Khazen

Photos of the day , May 22 , 2005

Photos of the day , May 22 , 2005


Supporters of Lebanon’s Phalange Party, wearing party uniforms originally used in the 1930s and re-tailored for the occasion, fold the Lebanese flag during a ceremony to unveil the statue of the party’s founder Pierre Gemayel in Bikfaya, Lebanon, Sunday, May 22, 2005. The Phalange Party, Lebanon’s most influential Christian political group now buffeted by infighting and dissent, was founded in 1936 to exert Christian power in Lebanon. After dominating Christian politics for decades, during the 1975-90 civil war the Phalange militias fought against Muslim forces and Palestinian guerrillas. (AP Photo/Mahmoud Tawil)




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Hezbollah issues warning to Israel following border clashes

Hezbollah issues warning to Israel following border clashes


Source : Aljazeera , May 22 , 2005


Related story : Hizbollah shells Israeli post near Lebanon border


Hours after its fighters clashed with Israeli forces in a disputed border area, the Lebanese group Hezbollah stressed that it will not allow Israel to cross the “red line” and attack Lebanese civilians or targets, a senior Hezbollah official said.


In an interview with Gulf News, Nabeel Qawook, Hezbollah

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Lebanon’s Aoun says to run for parliament

Lebanon’s Aoun says to run for parliament


By Nadim Ladki


BEIRUT (Reuters) – Anti-Syrian Christian opposition leader Michel Aoun said on Sunday he would run in Lebanon’s parliamentary election despite difficulties in forging an electoral alliance with Muslim opposition leaders. The fiery retired general said talks on linking up with Druze leader Walid Jumblatt and Saad al-Hariri, a Sunni Muslim, had produced no agreement on a joint ticket for the polls.


He said time was running out for a deal between the three men, the most prominent figures in the disparate opposition that helped end Syria’s 29-year military presence in Lebanon.


The Feb. 14 assassination of Hariri’s father, former Prime Minister Rafik al-Hariri, triggered a wave of peaceful street protests in Lebanon and intense international pressure that forced Damascus to withdraw its forces last month.

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Tide of history will again break over Martyrs’ Square

Tide of history will again break over Martyrs’ Square


The Sunday Independent , May 22, 2005


By Robert Fisk


In Beirut last week they announced the winners of a competition to redevelop Martyrs’ Square, which had once been Lebanon’s civil war front line and on the edge of which stands the tomb of the murdered ex-prime minister, Rafiq Hariri.


There were two remarkable things about this event. The first was the brilliant decision by the redevelopment firm Solidere – in which Hariri held 10 percent of the shares – to announce the results not in one of Beirut’s swank hotels, but in a war-ruined shopping centre and cinema complex that still lies next to the square.


The great cone-shaped wreckage – known as the “egg” to Beirutis – was washed out, shored up and carpeted so that when we arrived to hear the winners we had to walk between walls torn up by so many bullets they looked like Irish lace. Amid the literal ruins of war, we were invited to contemplate a new future.

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Lebanon: A Dispute Over Sizes

OPINION


Lebanon: A Dispute Over Sizes


Walid Choucair  ,  Al-Hayat , May 20 2005


It is natural for the Lebanese to disagree over the size and magnitude of the different factions’ alliances, which are subject to negotiations in light of the upcoming parliamentary elections (scheduled on May 29th) . The previous stage, not to say the previous decades, distorted weights and sizes, positively and negatively, which was reflected in marginalizing some forces, while empowering others.


If external interference has always been the reason for such distortions, it has caused reactions and political confrontations that played a role in extending the Lebanese war, over and above the external factors that rained arms and weapons down on the Lebanese.

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Candidates declare for Lebanon election

Candidates declare for Lebanon election


By UNITED PRESS INTERNATIONAL , May 21, 2005


Related article : Two more seats clinched days before Lebanon poll


BEIRUT, Lebanon — Lebanon’s Interior Ministry says 51 candidates will be competing to win 21 seats representing south Lebanon in the 128-member Lebanese parliament.

The Saturday announcement was made after the midnight deadline for candidates to submit their applications.


Two candidates, notably Bahiya Hariri, the sister of slain former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri, and Osama Saad, a member of the Popular Nasserite Party, were uncontested, leaving 21 seats for competition.

So far, 11 candidates have won uncontested seats, including nine representing Beirut and figuring on the electoral list of Saad Hariri, the son of the slain premier.

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Hariri’s Son Emerges As Lebanon Kingmaker

Hariri’s Son Emerges As Lebanon Kingmaker


By SAM F. GHATTAS, Associated Press Writer


Related Article : Beirut, Lebanon Airport named after Hariri


BEIRUT, Lebanon – At 35 and presiding over a multibillion dollar business empire, Saadeddine Hariri was a stranger to Lebanon’s intricate and sometimes violent politics. But the massive bombing that killed his father and shook a nation to its core three months ago also thrust him to the political forefront.


For Saad, as he’s better known here, it has been a crash course in politics since the Feb. 14 assassination of former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri

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