Lebanon suspends warrant for returning opposition leader Aoun

BEIRUT (AFP) - A Lebanese court suspended an arrest warrant against exiled Christian opposition leader Michel Aoun, paving the way for his return from France which many fear could disrupt Lebanon's fragile political structure.

The court also decided to delay a ruling in a 2003 case against Aoun, who is due to return to Beirut on Saturday, over comments that were deemed to have damaged Lebanon's relations with Syria.

"The criminal court of Beirut decided to freeze the arrest warrant issued in absentia against General Aoun on October 24, 2003, as well as its terms, and to postpone a verdict in this case until July 5, 2005," a judicial source said Thursday.

Pope Taps Cardinal to Stand in at Ceremony

By NICOLE WINFIELD, Associated Press Writer

VATICAN CITY - Pope Benedict XVI has designated a cardinal to stand in for him at a beatification ceremony later this month in a shift from his predecessor who declared more "blesseds" and saints than all his predecessors over the past 500 years combined.

The head of the Vatican's Congregation for the Causes of Saints, Cardinal Jose Saraiva Martins, will celebrate the Mass on May 14 to beatify a Franciscan nun who worked in Hawaii and the co-founder of a missionary society in Spain.

Court Clears Anti-Syrian Lebanese Official - Last Update

By HUSSEIN DAKROUB, Associated Press Writer

BEIRUT, Lebanon - Fourteen years after former Lebanese army commander Michel Aoun was whisked out of the country into exile, his army overrun by Syrian forces, the judiciary began clearing him Wednesday of criminal charges as he prepared to return a triumphant politician.

Opposition demonstrators, meanwhile, demanded freedom for another Christian leader, Samir Geagea. His imprisonment and Aoun's exile long have been open wounds for Lebanon's minority Christians.

Michael Aoun to return to Lebanon after 15 years in exile

Christian opposition leader Michel Aoun is set to return to Lebanon after 15 years in exile on Saturday hoping to stake a claim to high office after last month