BEIRUT (AFP) – Lebanon’s pro-Syrian prime minister-designate Omar Karameh has stalled on his plan to resign in the latest setback for efforts to form a new government to organise elections due in May.  The opposition, meanwhile, welcomed Syria’s pledge to the United Nations on Wednesday to complete a troop withdrawal from Lebanon ahead of the parliamentary polls. Karameh said he first needed to consult his allies in the pro-Syrian camp before giving up on efforts to form a national unity government in the wake of the February 14 assassination of former premier Rafiq Hariri. “I have informed Mr Lahoud that I am preparing to announce my decision,” he said after talks with President Emile Lahoud.

By Lin Noueihed BEIRUT (Reuters) – Lebanon’s pro-Syrian prime minister is expected to step down this week after he failed to persuade opposition figures to join a government that could run the country until elections in May, associates said on Tuesday.  Omar Karami resigned a month ago after coming under immense popular pressure from Lebanese angered by the killing of his predecessor Rafik al-Hariri. But he was reappointed by parliament to form a national unity government bringing together both anti-Syrian opposition members and pro-Syrian loyalists. Lebanon’s opposition, which blames Syria and the Lebanese security agencies it backs for Hariri’s death, has refused to join any government until after elections it believes will give it a majority in a chamber now largely allied to Damascus.

BEIRUT (Reuters) – About 2,000 Syrian troops have pulled out of eastern Lebanon over the past week, a senior Lebanese security source said Monday, bringing Syria a step closer to ending its 29-year military domination of Lebanon.  The source said small units in the eastern Bekaa Valley were going home, leaving behind a division of the Syrian army as well as scores of intelligence agents. A Syrian-Lebanese military committee is due to meet next week to set a timeline for withdrawing the 8,000 remaining forces. U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan has said he expects Syria to complete the pull out before general elections due in May.

By BASSEM MROUE, Associated Press Writer BEIRUT, Lebanon – Following Lebanon’s third bombing in eight days, President Emile Lahoud pledged Sunday to fight the violence gripping his country since last month’s assassination of former premier Rafik Hariri.  Saturday’s blast at an industrial property in the mainly Christian northeastern suburb of Bouchrieh injured five people and set at least six factories ablaze. The attack followed bombings on March 19 and March 23 that targeted two Christian strongholds, killing three people and wounding at least 10. “We will do all we can. We should all be united because this is how we can save the country,” Lahoud, a Maronite Christian and close Syrian ally, vowed after attending Easter Mass.

The Lord is Risen! May the lord protect us and guide us on Easter and always. While he Leads we cannot Fall. Happy easter from khazen.org

BEIRUT, Lebanon (AP) – A loud explosion was heard in the Lebanese capital of Beirut on Saturday, and Arab TV stations cited security officials as saying it was caused by a bomb. There was no word on casualties.  The nature of the explosion was not immediately known, but witnesses said the blast, coming on the eve of the Easter holiday, occurred in the predominantly Christian northeastern Beirut suburb of Dekweneh. Other witnesses said the blast took place in the Bouchrieh-Dekweneh industrial zone area. Arab satellite stations Al-Arabiya and Al-Jazeera cited unidentified Lebanese security officials as saying the cause of the explosion was a bomb. Local LBC station said at least one building was on fire.

Lebanon has indicated it is prepared to co-operate with an international inquiry into last month’s killing of former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri. The move follows a UN report which described Lebanon’s own investigation into the bomb attack in Beirut as flawed and inconclusive. Lebanese authorities criticised the report’s findings, saying they were “alien to reality”. And they insisted that any inquiry would have to work with the government. At a press conference on Friday, Lebanese Foreign Minister Mahmoud Hammoud said the inquiry would be expected to work within an established framework “in co-operation with the state”.

By NICK WADHAMS, Associated Press Writer UNITED NATIONS – A U.N. report into the assassination of former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik Hariri concluded that Lebanon’s probe of the killing was riddled with flaws and an international investigation is needed.  The report, released Thursday, does not directly assign blame, saying the causes could not be determined. But it says Syrian military intelligence shares responsibility to the extent that it and Lebanese security services failed to provide “security, protection, law and order” in Lebanon. The report says there was a “distinct lack of commitment” by Lebanese authorities to investigate the crime, and the probe was not carried out “in accordance with acceptable international standards.”

By BASSEM MROUE, Associated Press Writer JOUNIEH, Lebanon – Just hours after a bomb killed three people and heavily damaged a shopping mall in Lebanon’s Christian heartland, defiant residents unfurled a giant Lebanese flag on the wrecked building, and shop owners began working to reopen their stores. The Lebanese people will not kneel. An explosion causes damage but we will repair,” Raymond Muhanna said as he stood amid shattered glass in the electrical appliances shop where he works. “This will not destroy the Lebanese people.” Yet many Lebanese clearly are worried about where and when the next explosion will come