BEIRUT: Following his first meeting  with U.S. Ambassador Jeffrey Feltman after the statement of understanding was inked between the Free Patriotic Movement and Hizbullah, FPM leader MP Michel Aoun said the meeting was an opportunity to explain to Feltman certain terms so the document would not be misunderstood. Last Monday, Hizbullah's Secretary General Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah and Aoun issued a joint statement of understanding in support of the arms of the resistance so long as there are occupied Lebanese territories.

The statement also calls for national dialogue to resolve pending issues, implement democracy, draft a new electoral law, establish a strong and modern country and resolve the security situation. peaking from Rabieh, Aoun said the statement was put within its framework, adding the FPM is ready to provide any information to any person wishing to inquire about it. Asked about negative criticism the initiative drew, especially from U.S. Assistant Secretary of State for Near Eastern Affairs David Welch, Aoun emphasized "there was no negative criticism, only a request to explain certain terms."

By Mark Turner at theUnited Nations, The United Nations has called on the Lebanese government to explain allegations that the Lebanese army aided the transfer of weapons from Syria to Hizbollah, the Iranian-backed militant Islamic group.A UN Security Council resolution, adopted in 2004, called for the withdrawal of foreign forces from Lebanon and the disbanding and disarmament of all Lebanese and non-Lebanese militias.

UN officials have warned for some time that weapons and personnel are flowing from Syria to militia in Lebanon, but the issue had taken a relative back-seat during an international investigation into last year's murder of Rafiq Hariri, the former Lebanese prime minister.It rose to new prominence, however, following allegations that several truckloads of light weapons and missiles were transferred on January 31, after which, according to officials, the Lebanese army all but acknowledged it was playing a role.

Foreign minister Manouchehr Mottaki Thursday held separate meetings with Lebanese spiritual leaders to discuss latest developments in the Muslim and Arab world and stance of the Islamic Republic of Iran on international issues. In his meeting with the Lebanese Religious Leader Muhammad Hussein Fazlallah, he referred to the significant role of Ulema in guiding Muslim communities and said the Ulema have focal role in restoring law and order.

Highlighting Iran's domestic and foreign policies, he said new government of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad is to act based on justice seeking and loving people which led to massive presence of people in national rallies to mark the 27th anniversary of triumph of the Islamic Revolution on February 11. On Iran's legitimate rights on peaceful application of nuclear energy, Mottaki said the issue of scientific and technological know-how is not a simple issue to be ignored because implementation of the task is a national demand and the psychological and political war master-minded by the US has nothing to do with the firm determination of Iranian nation.

BEIRUT, Feb. 15 (Xinhuanet) — Lebanese President Emile Lahoud on Wednesday rejected demands by the country’s anti-Syrian groups to resign, vowing to …