By BASSEM MROUE and MIKE CORDER

BEIRUT (AP) — The public gallery at a Netherlands court was as deserted as the seats set aside for defendants on a recent day at the trial of five Hezbollah suspects in the assassination of former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik Hariri, one of the most prominent Sunni politicians in the Middle East.

The massive explosion that tore through his convoy on the Beirut seaside 10 years ago sent a tremor across the region and unleashed a popular uprising that briefly united the Lebanese and ejected Syrian troops from the country. But a decade later, and despite millions of dollars spent, justice remains elusive in a case that has been overshadowed by more recent turmoil. "The tribunal harks back to another era, and the latest developments have regrettably overtaken it," said Hilal Khashan, professor of political science at the American University of Beirut.

By Elise Harris

(CNA/EWTN News).- An Iraqi priest currently living in Rome said that those living the nightmare of ISIS are tired of hearing talk about dialogue and human rights, and are ready to see concrete action on the part of political leaders.“Like many other terms, dialogue is abused like the words democracy, peace, defending human rights and many other words. (They) are profaned because everybody talks about them, but in their heart they have other intentions, so who will do dialogue with whom?” Fr. Rebwar Basa told CNA Feb. 2.

“I do not want to hear more from the people or responsible authorities about dialogue and peace. I want to see that people are happy and living a normal life. But what we can see now is that the whole of Iraq is in misery,” he said.Each day that passes without changing the situation brings more destruction, suffering and complication to the situation, the priest explained, noting that those suffering the most are the poor, including Christians, Yazidis and other minorities who have no form of protection.

  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 during a two-hour meeting with […]

  Journalist Firas Hatoum and his colleague Rony Rmaity were temporarily detained by Turkish authorities on Tuesday for illegally entering the embattled Syrian town of Kobane, reported al-Akhbar daily. It said that the LBCI television journalist was seeking to film a report for the channel from Kobane, but the advances made by the Islamic State […]

  CAMP LEJEUNE, United States: A U.S. Marine who vanished from his post in Iraq a decade ago and later wound up in Lebanon chose Monday to have his case decided by a military judge instead of a jury. Opening statements were made Tuesday in Cpl. Wassef Hassoun’s trial on charges of desertion, larceny and […]

  Security forces have arrested a Lebanese taxi driver in the South on charges of rape and attempted rape, the state-run National News Agency reported on Tuesday. NNA said Aa.Sh., who hails from the southern town of Tayr Felsay, was apprehended by security forces, after an unidentified girl filed a complaint at the Nabatiyeh police […]

WASHINGTON (AP) — Foreign fighters are streaming into Syria and Iraq in unprecedented numbers to join the Islamic State or other extremist groups, including at least 3,400 from Western nations among 20,000 from around the world, U.S. intelligence officials say in an updated estimate of a top terrorism concern.

Intelligence agencies now believe that as many as 150 Americans have tried and some have succeeded in reaching in the Syrian war zone, officials told the House Homeland Security Committee in testimony prepared for delivery on Wednesday. Some of those Americans were arrested en route, some died in the area and a small number are still fighting with extremists.

Lebanese MP Khaled Daher has apologized for saying Christian religious symbols should be removed from outside churches. (AP)

Lebanese MP Khaled Daher has apologized after being criticized by allies and opponents for saying Christian religious symbols should be removed from outside churches. He said his comments were abridged and taken out of context.

A recent agreement between the Future Movement and Hezbollah has seen the removal of political banners from Sidon to Tripoli.

However, controversy began among certain factions in the northern city of Tripoli when black flags containing the word “there is no God but God” in Arabic were removed from Abdel Hamid Karami Square.

  Khazen.org will not allow itself to answer sectarian and disrespectful speeches towards Christians and Muslims in Lebanon but there’s a very important matter that needs to be clarified in regards to religious shrines and symbols in Lebanon, specially the ones mentioned yesterday.  Jesus the King shrine and Our Lady of Harissa shrines were both […]

  Maronite Patriarchal Vicar of Jounieh Bishop Antoine Nabil Andari lamented Sunday that “no one can understand why a new president has not been elected until the moment,” stressing that Maronism cannot be “confined” to the ambitions of “those who bowed their heads and knees for the sake of personal and foreign interests.” “After all […]