By Paul Astih – Asharq Al-Awsat Beirut- The head of the Free Patriotic Movement, Foreign Minister Jebran Bassil, and Speaker Nabih Berri’s …

by naharnet, Lebanon’s judiciary on Saturday banned a music video trending on social media of Lebanese artist Myriam Klink for violating the …

by Gulfnews, Beirut: Brigadier General Joseph Aoun is expected to be appointed as the new Commander of the Lebanese Armed Forces (LAF). He will succeed General Jean Qahwaji. General Qahwaji was appointed military chief under the presidency of Michel Sulaiman in 2008. Aoun (no relation to President Michel Aoun) was born in 1964 in Aychiye, East of Sidon, a predominantly Maronite Village in South Lebanon. He joined the military right out of college and reached his current rank after he assumed command of the 9th Brigade, which served in South Lebanon alongside United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (Unifil) with whose officers he is quite familiar with. Aoun has been slated to head the LAF since 2015, but Qahwaji’s term was extended twice.

In addition to this critical new appointment, the Cabinet is apparently slated to designate Major General Emad Othman, who is currently serving as a director general of the Internal Security Forces (ISF), to become its Commander. He will be promoted to succeed Major General Ebrahim Basbous. Reliable sources told Al Jumhuriyyah that Major-General Khalil Yahiya, secretary-general of the Supreme Defence Council, will succeed Major-General Mohammad Khayr, and that Major-General Tony Saliba will replace Major General George Qara‘a as head of the State Security Service.

Major-General Khalid Hammoud is slated to become head of the ISF’s Intelligence Branch and Major-General Samir Sinan as deputy to the State Security Service. Parallel to these appointments, Major General Abbas Ebrahim, the director general of public security will resign from the military, allowing him to stay in office until the retirement age for civilians, which is 64 years old.

by Naharnet Newsdesk

The Judicial Council, Lebanon's highest court for state security crimes, on Friday held its second in absentia trial session in the case of the 1982 assassination of president-elect Bashir Gemayel. After having issued an ultimatum asking the accused Habib Chartouni to turn himself in within 24 hours at the latest from Friday's session, the court decided to consider Chartouni a fugitive and to try him in absentia. It also decided to launch in absentia proceedings against the other suspect in the case, Nabil al-Alam, seeing as no death certificate has been issued for him by the Directorate General of Personal Status.

Media reports had said that al-Alam had died of illness in 2014. According to al-Jadeed TV, the Judicial Council has given al-Alam an ultimatum to turn himself in within 24 hours at the latest from the next session, which will be held on April 28. State-run National News Agency, said the court also decided to strip Chartouni of all his civil rights and to seize any assets he has in Lebanon. Protesters from a Syrian Social National Party faction calling itself the July 8 Movement meanwhile staged a protest near the Justice Palace in support of Chartouni.

Demonstrators carried banners and pictures and called on the Lebanese state to consider Chartouni “a hero not a criminal.” Security forces took measures to prevent the demo from approaching the Justice Palace before eventually asking the protesters to leave the area. Gemayel was a senior member of the Kataeb Party and the supreme commander of the Lebanese Forces militia during the early years of the civil war.