Chairman of the Arab Summit, Sudanese President Omar al-Basheer, appealed on Tuesday for the stabilization of the relationship between Syria and Lebanon and rejected US pressure on Syria. "Out of solidarity, we have to look to Syria and Lebanon and suppor them in the face of pressure that Syria is facing through unjust laws … and we support a free will and independent decision for Lebanon," al-Basheer said.
The chairman of last year’s summit, Algerian President Abdel Aziz Bouteflika, said that Syria and Lebanon enjoy "extraordinary ties." "As much as we are keen on revealing the truth about the assassination of former Lebanese prime minister Rafik al Hariri, we also call on our brothers in Syria and Lebanon to maintain their brotherly close ties that bind the two brother nations since old times," Bouteflika said. The 18th Arab League Summit kicked off with key Arab leaders absent from the meetings that are expected to tackle a number of thorny regional issues. The Arab foreign ministers who met two days earlier to set the agenda of the summit had rejected any US or Israeli pressure on Syria and stressed Lebanon’s right to sovereignty.
By Henri Mamarbachi – BEIRUT Lebanon’s leaders held fresh talks on Monday focusing on one of the most contentious issues dividing supporters and opponents of Syria – the fate of President Emile Lahoud whom the parliamentary majority wants to oust. 
The United Nations has said it did not expect 
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The purpose of this gathering is to brief you on the case you read about in the news, i. e. my prosecution before the military court, Beirut, by reason of the testimony I gave on the conditions of human rights in Lebanon, at the European Parliament, Brussels, on November 4, 2003, i. e. two and a half years ago.
BEIRUT, 21 March (IRIN) – Beirut’s impressive downtown district reflects much of the wealth and development that Lebanon has enjoyed since the end of the civil war in 1990. But a few minutes’ drive to the capital’s southern and northern fringes reveals a vastly different reality, featuring extreme poverty and underdevelopment. Residents and NGOs working to alleviate poverty put much of the blame for the shabby condition of the suburbs on government inaction. "We’re second class citizens," said Youssef Hassan, a 48 year-old resident of the southern suburb of Hay al-Selom. "Officials forget we exist below the poverty line." 
By Marwan Kanafani and Elizabeth Schiffrin, WALKING through the unpaved streets of Ain el-Helweh
BEIRUT, 13 March (IRIN) – BEIRUT, 13 March 2006 (IRIN) 
EIRUT, March 14 (Reuters) – Lebanese leaders agreed at national talks on Tuesday to disarm Palestinian factions outside refugee camps within six months and called for full diplomatic ties with Syria. But the officials meeting to end a political crisis that has paralysed the country did not agree on the two hottest issues: disarming the pro-Syrian Hizbollah guerrilla group and the fate of pro-Syrian president Emile Lahoud. 
