by Rana Moussaoui, BEIRUT (AFP) – Lebanese women may be known as the Arab world’s most liberal but they are by no means the region’s most liberated considering antiquated laws that reduce them to second-class citizens. "The law in this country still considers a woman as being inferior," complained sociologist Rafif Sidaoui. From domestic violence to rape to adultery, the rights of women often fall by the wayside in this multi-confessional sectarian society, nonetheless deemed avant-garde in the mostly conservative Middle East. "One of the absurd laws on the books allows a rapist to be exempt from prison if he marries his victim," said Ezzat Mroue, vice-president of the Women’s Rights Committee (WRC). "A few years ago, there was a major scandal when a young man, who was after his cousin, kidnapped her from her university," she added. "He raped her and then brought her before a sheikh who married them. "The result was that he was not guilty in the eyes of the law," Mroue said.
And although so-called "honour crimes" are not widespread in Lebanon, as in some other Arab countries, every year a number of women are killed by male relatives under the pretext of defending the family honour.Under the law, the murderer can benefit from "mitigating circumstances". But "murder is murder and you cannot apply different penalties" depending on gender, insisted Mroue. She said when it comes to adultery, the picture is not brighter. A woman can be sentenced to two years in prison if a third party accuses her of cheating on her husband, whereas a man has to be caught red-handed before being hauled to court.
March 2008 (IRIN) , 
BEIRUT: The Association of Lebanese Industrialists (ALI) plans to file a lawsuit against the government for failing to protect local industry against unfair foreign competition, the head of the group said on Monday. "We have had enough. The government must understand that local industry can no longer stay in business if the free trade agreements are not respected by Arab countries," Fadi Abboud told The Daily Star.Lebanese industrialists argue that most Arab states that have signed free trade agreements with Lebanon subsidize the cost of energy, which is essential for the manufacturing sector.
CAIRO (AFP)–U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice defended the deployment of a U.S. warship off the coast of Lebanon, saying it was designed to show Washington’s readiness to defend its allies’ interests."As to the American military presence, the U.S. exercise a military presence in the region and it has for a very long time," Rice told reporters in Cairo at a news conference with her Egyptian counterpart Ahmed Abul Gheit. "It is simply to make very clear that the U.S. is capable and willing of defending its interests and the interests of its allies. That is really all that is happening there," she said.
الـى أيـن يأخذنـا السياسيـون ؟ سؤالٌ يتردد على لسان كل مواطن يشعر أن أوضاع البلاد تتردَّى يوماً بعد يوم سياسياً واقتصادِياً ومَعيشياً ، كما يشعر أن الأمنَ مهدَّدٌ بالخطب الناريَّة والشَّحنِ الطائفيّ والمذهبيّ ، وأنه مهددٌ بالإرهابِ الذي يَضربُ بين الحينِ والآخر فيَنجوَ منه الناس بالصدفة على بركة الله . 
by Sylvie Briand, Mariam Saidi spends her days creating clay busts of her beloved son who vanished without a trace 26 years ago, aged only 16, in the midst of the savage civil war which tore through Lebanon. Sitting in her little apartment on the outskirts of Beirut, the mother of five clutches a faded photograph of Maher Kassir and recalls how he disappeared after becoming embroiled in the sectarian violence which blighted the country.
The head of the Arab League has failed to break a deadlock between Lebanese political factions on the distribution of cabinet posts, which is holding back the election of a new president. Amr Moussa met Saad Hariri of the majority March 14 camp, his ally Amin Gemayel and Michel Aoun, from the opposition, for a second day in Beirut. 
