When French president François Hollande visits Saudi Arabia, a traditional Western ally in the Middle East, most expect standard-fare statements about cooperation and concern for security developments in the region. But on December 29, 2013, news came from the Saudi king’s luxurious Rawdat Khurayim farm residence about the country’s decision to arm the Lebanese […]

  The United Nations Special Coordinator for Lebanon Derek Plumbly “strongly” deplored on Thursday the car bombing in the Beirut suburb of Haret Hreik, expressing his anger over the recurrent explosions in Lebanon.   "I express my outrage that this is the fourth bomb to have exploded in Beirut’s southern suburbs since July,” Plumbly said […]

khazen.org condemns the attacks in Beirut – We pray for Lebanon its victims, peace and security

Fire and smoke is seen at the site of an explosion in Beirut’s southern suburbs January 2, 2014. The powerful explosion struck southern Beirut on Thursday, a stronghold of the Shi’ite group Hezbollah, killing at least 5 people and sending a column of smoke into the sky, a witness said. REUTERS/Jamal Sahili (LEBANON – Tags: POLITICS CIVIL UNREST)

Firefighters attempt to extinguish a fire following an explosion in Beirut’s southern suburbs, January 2, 2014.A powerful explosion struck southern Beirut on Thursday, a stronghold of the Shi’ite group Hezbollah, killing at least 5 people and sending a column of smoke into the sky, a witness said. REUTERS/Hasan Shaaban (LEBANON – Tags: POLITICS CIVIL UNREST)

BEIRUT — An explosion rocked a stronghold of the Shiite Hezbollah group in the southern suburbs of the Lebanese capital, killing at least five people, setting cars ablaze and sending a column of black smoke above the Beirut skyline.

The nature of the explosion that hit during rush hour in the Haret Hreik neighborhood was not immediately clear, but a Lebanese security official said it appeared to be caused by a car bomb.

Hezbollah’s Al Manar television channel showed scenes of chaos in a residential area, with smoke rising above charred cars, crowds of people pushing past one another and ambulances and fire trucks arriving. The channel said that at least three people had been killed and eight wounded.

The blast came six days after a car bomb killed a prominent member of the Future bloc, the Sunni party that is Hezbollah’s main political rival. And it came a day after reports surfaced of the arrest by Lebanese authorities of a Saudi militant who leads the Abdullah Azzam Brigades, a group affiliated with Al Qaeda that claimed responsibility for a November suicide bombing at the Beirut embassy of Iran, Hezbollah’s ally.

The recent bombings are part of a string of escalating attacks in recent months believed related to the nearly three-year-old conflict in Syria, which has deepened Lebanon’s pre-existing political and sectarian divisions. Hezbollah backs the Syrian government, sending its fighters to aid the army, and the Future movement backs the insurgency, which Lebanese Sunni militants have crossed the border to join.

On New Years Eve, a few hours before midnight, I sat with a family in the outskirts of Beirut.  We were piled into the living room, watching a serious-looking man on TV get interviewed.  On a background behind him, stars streamed past.  And stenciled onto his collar were the letters M and F.  They’re his initials. This is Mike Feghaly.

Feghaly is one of a handful of future predictors in Lebanon.  New Years Eve is the profession’s big night, when they make their most watched and grandest predictions.  Each TV station has its own celebrated predictor, and OTV has Mike Feghaly.

We watch as he moves through a variety of topics quickly.  Feghaly says that Suleiman Frangieh, a politician in Lebanon, will become the president of the country.  He predicts the Maronite Christians will get their own pope.

And he says that a well-known TV personality will get beat up.  The interviewer—himself a well-known TV personality—asks if it could be him.  And Feghaly answers, “Well, I wouldn’t rule it out.” The Lebanese family bursts out laughing.

  Published December 31, 2013 Associated Press – Bassam Mroue BEIRUT –  Through decades of conflict, there has been one thing all Lebanese could agree on, their adoration of the country’s iconic singer Fairouz, who stood unquestioned above the fray with her anthems to Lebanon and Palestine and songs of love. Now the 78-singer has […]

  The assassination of former Lebanese minister Mohammad Chatah came at a very critical time in Lebanon. The division and tension among the Lebanese have never reached such dangerous levels. The conflict in Syria and Hezbollah’s involvement in it has opened the Lebanese northern borders to all kinds of security risks and violence. And last […]

  The Lebanese army opened anti-aircraft fire on Monday at Syrian warplanes that hovered the eastern border town of Arsal.   According to state-run National News Agency, the Syrian warplanes prompted the Lebanese army to respond after it raided Khirbet Daoud, which lies in the Eastern Mountain Range in an area adjacent to the barren […]

  BEIRUT – President Michel Suleiman condemned the “cowardly” assassination of former Finance Minister Mohammad Chatah and called for further solidarity among the Lebanese. “This cowardly act, whatever the messages it carries are, will only make the Lebanese more determined to protect their country and preserve it as a space for peace, stability and dialogue in […]

  Your Excellency,   We are taking this exceptional step to address you and other regional and global leaders because these are exceptionally dangerous times for our country. Not only is Lebanon’s internal and external security being seriously threatened, but the very unity of our state is in real jeopardy. It is our obligation to […]