By Robert Fisk

Major General Herzl ‘Herzi’ Halevy was at it again a few days ago.
Another war in Lebanon, the Israeli chief of the country’s ‘Military
Intelligence Directorate’ threatened, would turn it into “a country of
refugees”.  Not very original, when you come to think of it, because
Lebanon already hosts around 350,000 Palestinian refugees from the land
which Herzi calls Israel and a further million refugees from Syria. In
total, that’s about a fifth of the entire population of Lebanon. The
Lebanese might be forgiven for yawning. Haven’t we been here before?

Well, yes, as a matter of fact, we have. But first the usual context.
Herzi was talking to the annual Herzliya conference in Israel where
chiefs of staff and military intelligence bosses warn their countrymen
of the massive firepower which may be unleashed on them by Hezbollah,
al-Qaeda, Isis, Arab states with whom they don’t have a peace
treaty, Old Uncle Tom Cobley and all. Herzi was marking the 10th
anniversary of the last Lebanon war – the third Lebanon war, according
to the Israelis, who would have to explain why there have really been
five Lebanon wars (1978, 1982, 1994, 1996 and 2006) if they stuck with
the facts. But there you go. 

By Joseph A. Kechichian

Beirut: Although Speaker Nabih Berri insisted that reaching an
agreement on a new electoral legislation would allow Lebanon to end a
lingering presidential vacuum, his 19th convocation of the National
Dialogue failed to produce a new initiative, though everyone planned to
revisit pending concerns at a later date.

On Tuesday, rival
leaders returned to the Speaker’s mansion at Ain Al Tineh, even if March
8 and March 14 politicians harboured low expectations for reaching an
accord. Berri’s proposal for a new voting system called for holding
early parliamentary polls before the election of a president.


Siniora’s stand Former
Prime Minister Fouad Siniora, who represented the Future Movement at
the National Dialogue sessions, renewed his party’s insistence for the
election of a president first to end the current paralysis. He and
others rejected any tampering with the Constitution.

لبنان بلد الارز الشامخ يعيش مخاض دامت الامه وما زال يتخبط حتى الان محاولاً استعادة كرامته وكرامة مؤسساته ودور رئيسه في تسيير البلد ورده الى شاطئ الامان.  لم يعد بوسعنا الرجوع الى الوراء بل علينا التطلع الى الامام عبر  الحفاظ على كل ما هو شرعي في بلدنا، فالحكومة هي المؤسسة الوحيدة الشرعية الباقية في تغييب […]

The Daily Star

The Lebanese Olympic Committee have confirmed that eight of their athletes will compete at the Rio 2016 Olympic games. Four athletes achieved the qualifying standards in their respective sports automatically qualifying them for the Olympics. They are runner Chirine Njeim, table tennis player Mariana Sahakyan, Judo player Naif Elias and finally fencer Mona Shaito. The four […]

The Lebanese Olympic Committee have confirmed that eight of their athletes will compete at the Rio 2016 Olympic games. Four athletes achieved the qualifying standards in their respective sports automatically qualifying them for the Olympics. They are runner Chirine Njeim, table tennis player Mariana Sahakyan, Judo player Naif Elias and finally fencer Mona Shaito. The four […]

By Reuters

The move against Ayatollah Isa Qassim comes less than a week after a court ordered Bahrain’s main opposition al-Wefaq
group closed, accusing it of fomenting sectarian unrest and of having
links to a foreign power, in an apparent reference to regional Shi’ite
power Iran. Qassim could potentially face expulsion from the country.

A crowd of up to 4,000 people gathered outside Qassim’s house in the
Shi’ite village of Diraz, west of the capital Manama, to show their
support for him, witnesses said. In a bluntly worded reaction, the top commander of Iran’s Revolutionary Guards, Qassem Soleimani, warned the Bahraini government that it would pay a price for its decision and suggested Bahrainis may respond with armed action.

“The Al Khalifa (rulers of Bahrain) surely know their aggression
against Sheikh Isa Qassim is a red line and that crossing it would set
Bahrain and the whole region on fire, and it would leave no choice for
people but to resort to armed resistance,” Soleimani said in a statement
published by Fars news agency.

Soleimani heads the Qods Force, the elite special forces arm of Iran’s Revolutionary Guards.

Lebanese Shi’ite group Hezbollah, which is backed by Iran, also
called on the people of Bahrain to express anger, warning that the move
against Qassim “pushes the Bahraini people to difficult choices which
will have severe consequences for this corrupt dictatorial regime”.