BEIRUT (AFP) – Shiite militant group Hezbollah said it was seeking cabinet posts for the first time in the new Lebanese government, in a move likely to complicate UN demands for its disarmament. The announcement followed the collapse of prime minister designate Fuad Siniora’s efforts to bring in the party of firebrand Christian former general Michel Aoun to a new coalition.”It has become our right to participate directly and not just through our allies, in the decision-making process,” said Mohammed Raad, head of Hezbollah’s parliamentary bloc, which holds 14 of the legislature’s 128 seats.Fellow Hezbollah MP Mohammed Fneish said the movement, which was involved in deadly clashes with Israeli troops in a disputed border zone just last week, was seeking “two cabinet posts”.Hezbollah competed for last month’s elections in alliance with rival Shiite faction Amal on a single-issue ticket opposing disarmament of its military wing in compliance with Resolution 1559 passed by the UN Security Council last September.The Future Movement of the prime minister designate — led by Saad Hariri, a Sunni Muslim — formed some electoral deals with Hezbollah and spoke out during the campaign against disarming the “resistance”.Hezbollah’s push to join the government came after Siniora abandoned efforts to woo Aoun, whose Free Patriotic Movement was the only major faction to advocate compliance with Resolution 1559, albeit through negotiations with the militant group.

DAMASCUS (Reuters) – Syrian forces killed an Arab Muslim militant among a group trying to cross the border into Lebanon and arrested at least 34 others, the official Syrian news agency SANA said on Sunday.It said two soldiers were also killed in the clash. It did not say when the incident happened.SANA said members of the group trying to infiltrate were arrested, but it did not say how many. It also said that further investigations led to the arrest of 34 non-Syrian militants and finding passports and other documents in a house.A Lebanese security source said the slain militant was an Algerian and those arrested were from Lebanon and Algeria.Al Jazeera television quoted security sources in Damascus as saying that the militant was a Tunisian named Majdi bin Mohammed bin Said al-Zreibi.Lebanon’s al-Manar television station, mouthpiece of the Hizbollah guerrilla group, said the militants were on their way from Iraq to Lebanon.It said the clash happened overnight on the outskirts of the Syrian city of Homs near Lebanon’s northeastern borders.”Syrian security forces killed the militant … who holds an Arab nationality in an armed clash as he tried to leave the border to Lebanon illegally along with members of a radical group that he leads,” SANA said.

BEIRUT, Lebanon – Prime Minister-designate Fuad Saniora on Friday got down to trying to form Lebanon’s first government without Syrian influence in three decades. Saniora consulted former prime ministers and legislators a day after President Emile Lahoud asked him to form a Cabinet. He was given the position after a record number of lawmakers

By ZEINA KARAM, Associated Press Writer, BEIRUT, Lebanon – A booby-trapped car exploded near a hotel south of the capital, seriously injuring one woman, security officials said Friday. A hand grenade placed between the door and the driver’s seat detonated when the woman opened the door of the car, which was parked near the Lebanon […]

WASHINGTON — The United States froze yesterday the US assets of Syria’s interior minister and a second official, accusing them of leading military and security operations in Lebanon, as the Bush administration increased its pressure on Syria. The Treasury Department said Syrian Interior Minister Ghazi Kanaan and Rustum Ghazali, identified as the chief of Syrian […]

BEIRUT (Reuters) – Lebanon‘s pro-Syrian president bowed to the will of the majority on Thursday and appointed an anti- Syria former minister to head the first government to take office without Syrian troops in the country for 30 years. Highlighting the challenges facing the next government, Israeli troops shot at Lebanese Hizbollah guerrillas in an Israeli-occupied border area in the second day of the worst violence seen there in six months.A Hizbollah spokesman said the guerrillas did not respond. Fouad Siniora, a former finance minister and aide to assassinated former prime minister Rafik al-Hariri, was proposed by the Future Bloc led by Hariri’s son, Saad. All but two lawmakers nominated Siniora, a choice President Emile Lahoud was obliged to respect though relations between the two are said to be frosty, as they were with the late Hariri.”I would like to note the positive atmosphere of my meeting with His Excellency the President, which I hope would pave the way for cooperation between us to the serve the public interest,” Siniora told reporters. “This moment is not a moment for political debate or renewing disputes and differences,” he said. “Therefore we join Mr. Saad al-Hariri in extending hands to all Lebanese people and political forces to move forward with a comprehensive reform program.” Elections that ended on June 19 returned an anti-Syrian majority to parliament for the first time since Lebanon’s 1975-1990 civil war.

KFAR SHOUBA, Lebanon (Reuters) – Hizbollah guerrillas fired rockets and mortar bombs at Israeli posts in the Shebaa Farms area on the Lebanon – Israel  border on Wednesday, witnesses said. Hizbollah confirmed it attacked three Israeli posts in the occupied area. Israeli security sources said mortar bombs slammed into an Israeli army post in the […]

Is it true that Saad Hariri is the winner in this election? Or it is General Michel Aoun? Or the Lebanese Forces or Hezballah? The final results gave the impression that everything was orchestrated. As if such a

BEIRUT (AFP) – Lebanon‘s MPs are set to re-elect a prominent pro-Syrian Shiite as speaker when they meet Tuesday as the first legislaure since the end of the 1975-90 civil war not controlled by pro-Damascus factions. Nabih Berri, who has held the post of speaker for the past 13 years under pro-Syrian regimes, opposes the disarmament of the Shiite militant group Hezbollah, which the United States considers a terrorist organisation.The disarming of Hezbollah, a key UN demand, is likely to be one of the thorniest issues facing a new Lebanese government that has yet to be formed following parliamentary elections that wrapped up more than a week ago.Most legislators decided Sunday to support the candidacy of Berri, who has held the post of speaker since 1992, following the four-round polls that were the first since Syria ended its three decade military presence in April.Saad Hariri’s Future Current movement holds the largest parliamentary bloc with 37 of 128 seats, and led the way in calling for another four-year term for Berri, but imposed certain conditions.Hariri, son of slain ex-premier Rafiq Hariri, and his supporters want Berri to facilitate an amnesty vote that would allow the jailed Christian former warlord Samir Geagea to be released from prison.

Lebanese President Emile Lahoud said political assassinations in Lebanon serve extremists groups, but security agencies have prevented attempts.Lahoud, accused by the opposition of having turned Lebanon into a police state with the backing of Syria, expressed hope an international commission will discover the truth about the Feb. 14 slaying of former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri. […]