UNITED NATIONS (AFP) – The UN Security Council on Wednesday voted to set up an international court to try suspects in the murder of Lebanese ex-premier Rafiq Hariri, whose death rocked his country two years ago. The legally binding resolution, which was narrowly approved, sets June 10 as the date on which a 2006 agreement between the UN and the Beirut government to establish the court enters into force.
The vote came at a time of high tensions in Lebanon, exacerbated by a deadly standoff between the army and an Al-Qaeda-inspired Islamist militia, and a spate of bomb attacks and tightened security in and around the capital Beirut.
Ten of the Security Council’s 15 members voted in favor of Resolution 1757, with veto-wielding members Russia and China as well as South Africa, Indonesia and Qatar — three non-permanent members — abstaining.The issue of the tribunal, which has divided Lebanon between the government and the opposition, was immediately welcomed by Hariri’s MP son, Saad, the leader of the anti-Syrian parliamentary majority. "Let’s all join hands in defending the international tribunal … as an opportunity for all Lebanese to unite," he said in a televised statement. Lebanon’s opposition objects to the way the Western-backed Siniora government has handled plans to create the court under UN auspices. The Siniora government in turn accuses allies of Syria of trying to prevent the creation of the tribunal under pressure from Damascus.

طالب العماد ميشال عون باجراء انتخابات نيابية مبكرة في اشراف مراقبين من الامم المتحدة لحل الازمة في لبنان، ورفض "استخدام البطريرك الماروني الكاردينال مار نصرالله بطرس صفير اداة سياسية في الانتخابات الرئاسية اللبنانية".
TRIPOLI, Lebanon: 27 may Many families from the Palestinian refugee camp that has been caught in the battle between Islamic militants and the Lebanese Army have fled the camp, but thousands of people remain trapped inside, a United Nations official said Sunday.The Nahr al-Bared camp, near the outskirts of this northern Lebanese port city, was calm Sunday after sporadic gunfire overnight between the army and Fatah al-Islam militants in the camp punctured a four-day-old truce.
BEIRUT (AP)–Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah on Friday warned the Lebanese government against storming a Palestinian refugee camp and criticized U.S. weapons aid to the military.Nasrallah warned that Lebanon risked getting dragged into the U.S. war against al-Qaida, which he said would draw more Islamic militants into the country and potentially destabilize it.
By SCHEHEREZADE FARAMARZI, Aley, Lebanon — A bomb exploded in one of Lebanon’s most important mountain resorts late Wednesday, wounding at least five people, police said. 


