By Alaa Shahine, BEIRUT (Reuters) – Lebanon’s rival politicians met on Thursday for their broadest gathering since the 1975-90 civil war to tackle a political crisis over the role of Syria and its Lebanese allies that has paralyzed the government. The fate of  President Emile Lahoud, who is under growing pressure to resign, will be among the most divisive issues on the table at so-called national dialogue talks that are expected to last up to a week.

Also on the agenda is a U.N. resolution demanding Lebanon’s Hizbollah to disarm — a perennially thorny issue among those Lebanese who believe the Shi’ite group should stick to politics and those who see it as resistance against Israel. While not attending himself, Lahoud welcomed the talks but warned in the strongest terms against foreign pressure to disarm Hizbollah, highlighting just how split the country is."Calls by foreign powers to disarm the resistance would only serve Israel’s interests and weaken Lebanon," Lahoud said in a statement. "Any attempt on their part to disarm the resistance by force would certainly lead to another civil war." TO VIEW MORE PICTURES PLS CLICK "READ MORE"

By Christine Spolar, CAIRO — U.S. military officials have been quietly assessing Lebanon’s military capability, making a general inventory of its army, air and naval forces, and suggesting reforms following a request last year from top Lebanese government officials. Brig. Gen. Mark Kimmitt, a top military planner, confirmed the review this week but would not elaborate on recommended reforms. The review was initiated after a request was made directly through the U.S. Embassy in Beirut, military and political sources said, and is part of a continuing process to help democratic forces in Lebanon.

"We’re looking for stability," said Kimmitt, deputy director for strategy and plans at U.S. Central Command. "An unstable Lebanon is a danger to itself, to its immediate neighbors and the region. This is part of our overall strategy." About a dozen U.S. military officers traveled to Beirut in November and December for the review, military sources said, and visited bases to produce three reports. The inventory was described as a comprehensive assessment of the condition of U.S.-made equipment in the Lebanon armed forces.

BEIRUT, 1 March (IRIN) – Young Lebanese, Palestinians and Sudanese want tougher gun control regulations, a survey by a group of NGOs revealed. The findings of the study, which was conducted over the last six months by the Middle East North Africa Network on Small Arms (MENSAA), an umbrella group of Arab NGOs concerned with the misuse and proliferation of illicit small arms and light weapons, were released on Tuesday in Beirut.

"Each of the studies confirmed that a majority of participants felt there were too many guns in their societies, and that this lessened their security," noted the study, which represented the first public opinion poll on the effect of the preponderance of light arms on local communities. Small arms include revolvers and self-loading pistols and rifles. Light weapons refer to heavy machine guns, hand-held under-barrel and mounted grenade launchers.

Local NGOs carried out surveys on about 200 people aged between 20 and 35 in Lebanon’s capital Beirut, the Bekaa valley and in the south; in Ramallah in the Occupied Palestinian Territories, West Bank and the northern Gaza Strip. Also in the area of Al-Haj Yousif near Khartoum, Sudan. Asked whether they wanted stricter state controls on private gun ownership, 82 percent of respondents said yes. This suggests that attitudes might be changing in a region where there has historically been extensive ownership of guns and a reliance on security provided by tribe and family, rather than a central authority, the study noted.

mmorning.com, Will you take part in any action intended to remove the president from office?
No removal, unless circumstances are such as will convince the president to resign.

Would you be in favor of his resignation?
If that could resolve a national crisis, I think he would himself agree to do it.

President Lahoud has laid down a condition for his resignation, which is that you should be his successor.
I thank him for his confidence, but in addition to his confidence there are other factors, particularly the opinion of the Christian community. I know that I have the confidence of the Christians, even though many people claim otherwise. I don

BEIRUT (AFP) – Lebanon’s President Emile Lahoud hit back at his critics in parliament charging that their campaign to oust him was inspired by foreign powers and an affront to the country’s sovereignty. In an unprecedented open letter in the French-language L’Orient-Le Jour newspaper, Lahoud insisted that it was not his allies in Damascus who were in breach of a 2004 UN Security Council resolution demanding respect for Lebanon’s independence, but his critics’ pro-Israeli backers.

"Today, the supposed majority in parliament is trying, with the help of foreign powers, to divide the Lebanese people with the well-known goal of weakening Lebanon," the under-fire president wrote on Monday."These supposed champions of our sovereignty … began by taking control of parliament … then installed in cabinet a majority of ministers in their pay … and now they’ve launched a campaign of incitement and disinformation … in a bid to seize the sole institution they don’t control — the presidency."