah has repeatedly alluded in recent years. According to Israel’s Haaretz daily, the officer, a lieutenant colonel identified by the initial N, wrote… اقرأ المزيد
Hasan Lakkis, Hussein Dakroub BEIRUT: Lebanese leaders scrambled Thursday to prevent the presidential vacuum from crippling government work as the international community threw its weight behind Prime Minister Tammam Salam’s Cabinet while calling for a swift election of a new president. Salam, facing a split within his Cabinet over how to exercise full executive powers,… اقرأ المزيد
There has been much speculation in Beirut about how to get Lebanon out of its presidential impasse. The focus has been on convincing the main Maronite candidates to withdraw in favor of someone who is acceptable to all, an approach regarded as the key to ending the current stalemate. With all the attention on the… اقرأ المزيد
By Elise Knutsen BEIRUT: The United States is concerned the presidential vacuum in Lebanon will exacerbate political tensions and possibly hinder the Army’s ability to respond to national emergencies, according to Secretary of State John Kerry. Kerry listed the stalemate and consequent presidential void first in a litany of reasons for his short visit… اقرأ المزيد
Kareem Shaheen MAARAB, Lebanon: Lebanese Forces leader Samir Geagea blamed his rival Michel Aoun for obstructing the election of a new president, saying the former general has refused to compromise and is insisting that he must be Lebanon’s next head of state. “On the presidency, cooperation stopped from the first moment because the Free Patriotic… اقرأ المزيد
Syrians went to polling stations Tuesday for the country’s first multicandidate presidential election, sending out a resounding “message of victory.” Syrian officials were keen to declare that President Bashar Assad’s re-election marked the beginning of a new phase, one that would lead to a political settlement to end the war. The signs of… اقرأ المزيد