Lebanon‘s Maronite bishops have called for the cloud of suspicion over President Emile Lahoud’s head to be lifted. Lahoud, who is a Maronite, has faced increasing pressure to resign over the 14 February assassination, particularly since the arrests in the course of a UN investigation into the crime.
"The information which has come to the UN investigation and which has cast suspicion on certain suspects, including those who were in charge of civilian security, is an embarrassment," said a statement from the bishops, who represent the largest Christian community in Lebanon. The arrests have "given critics a field day," the bishops said, adding that the presidency "should be surrounded by a halo of respect."
KIEV (AFP) – Ukraine called for the 
وُلِدَ الشيخ شفيق الخازن بن بربر بك الخازن أمير آلاي الجند اللبناني ، والسيدة تريز غندور بك السعد شقيقة حبيب باشا السعد سنة
(IRIN) – The latest blast to hit yet another commercial neighbourhood of the Lebanese capital, Beirut, has been a blow to local businesses, costing them around $50 million in losses, according to Lebanese officials. A powerful explosion rocked Lebanon on Tuesday after weeks of calm, bringing fear and chaos to the country’s capital. The bomb injured eight people, but there were no fatalities. The blast went off in Zalka, one of the capital’s Christian suburbs and a mixed residential and commercial area on a main street that leads to Lebanon’s Christian heartland. Shop owners have been hard hit. Liza Mohayaian, who works in the Vero Moda clothes store, arrived at work to find the shop and its stock destroyed, costing thousands of US dollars to replace. “It is a terrorist and cowardly attempt to shake the Lebanese people’s faith and scare away tourists by targeting market places and crowded areas,” she said, amid the smoking ruins of her shop. These shops were not the only ones to suffer. The Zalka area teems with restaurants and cafes that are usually filled with customers. In fact, the neighbourhood is showing surprising resilience and two days after the explosion, as shops and restaurants re-opened as usual. But with the border truck crisis with Syria barely over and people still recovering from previous blasts, the latest blow to the Lebanese summer season may have caused more damage than is immediately apparent.
