By Daniel Williams Bloomberg News, On Sept. 19, Edgard Baradhi heard an explosion near his house in the Sin el-Fil neighborhood of Beirut. A car bomb had killed Antoine Ghanem, a member of Parliament, and six other people. He went out and pulled some of the dead from their vehicles. "My hands were full of blood."Baradhi, a 29-year-old Maronite Christian electrician, is moving to Qatar this month, joining thousands of Lebanese of all faiths and political inclinations who are emigrating for tranquility and higher-paying employment.
Job recruiters and analysts say the outflow is a double whammy: drying up the pool of skilled workers inside Lebanon and reducing salaries for some Lebanese outside."This is a buyer’s market for Lebanese abroad," said Carole Contavelis, who heads Hunter International, a Beirut recruitment agency. "Nobody’s in Lebanon anymore. The good candidates are out."
Across the Middle East and North Africa, it’s rare to have a conversation with a young person who doesn’t want to emigrate to the United States, Canada, Europe or Australia. Internal conflicts scar countries from Morocco to Iraq, and unemployment across the region tops 10 percent.
BEIRUT, Lebanon – The leader of Hezbullah accused Israel on Friday of being behind a string of killings of in Lebanon, saying the Jewish state was trying to foment strife between his Islamic militant movement and other Lebanese communities. Supporters of Lebanon’s government and others have repeatedly blamed Syria for the killings, charging Syria wants to bring down Prime minister Fouad Senioura by killing off lawmakers who give him a slim parliamentary majority.
BEIRUT (AFP) – Lebanon’s army commander, General Michel Suleiman, led a tribute on Saturday to the 168 soldiers who died in this summer’s siege of Islamist militants holed up in a Palestinian refugee camp. September 2 is an honourable date in the history of the nation," he said of the day the siege of Nahr al-Bared camp ended with the defeat of fighters from Faah al-Islam, a group he called the "most important terrorist organisation" ever known in Lebanon.
Roger Runningen
Tue Oct 3, 2:08 PM ET DEIR AL-QAMAR, Lebanon (AFP) – Fifteen people were injured in fires that raged across forests and damaged houses to the north and east of the Lebanese capital on Tuesday, a local official said. Fifteen people suffered injuries and burns, while 20 others were treated for respiratory problems" in the Shouf mountains east of Beirut, Deir al-Qamar municipality official Edy Renno told AFP.
By Nafez Qawas, NEW YORK: Resolution 1701, the permanent settlement of Palestinians, the presidential poll, and Israeli violations were the main issues addressed by President Emile Lahoud in his address to the UN’s 62nd General Assembly on Friday Lahoud called for international support and assistance for Lebanon to prevent the country from falling apart. "Some states are trying to interfere in Lebanon’s internal affairs against international norms … I urge the international community to prevent and halt these interferences for they are increasing the existing tensions in the county," he added.
Lebanon’s central bank has revealed the combined profits of the commercial banks operating in the country increased by 6.8% in the first seven months of the year, in spite of ongoing political turmoil which has badly damaged much of the economy, reported the Daily Star. The combined profits had reached $451m by the end of July, while customer deposits increased by 5.8% to $64.2bn over the same period.


