Khazen

Tourism in Lebanon Down 13% in Jan-Oct

Bryan Plamondon, The number of tourists to Lebanon fell for the third consecutive month in October, plunging 48% month-on-month (to 61,093) following declines of 3% and 36% in August and September, respectively, according to figures released by the Tourism Ministry. Moreover, annual growth declined by 12% compared with October 2004. Lebanon’s tourism industry has struggled […]

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Lebanese find mass grave in former Syrian stronghold

ANJAR, Lebanon, Dec 3 (Reuters) – Lebanese forces unearthed on Saturday at least 20 decomposed corpses buried in a mass grave in an eastern town that was the headquarters of Syrian intelligence for three decades, security sources said. Witnesses and security sources said the bodies, most now only skeletons in scraps of underwear, were found […]

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Cedar planted in Paris in homage to Samir Kassir

A cedar of Lebanon was planted in the square in front of the Paris city hall today in homage to Samir Kassir, a journalist with French and Lebanese dual citizenship who was murdered in Beirut on 2 June. The ceremony was organised by Reporters Without Borders, the Kassir family and the Paris city administration.City of Paris representative Christian Sautter, Reporters Without Borders secretary-general Robert M

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Syria Demands New Look Into Hariri Killing

Associated Press Writer UNITED NATIONS (AP) – Syria has demanded new U.N. and Lebanese inquiries into the assassination of Lebanon’s former prime minister after a witness recanted his testimony implicating Syrian officials. Syria’s U.N. Ambassador Fayssal Mekdad made the demand on Wednesday after Husam Taher Husam, a Syrian barber and self-proclaimed intelligence operative, came forward with claims that he had been offered money by the family of slain former prime minister Rafik Hariri and by Lebanese officials to frame Syria.

Husam’s accusations, made on Sunday, were immediately rejected by the Lebanese government and Hariri’s family. And the head of the U.N. commission into the killing, Detlev Mehlis, said in remarks published Thursday that Syria was trying to obstruct the U.N. investigation. But Mekdad said Husam’s claim that he lied to investigators about Syria’s involvement was “a new, important development” that requires re-evaluation of the initial findings of the U.N. inquiry into the Feb. 14 bombing that killed Hariri and 20 others in Beirut.

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LEBANON: MEHLIS COULD BOW OUT FOR TOP GERMAN JOB, SAY MEDIA

Beirut, 1 Dec. (AKI) – Detlev Mehlis, head of the UN commission of inquiry into the death of former Lebanese premier Rafik Hariri, may resign if the UN extends the commission’s mandate beyond its current 15 Dec. deadline, according to several Lebanese newspapers. The English language Daily Star, citing commission sources, says Mehlis is considering an offer for a top job in the German judiciary.

The Arabic language daily As-Safir suggests that Mehlis is under pressure to leave the commission from political forces in Germany who are concerned that the German judge’s high profile role could harm the country’s relations with the Arab world.Another Arabic newspaper An-Nahar also suggests Mehlis is on the verge of quitting, but, citing UN Undersecretary-general for Political Affairs, Ibrahim Gambari, says that the UN commission will continue its work "with or without Mehlis, because the truth in the assassination [of Hariri in February] cannot be established within the next weeks [in time for the 15 Dec. deadline]."

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Freud or Darwin?

 By Pierre el Khazen 30/11/05 , This article concentrates on the Biological-Genetical role for human behavior and in contrast to previous articles; it will not concentrate on Psychological aspects of it. In fact, it will want to convince you of its correctness. As I can not debate all sorts of human behavior, this article will […]

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Freud or Darwin?

 or  ? Social Psychology By Pierre Khazen 30/11/05 This article concentrates on the Biological-Genetic role for human behavior and in contrast to previous articles; it will not concentrate on Psychological aspects of it. In fact, it will want to convince you of its correctness. As I can not debate all sorts of human behavior, this article […]

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Hariri suspect taken to hopsital

BEIRUT (Reuters) – A Lebanese former security chief arrested in connection with the assassination of former Prime Minister Rafik al-Hariri has been taken to hospital with heart trouble, his lawyer said on Wednesday.Security sources said Brigadier General Raymond Azar, former head of military intelligence, was taken from prison to a Beirut hospital late on Tuesday and was in intensive care.

"He suffered from high blood pressure which affected his heart after the prison authorities asked his family to meet him in the same waiting room with dozens of ordinary detainees," Naji al-Boustani, Azar’s lawyer, told Reuters by telephone."They cited lame security excuses for this… He was moved to hospital but he is not in a critical condition," he added. Azar and three other top pro-Syrian former security chiefs have been detained in Lebanon on murder charges over the February 14 killing of Hariri and 22 other people in a Beirut truck bombing. U.N. investigators last week questioned Colonel GhassanTufayli, whose surveillance unit in military intelligence constantly wiretapped Hariri’s telephone calls and passed transcripts to Azar and Army Chief General Michel Suleiman.

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Druze chief says Syria trying to destablise Lebanon

 MUKHTARA, Lebanon, Nov 29 (Reuters) – Lebanese Druze leader Walid Jumblatt accused Syria on Tuesday of trying to destabilise Lebanon to undermine a U.N. inquiry implicating Damascus in the killing of former Prime Minister Rafik al-Hariri. A Syrian witness who has accused Hariri’s son Saad of bribing him to testify falsely said on Monday a report by U.N. investigator Detlev Mehlis implicating Syrian and Lebanese officials in the assassination was based mainly on his own lies.

Jumblatt said the allegations of Hosam Taher Hosam, a former Syrian intelligence agent, were part of a Syrian campaign to discredit Mehlis just before U.N. investigators question five Syrian witnesses flown to Vienna to meet them."This political senility and this deception by the Syrian security apparatus is a laughable farce and at the same time it seems they will use all means, even security, to shake up security (in Lebanon) to try to confuse the inquiry," Jumblatt told Reuters television

The Druze leader, an erstwhile ally of Damascus who turned into a fierce critic of Syria’s military presence in Lebanon, said the Syrian still had security networks in the country.Syria dominated its neighbour politically and militarily for almost three decades until a Lebanese and international outcry over Hariri’s death forced it to withdraw its troops in April.

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