By Hussein Dakroub –

BEIRUT: A radically new election law endorsed by Maronite leaders that would allow each sect to choose its own representatives during the 2013 parliamentary elections has come under fire from officials across the political divide, with some warning that it would deepen sectarianism in the country.

Former Prime Minister Saad Hariri said he will comment at the “appropriate time” on the agreement reached Friday by Christian leaders from the rival camps of March 8 and March 14 on a proposal adopted by the newly established Orthodox Gathering.

But two MPs from Hariri’s parliamentary Future bloc have harshly criticized the Bkirki agreement.

“I have been repeating two matters for years. First, Lebanon cannot exist without an effective role for its Christian citizens. Second, I reject that sects adopt [political] attitudes because this will be the beginning of the end to a united Lebanon,” Beirut MP Mohammad Qabbani said in a statement Sunday.

“Therefore, I consider the proposal for sects to elect their MPs as a mass suicide of Lebanon’s people and a consecration of the federation of sects which will eventually lead to the partitioning of the country into geographically sectarian cantons,” he added.

Qabbani said that the Orthodox Gathering’s proposal could be discussed only after the implementation of a provision in the 1989 Arab-brokered Taif Accord which called for the establishment of two parliaments: A non-sectarian Parliament and a Senate that elects its members along sectarian lines.

The current 128-member Parliament is equally divided by Muslims and Christians.

Beirut MP Nuhad Mashnouq said the agreement announced at Bkirki is “not reassuring.”

  The President of the Lebanese Republic Michel Sleiman has dispatched a letter to French President Nicolas Sarkozy vowing to capture the criminals behind the bomb attempt against French UN soldiers. Sleiman vowed to end all terrorist attacks against UN troops and portrayed them as a threat to Lebanon’s security.

  Hezbollah official Ghaleb Abu Zeinab said that he delivered a “message of peace” from Hezbollah chief Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah to Maronite Patriarch Bechara Boutros al-Rai. “My meeting with the patriarch [on Friday] comes in the context of strengthening relations between [the patriarchate] and Hezbollah,” Abu Zeinab said in an interview with Al-Jumhuriya newspaper published […]

   عقد اللقاء برئاسة البطريرك مار بشاره بطرس الراعي وحضور المطارنة: بولس صياح، كميل زيدان وسمير مظلوم، الأمين العام للدوائر البطريركية الأب أنطوان خليفة. كذلك حضر رئيس حزب الكتائب الرئيس امين الجميل، ورئيس "تكتل التغيير والاصلاح" النائب العماد ميشال عون، ورئيس "تيار المردة" سليمان فرنجية، ورئيس حزب "القوات اللبنانية" سمير جعجع، والنواب الموارنة الذين غاب […]

note these articles are written by NBC news and other news agency

U.S. car dealerships part of ‘mind-boggling’ international criminal enterprise, U.S. charges

By Michael Isikoff National investigative correspondent / NBC News

 The Treasury Department on Thursday blacklisted one of the largest banks in Lebanon, accusing it of being part of what one official calls a “mind-boggling” international criminal enterprise that is laundering hundreds of  millions of dollar in illegal drug money every year for the benefit of Hezbollah.

The action, which was announced Thursday by Undersecretary of Treasury Stuart Levey, is the latest development in a four-year investigation that officials say has uncovered links between one of Colombia’s biggest drug traffickers, top leaders of Hezbollah and the Iranian Government.

As part of the alleged scheme, proceeds from the drug empire of Colombian trafficker Ayman Saied Joumaa, generated from massive shipments of cocaine to West Africa and then on to Europe, are being laundered through the Lebanese Canadian Bank, or LCB — a Beirut-based financial institution with $5 billion in assets and 35 branches, including an office in Montreal. Some of the money was then rerouted through about 50 used car dealerships in the United States, according to U.S. officials.

The profits ultimately benefit Hezbollah, a Lebanon-based Shiite Muslim group considered a terrorist organization by the U.S. government, which is suspected of using some of the revenue to rebuild its military arsenal and other infrastructure damaged in its 2006 war with Israel, the officials said.

As a result of Thursday’s action, LCB has been designated as a financial institution of “primary money laundering concern.” Under a provision of the U.S. Patriot Act, Treasury is proposing to ban it from engaging in any transactions with U.S. financial institutions. That rule would take effect after 60 days unless LCB takes corrective action, officials said.

Bechara Moussa, a representative at LCB’s Montreal office, told NBC: “The general management in Lebanon is aware of these rumors and by tomorrow they will issue a statement.”

  On December 8, Mr. Suleiman arrived in Armenia on the invitation of Armenian leader Serzh Sargsyan. Meetings with President Sargsyan, Armenian officials as well as Catholicos of All Armenians His Holiness Karekin II were on the agenda. Also, agreements to promote development of bilateral relations were signed during the visit. The agreements cover economic […]

  Le patriarche maronite, Mgr Béchara Raï, a notamment condamné hier l’attentat, soulignant, dans son homélie dominicale, que cette attaque constitue une « agression contre la paix et la stabilité du Liban ». Mgr Raï a également affirmé que les armes illégales doivent être sous le seul contrôle des autorités libanaises car, selon lui, « […]

   عندما كتب جبران تويني رسالته الاشهر: "كتاب مفتوح الى الرئيس السوري بشار الاسد" قامت دنيا الازلام والمحاسيب وعسس الاستخبارات وعملاء الوصاية والاحتلال عليه يرشقونه بالحرم الاكبر، لكن الايام اثبتت صحة كلام جبران تويني ورؤيته المستقبلية، فإذا بالاحتلال السوري ينزاح عن لبنان. واذا بالنظام البعثي السوري نفسه يترنح تحت وطأة الحراك الشعبي. لعل قلة تعرف بأنه […]

      A week ago, Prime Minister Najib Mikati announced that the government reached a solution that will resolve the issue related to Lebanon funding its part from the Special Tribunal for Lebanon. Yesterday, the STL media office announced that a delegation from the Special Tribunal for Lebanon Prosecutor Daniel Bellemare’s office will visit Beirut soon […]