Khazen – Page 919

Aoun meets with Feltman to clarify pact with Hizbullah

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BEIRUT: Following his first meeting with U.S. Ambassador Jeffrey Feltman after the statement of understanding was inked between the Free Patriotic Movement and Hizbullah, FPM leader MP Michel Aoun said the meeting was an opportunity to explain to Feltman certain terms so the document would not be misunderstood. Last Monday, Hizbullah’s Secretary General Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah and Aoun issued a joint statement of understanding in support of the arms of the resistance so long as there are occupied Lebanese territories.

The statement also calls for national dialogue to resolve pending issues, implement democracy, draft a new electoral law, establish a strong and modern country and resolve the security situation. peaking from Rabieh, Aoun said the statement was put within its framework, adding the FPM is ready to provide any information to any person wishing to inquire about it. Asked about negative criticism the initiative drew, especially from U.S. Assistant Secretary of State for Near Eastern Affairs David Welch, Aoun emphasized "there was no negative criticism, only a request to explain certain terms."

UN presses Lebanon over Hizbollah weapons claim

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By Mark Turner at theUnited Nations, The United Nations has called on the Lebanese government to explain allegations that the Lebanese army aided the transfer of weapons from Syria to Hizbollah, the Iranian-backed militant Islamic group.A UN Security Council resolution, adopted in 2004, called for the withdrawal of foreign forces from Lebanon and the disbanding and disarmament of all Lebanese and non-Lebanese militias.

UN officials have warned for some time that weapons and personnel are flowing from Syria to militia in Lebanon, but the issue had taken a relative back-seat during an international investigation into last year’s murder of Rafiq Hariri, the former Lebanese prime minister.It rose to new prominence, however, following allegations that several truckloads of light weapons and missiles were transferred on January 31, after which, according to officials, the Lebanese army all but acknowledged it was playing a role.

Iran’s FM confers with Lebanese spiritual leaders

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Foreign minister Manouchehr Mottaki Thursday held separate meetings with Lebanese spiritual leaders to discuss latest developments in the Muslim and Arab world and stance of the Islamic Republic of Iran on international issues. In his meeting with the Lebanese Religious Leader Muhammad Hussein Fazlallah, he referred to the significant role of Ulema in guiding Muslim communities and said the Ulema have focal role in restoring law and order.

Highlighting Iran’s domestic and foreign policies, he said new government of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad is to act based on justice seeking and loving people which led to massive presence of people in national rallies to mark the 27th anniversary of triumph of the Islamic Revolution on February 11. On Iran’s legitimate rights on peaceful application of nuclear energy, Mottaki said the issue of scientific and technological know-how is not a simple issue to be ignored because implementation of the task is a national demand and the psychological and political war master-minded by the US has nothing to do with the firm determination of Iranian nation.

Lebanese president vows to continue tenure

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BEIRUT, Feb. 15 (Xinhuanet) — Lebanese President Emile Lahoud on Wednesday rejected demands by the country’s anti-Syrian groups to resign, vowing to hold the post until the end of his tenure. "He is committed to his oath until the last day of his constitutional tenure," Lahoud’s office said in a statement. In Tuesday’s mass protest in […]

Recreating Old Beirut

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Mathaba.Net,Beirut used to be one of the most charming modern Arab cities. The major expansion and construction boom of the city took place at the end of the 19th and the first half of the 20th centuries. Until the middle of the 19th century, the town of Beirut was located to the west of the present Martyrs

Review of the Arab press

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AMMAN, Jordan, Feb. 15 (UPI) — Arab press roundup for Feb. 15: Lebanon’s as-Safir commented Wednesday that the massive demonstration in Beirut Tuesday marking the first anniversary of former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri’s assassination showed Hariri continues to have a strong presence in Lebanese memory.

The independent daily said it showed the persistent demand to punish his killers was instrumental in defining Lebanon’s internal policies and relations with Syria. It added the demonstration put an end to the "desperate picture that emerged in the past year depicting the Lebanese are not capable of administering their own affairs without direct external interference."

The mass-circulation paper opined the manifestation was an honest expression of a desire for national unity and brought a new dynamic to move forward in building "an authority of the vast majority, with a well-known agenda, and to work towards completing the disengagement from Syria." It complained that while Sunnis, Christians and Druze showed up, most of the Shiites decided to remain home and watch the demonstration on their television sets, saying they placed themselves "outside the general national context and oppose the idea that Syria’s influence in Lebanon has ended."

Prime minister visits the pope

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In an audience at the Vatican this morning, Lebanese p.m. spoke to the Pope of his meeting with the various religious leaders in Lebanon, the Mohammad caricatures, attacks in the Christian quarter of Beirut and violence among various religious groups. The Vatican reaffirms its closeness to

Lebanon marks Hariri’s death

adminFebruary 14, 2006UncategorisedComments are off for this post

By Nadim Ladki , BEIRUT (Reuters) – A crowd of 500,000 flag-waving Lebanese packed a square in central Beirut on Tuesday to mark the first anniversary of the assassination of former Prime Minister Rafik al-Hariri. The turnout, reminiscent of huge protests after the February 14 2005 murder that forced Syria to bow to international pressure and leave Lebanon, looked set to give fresh impetus to the country’s anti-Syrian coalition that dominates the government after winning a general election in May and June.

The coalition of Sunni Muslim, Christian and Druze political forces, which called the rally, is demanding to know the truth about Hariri’s assassination, which it blames on Damascus, and the resignation of President Emile Lahoud."We miss you," read large posters of Hariri. "They feared you, so they killed you," others said. "He lived Lebanon and died for its sake," a black banner read.

Massive turnout as Lebanon remembers Hariri

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Beirut, 14 Feb. (AKI) – The son of former Lebanese premier Rafiq Hariri on Tuesday led a gathering of hundreds of thousands of people who turned out to commemorate the first anniversary of his father’s assassination. But the event in Beirut’s Martyrs’ Square was also used by Saad Hariri and other political leaders as a platform for emotional speeches condemning Syria’s meddling in Lebanese affairs. "Lebanon will not deal with those who want to supress it. Long live Lebanon. Long live Rafiq Hariri, Long live the Lebanese people," shouted Saad Hariri who stood behind a bullet-proof glass screen while people waved red-and-white Lebanese flags.

The government gave schools the day off and businesses shuttered to give way for people to participate. Thousands began gathering in the morning under in crisp cool winter weather under sunny skies, carrying Lebanese flags and pictures of Hariri. The demonstration, described as a "gathering of loyalty and national unity" on the central Martyrs’ Square next to his grave, climaxes shortly after midday, the time when a huge truck bomb exploded on a downtown seaside street on Feb. 14, 2005, as Hariri’s motorcade drove by, killing him and 20 others. To view pictures pls cleak "READ MORE"

Massive turnout as Lebanon remembers Hariri

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BEIRUT (AFP)– The Lebanese capital was transformed into a massive sea of red and white flags as the country marked the first anniversary of former premier Rafiq Hariri’s assassination, still struggling to unite in the shadow of its former powerbroker Syria.

Thousands of people packed into central Beirut, waving red and white flags and pictures of the slain billionaire premier who was credited with rebuilding their country after the devastating civil war.
Hariri’s son Saad returned home at the weekend after six months in exile to issue an appeal for a massive turnout on the anniversary of an event that plunged Lebanon into turmoil and changed its political landscape.

"It will be a day of a renewal of faith in the unity of Lebanon," said Hariri, now the head of the anti-Syrian majority in parliament. Candlelit rallies and concerts are planned to mark the massive Beirut seafront bombing that killed Hariri and 20 other people on Valentine’s Day 2005.