A bitterly divided Lebanese parliament adjourned Tuesday without officially beginning the process of selecting a new president.Two-thirds of members must attend before an official session can be held. The next session has been scheduled for October 23.Members of parliament arrived in armored convoys, traveling under the protection of security details. The downtown area was sealed off as concrete barriers diverted the normal flow of traffic.
BEIRUT (AFP) – Dozens of Lebanese lawmakers gathered under heavy security in parliament on Tuesday for a crucial session aimed at electing a president and ending a long-running crisis that has paralysed the country. Many MPs arrived at the legislature in central Beirut under heavy military escort from a nearby luxury hotel.Several MPs stood outside the building briefly and held up a banner bearing the names and pictures of six fellow lawmakers killed since 2005 in attacks The latest victim, Antoine Ghanem, was assassinated last week in a car bombing in a Beirut suburb."We were forced out, don’t choose to be forced out" read the banner in a supposed message from the grave
One MP, Ghinwa Jalloul, waved a Lebanese flag from her car and held up a picture of former prime minister and MP Rafiq Hariri whose assassination in February 2005 lies at the root of the current crisis."Long live Lebanon," she shouted to reporters before entering the building.The perimetre around the imposing structure was off-limits to normal traffic after elite troops and tanks deployed in the area. Checkpoints were also set up throughout the city creating traffic jams, and many businesses were shut.Ali Bazzi, an MP with the opposition Amal movement, reiterated that his camp would only take part in Tuesday’s session if the feuding political parties agreed on a consensus candidate.
But many MPs said that was unlikely to happen, and the session was expected to focus on consultations among the rival parties.Several MPs said that speaker Nabih Berri would probably adjourn Tuesday’s session and call for parliament to reconvene around October 16 or 17, after the Muslim holy month of Ramadan.
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Khazen.org offers its deepest condoleances to the families of Antoine Ghanem, Nuhad Gharib, Tony Daou, Charles Chikhani, Sonia Baroudi.
BEIRUT, Lebanon Sin el Fil — Lebanese parliamentarian Antoine Ghanem was killed in a massive bombing in Beirut on Wednesday, according to Lebanese Broadcasting Corp., quoting a member of Ghanem’s Phalange Party. At least 4 other people were killed in the explosion, according to a high-ranking government official.
Israeli warplanes have flown at low altitude over southern Lebanon in defiance of a United Nations resolution, reports from Beirut say. The fighter jets allegedly caused sonic booms as they flew over the cities of Sidon and Tyre, as well as the towns of Bint Jbeil and Marjayoun. Israel has so far made no comment on the Lebanese claims. 
19 September 2007 BEIRUT: In its latest report for the fourth quarter of 2007, London-based Business Monitor International (BMI) maintained its 2007 real GDP growth forecast for Lebanon at 2 percent. However, the agency, which conducts credit rating and country risk research, believes that this growth is propelled by postwar reconstruction activity rather than a vibrant overall economic situation.
BEIRUT Daily Star: Speaker Nabih Berri declared Thursday that no Parliament session can take place without him, and warned that while the Lebanese Army would remain united during a widely feared domestic political crisis, the Internal Security Forces (ISF) might split. Appearing on the country’s most influential political talk show, the Lebanese Broadcasting Corporation’s "Kalam al-Naas," Berri warned that despite what some in the March 14 camp might think, Parliament cannot convene to elect a new president without him. 
