Court Clears Anti-Syrian Lebanese Official – Last Update
By HUSSEIN DAKROUB, Associated Press Writer
BEIRUT, Lebanon – Fourteen years after former Lebanese army commander Michel Aoun was whisked out of the country into exile, his army overrun by Syrian forces, the judiciary began clearing him Wednesday of criminal charges as he prepared to return a triumphant politician.
Opposition demonstrators, meanwhile, demanded freedom for another Christian leader, Samir Geagea. His imprisonment and Aoun’s exile long have been open wounds for Lebanon’s minority Christians.
Prime Minister-designate Najib Mikati prepares for May elections, central bank issues CDs Locals cheered as the last Syrian soldiers rolled out of Lebanon after 29 years of occupation four days early on April 26. However, local business leaders still reeled from the events of the past three months, which drained employers of cheap Syrian labor, as expats returned with the military and tourism revenues plunged. The Lebanese Parliament made a strong effort towards building up legitimacy as quickly as Syria tore down its last outposts and burned its paperwork. President Emile Lahoud appointed business tycoon Najib Mikati prime minister-designate with the mandate of quickly organizing parliamentary elections. The interim government also raised $1.64 billion through ten-year Central Bank dollar certificates of deposits, while increasing rates on deposits on Lebanese pounds to discourage dollarization.
Mount Lebanon. The Shihab Emirs succeeded the Maans and in 1697 Emir Bashir Shihab I, nephew of Emir Ahmad Maan, came to power. After his death in 1706 he was succeeded by Emir Haydar who was deposed by the Yemenite originated families in Mount Lebanon after their rebellion against his rule appointing Emir Youssef Alam el Din as new ruler. As a result he fled to Azraeel cave in Hermel , hiding from the rebellions and sent his family members to the Khazen Cheikhs who hided them in their villages in Keserwan taking care of their needs , protecting them and sending him arms and ammunition and in addition, giving him important information and advices .
By Lin Noueihed BEIRUT (Reuters) – A U.N. team arrived in Lebanon on Thursday to verify whether Syria had withdrawn all its troops and intelligence agents in line with a Security Council resolution. In further signs of Syria’s waning influence in Lebanon, the new government replaced the pro-Syrian police, justice and intelligence chiefs, who were forced out under pressure from Damascus’s opponents, and removed the head of state security. Syria told the 
By DONNA ABU-NASR Associated Press Writer HARET AL-NAAMEH, Lebanon Apr 28, 2005 
By Nadim Ladki BEIRUT (Reuters) – Lebanon’s pro-Syrian parliament speaker promised on Wednesday that elections, the first without a Syrian military presence for 33 years, would start on May 29. Nabih Berri’s announcement, a day after Syria pulled its last soldiers and spies out of Lebanon after 29 years, means the parliamentary elections will be held on time as demanded by the international community and Lebanon’s anti-Syrian opposition. “I can confirm to the Lebanese that the elections will happen beginning on May 29,” Berri told reporters. He was speaking even before Prime Minister Najib Mikati’s new government had won a vote of confidence in parliament, a hurdle expected to be surmounted later in the day. Mikati is a wealthy businessman with close ties to Damascus. 
