Friday, March 23, 2007

BEIRUT: Prime Minister Fouad Siniora said on Thursday that his country was passing through a "dangerous time," for which he blamed the opposition. In a televised address on Thursday from the Grand Serail, Siniora spoke at length about his proposed reform plans for the public sector, but devoted only a few words to the ongoing political crisis and mounting tensions in Beirut that he has repeatedly blamed on his political rivals.

Israeli deputy prime minister Shimon Peres told the commission investigating last summer's war in Lebanon that he opposed starting the conflict, according to witness statements made public on Thursday.

"If it had been up to me, I would not have gone to war. If it had been up to me, I would not have made a list of objectives for this war... We were attacked and we had to defend ourselves. That's all," Peres told the inquiry.

Thursday, March 22, 2007

Syrian President Bashar Assad reiterated Tuesday that if any Syrian was found implicated in the assassination of former Premier Rafik Hariri, he will be tried by a Syrian court and not an international court. "Anybody who has a hand in this case would be considered a traitor by the Syrian law," Assad said in an interview with France 2 television.

Thursday, March 22, 2007

BEIRUT: The dialogue between Speaker Nabih Berri and parliamentary majority leader MP Saad Hariri was to resume late Wednesday, despite speculation that the talks had reached a dead end, according to local media reports. A day after a gathering of pro-government MPs outside Parliament to protest against a decision by Berri not to convene the legislature, Progressive Socialist Party leader MP Walid Jumblatt cancelled a news conference to avoid any risk of scuttling the fragile dialogue between Berri and Hariri.