BEIRUT: Lebanon is considering using a Saudi grant to buy much needed weapons and equipment from Moscow to bolster its Army amid a jihadist threat, Interior Minister Nouhad Machnouk has said. “There are talks on buying Russian arms and special equipment by Lebanon,” the World Tribune quoted Machnouk as saying during his visit to […]

  ATICAN CITY — The Vatican, once again backing war to stop the ruthless Islamic State, is demanding that Christians and other religious minorities have the right to return to their homes in Iraq and Syria. Pope Francis summoned Vatican ambassadors from across the region for three days of meetings. At the conclusion Saturday, they […]

          XNM 01. Beirut (Lebanon), 05/10/2014.- Saly Greig (R) is crowned Miss Lebanon 2014 in Casino de Liban, northern Beirut, Lebanon, 05 October 2014. EFE/EPA/NABIL MOUNZER   XNM 01. Beirut (Lebanon), 05/10/2014.- Miss Lebanon Saly Greig (C) poses for photographers with the first runner-up Elsa Hajjar (L) and the second runner-up […]

Vatican City, Oct 4, 2014 / 04:23 pm (CNA/EWTN News).- Vatican Secretary of State Cardinal Pietro Parolin is urging a comprehensive road map for peace in Middle East during meetings between the region’s papal nuncio top officials in his office. Father Federico Lombardi, director of the Holy See Press Office, said the agenda included an opening address by Cardinal Parolin, an intervention by Israeli nuncio Archbishop Giorgio Lazzarotto, and a report by Bishop Brian Farrell, secretary of the Pontifical Council for the Promotion of Christian Unity.
 
According to Fr. Lombardi, Cardinal Parolin outlined a general scenario of the Middle East and stressed the inspiring principles of the diplomatic action of the Holy See.Cardinal Parolin reportedly said that peace must be sought through a “regional and comprehensive solution,” which takes in consideration the interests of each party and which is not pushed by unilateral choices.The Secretary of State has also underscored that religious leaders have an important role in fostering the inter-religious dialogue and combating the fundamentalism at the basis of terrorism.
 

    Beirut (AFP) – French actress Julie Gayet, whose affair with President Francois Hollande made headlines worldwide, opened the Beirut International Film Festival on Wednesday and criticised "fundamentalism" in neighbouring Syria. "I am very excited to be here tonight in Lebanon which is hosting more than a million and a half refugees from Syria," […]

  The heart of downtown Beirut is an elegant area, fringed with expensive buildings. But on a beautiful sunny day, you may not find anyone there — there’s no cafe, no park, no place for people to hang out. Even though the Lebanese capital is a bustling and even glamorous place, the heart of Beirut is […]

  Army chief General Jean Qahwaji on Thursday said he expects the eruption of a “new battle” with jihadist militants in the outskirts of the Bekaa border town of Arsal, revealing that the army has “detected” the presence of a terror cell in the northern city of Tripoli. “The Lebanese army has reinforced its deployment on […]

  TRIPOLI, Lebanon: Usually swarms of wasps and bees are not seen as a good omen, but the large numbers spotted in coastal areas up north are being hailed by some as a sign of a rainy and snowy winter to come, something Lebanon desperately needs after a year of drought and low rainfall. According to […]

BEIRUT (Reuters) – Islamist militants have released a Lebanese soldier they seized last month from a town at the border with Syria where they have clashed with the Lebanese army, security sources and state media said on Wednesday.

It was not immediately clear why the soldier, identified by Lebanon’s state news agency as Kamal al-Hujairi, had been released. He was seized while visiting his family’s farm near the border town of Arsal last month, the National News Agency said.

Militants are believed to be holding about 15 Lebanese soldiers and 15 other members of the security forces captured during an incursion by gunmen – including some linked to the Islamic State group – into Arsal in August.

Islamic State militants have beheaded two captive soldiers and the al Qaeda-linked Nusra Front has killed another.

The Sunni Muslim militants regularly accuse Lebanon’s army of cooperating with Shi’ite movement Hezbollah — which has sent fighters to aid Syrian President Bashar al-Assad — and want Lebanese authorities to free Islamist prisoners.

(Reporting by Alexander Dziadosz; Editing by Louise Ireland)

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