By Youssef Diab  – english.aawsat.com

Beirut – Lebanese detainees arrested on terrorism charges in Lebanese prisons launched their “empty stomachs” campaign and began their open hunger strike until their demands are met and a general amnesty is issued leading to their release. Sheikh Khaled Hoblos, detained in Roumieh Prison, declared a mass hunger strike at Lebanese prisons on Saturday with the participation of 850 prisoners of several prisons. The announcement for the strike came through an audio clip of Hoblos released from prison where he announced “a hunger strike to demand a general amnesty” urging the prison administrations not to force inmates to end their hunger strike, deeming it “a right guaranteed by the law.”

 He asked politicians to grant prisoners an amnesty aside from any political motives, he also called on Prime Minister Saad Hariri to prioritize Lebanon’s national interest. Meanwhile, a Lebanese security source confirmed that hundreds of detainees had indeed begun their strike and refused to receive their daily meals. The source told Asharq Al-Awsat newspaper that the number of prisoners participating in the strike reached 575 out of 600, 200 from Tripoli prison in the north, and about 60 others from Jezzine prison, south Lebanon. He added that prison administration began monitoring the prisoners and is following up on their medical situation. Prior to the strike, families of inmates blocked the roads and began protests to press for general amnesty at the beginning of the presidency of President Michel Aoun.

by Daily Star Lebanon – BEIRUT: Prime Minister Saad Hariri said Friday that Arab banks should play a bigger role in the reconstruction drive in the region. “First, the size of the reconstruction processes in the Arab world requires more openness and cooperation between all Arab banking sectors and all Arab banks from all countries,” Hariri told participants in a conference on financing reconstruction in Arab states organized by the Union of Arab Banks.

“Second, the size of the reconstruction processes requires us to join the global trend of activating partnerships between the public and private sectors, particularly the process of developing infrastructure as the pillar of any economic growth. This is not the first time a senior Lebanese or Arab official has called on banks to help in financing the reconstruction of Arab states that have witnessed wars and conflicts.

“The forum’s title, ‘Financing Reconstruction – In the Aftermath of the Arab transformations,’ summarizes our vision of the future based on turning challenges into opportunities. “Today our Arab countries are witnessing crises and challenges on all political, security, economic and social levels,” Hariri added. Hariri shared with the participants Lebanon’s experience in rebuilding the country and the role of the banks in financing reconstruction projects.

By Joseph A. Kechichian Senior Writer Gulf news – This article represents opinion of the author – Beirut: Lebanon could see a shifting of alliances as Lebanese President Michel Aoun’s Christian Free Patriotic Movement (FPM), which has traditionally been allied with the Shiite Amal and Hezbollah parties, may switch sides to an anti-Syrian alliance comprised […]

By Tom Perry and Laila Bassam

BEIRUT (Reuters) – Lebanon is on the brink of crisis again with its politicians at odds over an election law at the heart of the nation’s sectarian system, threatening to leave the country without a parliament for the first time. Parliament’s term expires on June 20 and without a compromise Lebanon faces what one minister has called the most serious political crisis since the end of the 1975-90 civil war. Some analysts believe the dangers of a parliamentary vacuum – including the risk this would topple the government – will force a compromise deal, though there is no sign of one yet.

A short extension of parliament’s term beyond June 20 now looks inevitable to allow more time for a deal, though a so-called “technical extension” of a few months will also require a political agreement. Leaders have ruled out a longer extension on concerns of a popular backlash that could cause unrest. “This is the most dangerous crisis the country has been through since the Taif agreement,” Finance Minister Ali Hassan Khalil told Reuters, referring to the 1989 peace deal that ended the civil war. “It is the first time since even before Taif that we are close to a (legislative) vacuum,” he said However, the prospect of a return to civil war appears remote. Lebanese leaders remain committed to containing sectarian tensions exacerbated by six years of war in Syria. The bigger risk is state paralysis as the government tries to revive an economy saddled by massive public debt and to cope with the strain of 1.5 million refugees from neighboring Syria.

By english.aawsat.com– “Hezbollah” Secretary General Hassan Nasrallah declared on Thursday that the party “competed its mission” along Lebanon’s border with Syria, leaving the arena to the Lebanese state. He announced that “Hezbollah” has “dismantled its positions” along the border, but noted that there is “no end in sight” to the battle on the outskirts of the […]

  By Al Bawaba –Article represent opinion of the author  It seems that Lebanese channel Al Jadeed just cannot catch a break after allegedly having been attacked for the fourth time in 6 months. A van belonging to the privately owned broadcaster was set on fire in the early hours of Thursday morning, according to […]

Asharq Al-Awsat English – The Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Salman bin Abdulaziz has sent an official invitation to Lebanese Prime Minister Saad Hariri inviting him to attend the Arab-Islamic-American Summit to be held in Riyadh on May 21. According to a statement by Hariri’s press office, the Charge d’affaires of the Saudi […]

By: Wayne Heilman

A Lebanese banker has agreed to buy Pikes Peak National Bank to make the Colorado Springs financial institution a hub for expansion across the U.S. and possibly internationally, according to a spokesman. Antoun Sehnaoui, chairman of Société Générale de Banque au Liban SGBL in Beirut, agreed to buy Pikes Peak National Friday from the Georgeson family, which has owned the bank for nearly 40 years. The transaction is scheduled for completion in July, pending approval from the U.S. Comptroller of the Currency’s office. Terms were not disclosed.

Pikes Peak, one of just six locally owned banks among the 40 that operate branches in Colorado, has three branches with combined assets of $88.9 million and about 30 employees. The bank was started by a group of Westside businessmen on July 1, 1957. Earl Georgeson, John Georgeson’s father, bought an interest in the bank in the early 1970s and bought out other owners in 1978. The bank was ordered in 2009 to reduce its problem loans and boost capital, an order that was lifted in 2014. John Georgeson, the bank’s chairman and CEO, said he and his sister, who own the bank’s holding company, were first approached by Sehnaoui’s representatives nearly two years ago, when he told him the bank wasn’t for sale, but could be for “the right offer,” which would not require Pikes Peak National to be merged with another bank and its employees, officers and board would be retained. He said Sehnaoui’s representatives approached the Georgesons last summer with those terms and began negotiating a sale. Georgeson, 71, said he will move onto “a new career that may be retirement.”

Mark Corallo, an Alexandria, Va.-based spokesman for Sehnaoui, said the 44-year-old Beirut banker had been searching two years for a U.S. bank “with a national charter that had a local feel. He also wanted a bank that had gone through extensive regulatory scrutiny so he knew what he was buying and he wanted a fabulous executive management team.”