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Beirut, July 2: At "Buns and Guns" you can order a "Kalashnikov" sandwich from a bullet-shaped menu, prepared by chefs in military fatigues with the roar of explosions as background music. This new fast food restaurant in Beirut's southern suburbs, where the Hezbollah movement holds sway, was the brainchild of co-owner Ali Hammoud. He said the war theme was a novel concept that had nothing to do with Lebanon's bloody recent history. "It's just an idea I had, nothing more, nothing less. I could have put toys in place of the sandbags and teddy bears instead of guns. But it...

Lebanon will not become the next Gaza. Commenters both inside and outside the country compared Hezbollah's invasion of West Beirut last week to the Hamas takeover of Gaza last year, which is perhaps understandable: that's what it looked like. If Lebanon's mainstream Sunni-dominated party--Saad Hariri's Future Movement--has a militia that is able and willing to fight, it didn't make much of an appearance. Hezbollah seized the western half of the city in a walk. Most journalists focused on this portion of the conflict because West Beirut is where almost every journalist in Lebanon lives and where almost every hotel for...

BEIRUT: Hezbollah on Saturday began withdrawing gunmen from Beirut and handed control of the streets to the Lebanese army, after days of gunbattles with supporters of the US-backed government. Hezbollah, a political group backed by Iran and Syria with a guerrilla army, said it was ending its armed presence in Beirut after the army overturned government measures against the group. Hezbollah seized control of much of the city on Friday after fighters loyal to the group routed gunmen loyal to the anti-Damascus governing coalition. The Hezbollah-led opposition said it would maintain a "civil disobedience" campaign until its demands were met,...

BEIRUT, Lebanon - Hezbollah TV says that Hezbollah-led opposition forces will withdraw all their gunmen from Beirut in compliance with an army request. An opposition statement says the move comes after the army called on gunmen to get off the street and reopen the roads. But the statement said that a "civil disobedience" campaign will continue until its demands are met. Hezbollah gunmen seized most of the capital's Muslim sector Friday in the worst sectarian strife since a 15-year civil war ended nearly two decades ago. THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE. Check back soon for further information. AP's earlier...

<p>Starting late last night and continuing into the morning, Hezbollah and Syrian Social Nationalist Party (SSNP) militiamen engaged in street clashes on the major roads of Hamra and Verdun, among other areas of broader Ras Beirut.</p> <p>"We have an SSNP flag right under us. I'm looking at their guys as we speak," noted Dana, a resident of Hamra. "The ones that I can see are holding their guns... they stop cars; like, every time a car passes by, they stop the car. If they like it, they'll let it go. If they don't, they'll make it turn around."</p>

Italy readying evacuation plan for Lebanon May 9, 2008 ROME (Reuters) - Italy's foreign ministry said on Friday it was preparing an evacuation plan for its nationals in the Lebanese capital Beirut, where Hezbollah fighters and pro-government gunmen have been battling for three days. A ministry spokesman said the plan was not operational yet and would be enforced only if necessary. He said Italians in certain parts of the city were being offered safe shelter if they wanted to leave their homes. "I wouldn't call it at this phase an evacuation. We are ready for that, we are preparing it...

Hizbollah swept through major areas of Beirut in an overnight push that resulted in the deaths of 11 and forced Lebanese MPs out of the capital The Shia group seized control of large areas of Beirut’s Sunni Muslim districts, which are loyal to the US-backed government on Friday. The pro-Western leadership was effectively besieged with top leaders Saad Hariri of the Sunnis and Walid Jumblatt of the Druse sect surrounded in their compounds in Muslim western Beirut. Many MPs were forced to convene an emergency outside the capital. The fighting left the country’s army on the brink of potentially decisive...

Excerpt - BEIRUT, May 9 (Reuters) - Hezbollah gunmen took control of large areas of Beirut on Friday in a third day of fighting between the pro-Iranian group and fighters loyal to the U.S.-backed governing coalition. Security sources said at least 10 people had been killed and 20 wounded. The thud of exploding grenades and crackle of automatic gunfire echoed overnight in the worst internal strife since the 1975-90 civil war. Gunmen loyal to Hezbollah forced the pro-government Future News television off the air on Friday, said a senior official at the Beirut station. Future News is owned by Saad...

BEIRUT, Lebanon - Sectarian fighting spread through the streets of Beirut on Thursday as Shiite Hezbollah supporters and the Lebanese government's Sunni backers battled with machine guns and rocket-propelled grenades shortly after Hezbollah's leader vowed to fight any attempt to disarm his men. The violence first erupted in Muslim West Beirut, where masked gunmen on street corners opened fire along Corniche Mazraa, a major thoroughfare that has become a demarcation line between the two sides. There was also fighting in the nearby Ras el-Nabeh area. There was no immediate word on casualties. The violence spread to Khandaq el-Ghamiq, a neighborhood...

BEIRUT: Progressive Socialist Party leader Walid Jumblatt called over the weekend for a ban on flights from Iran to Beirut's airport, accusing Hizbullah of flying in arms from the Islamic Republic. At a news conference on Saturday, the outspoken MP also called for the expulsion of Iranian Ambassador Mohammad Reza Shibani and the sacking of the head of security at the airport, General Ayman Shoucair, over his alleged links to Hizbullah During the press conference at his residence in Mukhtara, Jumblatt showed reporters what he said was an exchange of mail between Defense Minister Elias Murr and army intelligence...

U.S. Wary Of Small Boat Terrorism As boating season approaches, the Bush administration wants to enlist America's 80 million recreational boaters to help reduce the chances that a small boat could deliver a nuclear or radiological bomb somewhere along the 95,000 miles of U.S. coastline and inland waterways. According to an April 23 intelligence assessment obtained by The Associated Press, "The use of a small boat as a weapon is likely to remain al Qaeda's weapon of choice in the maritime environment, given its ease in arming and deploying, low cost, and record of success." While the United States...

WASHINGTON, April 18, 2008 – Twenty-five years after terrorists detonated a massive car bomb, killing 52 people at the U.S. Embassy in Beirut, President Bush urged unity in condemning terrorism he said continues to threaten the United States. President and Nancy Reagan file by the flag-draped caskets of victims of the April 18, 1983, bombing of the U.S. Embassy in Beirut, Lebanon in an April 23, 1983 file photo. Photo courtesy Ronald Reagan Presidential Library   (Click photo for screen-resolution image);high-resolution image available. The Islamic Jihad Organization, today known as the terrorist group Hizballah, launched the April 18, 1983, attack...

Facts: Occurred at about 1300 (1:00 pm Lebanon Time) on April 18th, 1983 Carried out by a terrorist driving a van, reportedly stolen from the Embassy in June 1982. The van carried a 2,000-pound load of explosives, tearing through the front portion of the seven (7) story building. Most of the victims were at lunch and were killed by the collapsing building. Killed 63 occupants of the building, 17 of whom were Americans. One Marine was killed - Corporal Robert V. McMaugh, an embassy guard.

(KUNA) -- Ambassador Robert Dillon, who served during the explosion of the US embassy in Beirut in 1983, recalled on Friday how this incident shaped US foreign policy in this embattled country 25 years ago, and indicated that Washington possessed information about the culprits. In an interview with Kuwait News Agency (KUNA), Dillon said the misinterpretation of US foreign policy towards the Israeli invasion of Beirut in 1982 and the "Iranian grievances" against the United States are the two main motivations behind this attack. [SNIP] He said that investigations revealed that a Shiite family and an emerging radical group from...

ChesapeakeBarbara Rockwell has a soft way about her. Light brown hair swirls around her face, adorned by oval-framed glasses and gold elephant earrings.Her voice is comforting and doesn't become loud or sound angry when she takes delight in a certain man's death."The fact that he got blown up in a car," Rockwell said, pausing, "I don't know who did it, but I'd like to thank him."The man against whom she has held this grudge for more than 24 years was a Hezbollah commander named Imad Mughniyeh. The reason she held it is that her son, Marine Cpl. Michael Caleb Sauls,...

Thousands of people from rival camps are taking part in key memorials amid heightened tension in Beirut. Anti-Syrian groups have been marking three years since the assassination of former PM Rafik Hariri. Meanwhile supporters of Hezbollah are attending the funeral of a leader of the militant group, Imad Mughniyeh, just a few miles away. A huge security operation is under way in the city amid fears of clashes between pro- and anti-Syrian factions. Correspondents say the events come at a potentially explosive time, with no president and no working parliament. About 8,000 army and internal security force troops have been...

—April 1983: suicide bomber rams van packed with explosives into the U.S. Embassy in Beirut, killing 63 people, including 17 Americans.AVENGED!! —October 1983: suicide attackers carry out near simultaneous truck bombings against barracks of French and U.S. peacekeeping forces in Beirut, killing 241 American Marines and 58 French paratroopers.AVENGED! —March 1984: Lt. Col. William F. Buckley, CIA station chief in Beirut, kidnapped and eventually killed in the beginning of a spate of kidnappings linked to Hezbollah.AVENGED! —March 1985: Associated Press chief Mideast correspondent Terry Anderson kidnapped and then held for more than six years.AVENGED! —June 1985: Lebanese Shiite militants hijack...

Scratch one terrorist from the FBI's Most Wanted list. An explosion killed Hezbollah leader Imad Mughniyeh, one of the planners of the 1983 bombings in Beirut that killed 241 Marines and another 63 people at our embassy in Lebanon. He also took part in the 1985 TWA hijacking that resulted in the beating death of Navy diver Robert Stethem: A senior Hezbollah commander implicated in some of the most high-profile international terrorist attacks of the last 25 years has died in an explosion in Syria, Hezbollah TV said Wednesday. Imad Mughniyeh was suspected by Western intelligence agencies in the 1983...

A car bomb ripped through one of Beirut's Christian neighborhoods Friday, killing at least five people including a top police official who had been investigating terrorist bombings, officials said. The force of the blast, which struck midmorning in Hazmieh on the Lebanese capital's eastern edge, set a dozen vehicles ablaze and ripped a crater in the asphalt two meters (six feet) wide and a meter (3 feet) deep. Another dozen vehicles were wrecked in a nearby lot. The country's national police chief, Brig. Gen. Ashraf Rifi, confirmed that the blast was a car bomb that killed Capt. Wissam Eid, a...

25 Jan 2008 08:36:46 GMT Source: Reuters BEIRUT BOMB TARGETS SECURITY OFFICIAL - LOCAL TVS ... 25 Jan 2008 08:33:24 GMT Source: Reuters DEATH TOLL IN BEIRUT BOMBING RISES TO THREE - SECURITY SOURCES

BEIRUT, Lebanon — A blast rang out across Beirut on Tuesday, and a senior Lebanese security official said the explosion occurred just north of the city. Gray smoke could be seen billowing near the Mediterranean coast, but the source of the explosion was not immediately known. The security official, speaking on condition of anonymity in line with military rules, told The Associated Press there was an explosion

Beirut cashes in on wealth of archaeological sitesAs New construction unearths ancient treasures, the law says excavations must precede buildings By Hassan Abdo Special to The Daily Star Wednesday, December 19, 2007 BEIRUT: Passing through the many narrow avenues that make up Achrafieh, few would realize that major archeological excavations are under way all around them. The Beirut neighborhood has been experiencing a development boom in the past few years, and construction projects are ongoing, yet in the midst of all this local archaeologists have been experiencing a boom of their own. Construction companies clearing away old buildings to make...

18 minutes ago BEIRUT, Lebanon (AP) — Lebanese security officials and TV stations report explosion in suburb of Beirut. just in, broadcast on KGO

Although the White House is poised to back away from misguided attempts to "engage" the Iranian mullahs, don't expect the State Department to play along. Just as State has undermined the president multiple times already on matters relating to every spoke of the "axis of evil," State most likely will continue talking to the mullahs. A recent Washington Post article gave an indication that Foggy Bottom officials may grudgingly embrace a new tough-on-Iran policy—if officially handed down by the White House—noting that State "appears inclined to accept such a policy." But history suggests otherwise. The State Department's top policy official,...

Lebanon's Parliamentary Bloc announced Wednesday that it accepts a constitutional amendment allowing the election of Army Commander Gen. Michel Suleiman president. The announcement was made by al-Moustaqbal MP Ammar Houri. It coincided with a statement issued by MP Elias Atallah, a prominent member of the March 14 alliance saying efforts are underway to amend the constitution to allow the election of Gen. Suleiman for the nation's top post. Atallah said "The election could take place either Friday or in the following few days." "Serious efforts are underway to achieve consensus on Gen. Suleiman," Atallah told Agence France Presse. "If the...

"The suicide bomber detonated his explosives, which were equivalent to 12,000 pounds (about 5,400 kg) of TNT. The force of the explosion collapsed the four-story cinder-block building into rubble, crushing many inside. It is said by a U.S. federal district court judge to have been the largest non-nuclear blast ever (deliberately) detonated on the face of the Earth."

Before Sept. 11, there was Oct. 23

PRAGUE, Czech Republic -- A Swedish citizen wanted in the U.S. on suspicion of plotting to set up a terrorist camp there was extradited Tuesday from the Czech Republic, officials said. Czech Justice minister Jiri Pospisil ruled on Sept 18 there was no reason to refuse a U.S. extradition request for Oussama Kassir, spokeswoman Zuzana Kuncova said. Kassir left the country by plane on Tuesday bound for the United States, said Kuncova. Kassir was arrested on Dec. 11, 2005, at Prague's Ruzyne international airport while flying from Stockholm, Sweden, to Beirut, Lebanon. He has been held in a Czech prison...

Beirut car bombing kills at least fiveA car bomb exploded in the Christian eastern part of Beirut today , killing at least five people and wounding four in an attack that is believed to have been targeting an anti-Syrian politician. It is believed the intended target was anti-Syrian Christian Phalange MP Antoine Ghanem. He was injured in the attack. Television footage showed several cars on fire and bodies being carried away from the scene of a busy commercial and residential area. "The explosion took place in the Sin el-Fil area near the Metropolitan hotel," a security source said. Beirut has...

Iran fined $2.65 billion for terrorism By MATT APUZZO, Associated Press Writer 25 minutes ago Iran must pay $2.65 billion to the family members of the 241 U.S. servicemen killed in the 1983 bombing of the U.S. Marine barracks in Beirut, a federal judge ruled Friday, calling it the largest-ever such judgment against another country. Iran has been blamed for supporting the militant group Hezbollah, which carried out the suicide bombing in Beirut. It was the worst terrorist act against U.S. targets until the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks. Hundreds of people crowded a federal courtroom to hear Friday's ruling. Parents...

BEIRUT, Lebanon - Army troops are making "significant" gains in their long-running battle against al-Qaida-inspired fighters barricaded inside a Palestinian refugee camp in northern Lebanon, security officials said Tuesday. But a senior military official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because he is not authorized to speak to the media, said four soldiers were killed in fighting Monday. The body of a missing soldier also has been found, he said. The latest deaths raise to 103 the army's death toll since the fighting broke out nearly two months ago. The security officials, who also spoke on condition of anonymity because...

BEIRUT, Lebanon - An explosion, apparently from a bomb-rigged car, rocked Beirut's seafront Wednesday, killing at least eight people, security officials said. The bomb targeted and killed anti-Syrian lawmaker Walid Eido, according to Future TV, which is close to Lebanon's anti-Syrian bloc. Others among the dead reportedly were Eido's son and two bodyguards.

Excerpt - BEIRUT, June 7 (Reuters) - A blast was heard in a Christian area north of Beirut on Thursday night, witnesses said. It was not immediately clear what caused the blast. ~ snip ~

The U.N. Security Council voted Wednesday to set up the international tribunal that would try ex-premier Rafik Hariri’s suspected assassins. The 15-member council adopted a legally binding resolution that sets June 10 as the date for the entry into force of an agreement between the U.N. and Premier Fouad Saniora’s government to establish the court. Ten countries voted in favor, with veto-wielding members Russia and China as well as South Africa, Indonesia and Qatar -- three non-permanent members -- abstaining. Immediately after the voting in New York, fireworks lit Beirut’s skies in celebration of the tribunal’s establishment. A sound...

Excerpt - BEIRUT, May 23 (Reuters) - An explosion at a Druze town east of the Lebanese capital Beirut on Wednesday wounded at least four people, security sources said. The blast in Aley, which lies near the Beirut-Damascus road, caused damage to nearby shops and buildings, one security source said. ~ snip ~

An explosion echoed in the Lebanese capital late Wednesday and local television stations reported the blast rocked a mountain resort overlooking Beirut. The explosion hit the Druse town of Aley around 9 p.m. (1800GMT) and was heard as far as Beirut's Mediterranean coastline, TV reports said. It was not clear what caused of the explosion.

GOTTA SEE THIS - War for Enduring Freedom 5/21/07 - Nahr al-Bared, Achrafieh, Beirut, Tripoli BREAKING: Achrafieh, East Beirut, terrorists attacks, explosions against Christians, at busy mall. Ignored by the MSM. BREAKING: Tripoli, Lebanon - 'David' takes on al Qaeda, Syria and Iran as the EU, Israel and the US do nothing BREAKING: North Lebanon - at the Nahr al-Bared 'Palestinian'-al Qaeda Fatah al-Islam terrorist camp, more retaliation QFN ==== YE OLDE QUAGMIRE-FREE NEWS Exclusive to FReerepublic PICTURES YOU WILL NOT SEE IN THE MAINSTREAM MEDIA ========= North Lebanon - Nahr al-Bared ========= INCOMING FROM THE GOOD GUYS - LEBANON...

ALARM - Forces explosion heard in Beirut BEIRUT - a very violent explosion, of still unknown origin, was heard Sunday with 23H45 local (20H45 GMT) in Beirut, noted a journalist of AFP.

BEIRUT -- Christians are fleeing from Lebanon to escape the rise of radical Islam and growing fears that the trend will result in a Sunni-Shi'ite civil war, with minority Christians trapped in the middle. In a poll to be published next month, nearly half of all Maronites, the largest Christian denomination in the country, said they were considering emigrating. Of these, more than 100,000 have submitted visa applications to foreign embassies, according to the poll. Their exodus could rob the country of an influential minority, which has acted as an important counterbalance to the forces of Islamic extremism. About 60,000...

The leader of the U.S. House of Representatives, Speaker Nancy Pelosi, toured Jerusalem holy sites Saturday alongside a congressional delegation that included Democratic Rep. Keith Ellison, the first Muslim elected to Congress. The tour was part of the congressional delegation's first full day in Jerusalem, the first stop on their fact-finding trip to the Middle East. The group arrived Friday. Flanked by security guards, Pelosi and the delegation toured the Church of the Holy Sepulcher, where Christians believe Jesus' body was buried, in Jerusalem's Old City. They also visited the Western Wall, the holiest site in Judaism, where Jews have...

Police defused a small bomb at the American University of Beirut on Thursday, security officials said. An explosives expert defused a bomb of 200 grams of TNT that was found in a bag near an elevator in the Issam Fares Hall, a building off the main campus, said the official, according to the AP. The bomb was wired to a detonator and ready to explode, the official added. It was taken to a police barracks for investigation. Police are also looking into how the bomb got into the university, whose entrances are guarded by police officers and the university's own...

Excerpt - WASHINGTON, March 1 (UPI) -- Lebanon's charismatic Druze leader Walid Jumblatt was in Washington this week seeking support from the Bush administration for the pro-democracy March 14 Movement and for the beleaguered Lebanese government led by Prime Minister Fouad Siniora. The leader of the Lebanese Progressive Socialist Party who in the past tended to gravitate more towards the Soviet Union -- at least from a philosophical perspective -- thanked President George W. Bush and French President Jacques Chirac for their help and support in getting the Syrians out of Lebanon. At the same time, Jumblatt raised a worrying...

Beirut under curfew after clashes The clashes follow weeks of heightened tension in Lebanon The Lebanese army has imposed a dusk-to-dawn curfew in the capital, Beirut, after clashes between students from rival political factions.Three people were killed and dozens injured, police said. It comes two days after three people died in clashes amid a general strike called by the militant Hezbollah group. In Paris, foreign donors pledged $7.6bn (£3.5bn) to help Lebanon recover from last year's conflict between Hezbollah and Israel and a huge public debt. The biggest pledges came from Saudi Arabia, the US, France and the EU....

BEIRUT, Lebanon - Government and opposition supporters clashed at a Beirut university campus Thursday, battering each other with sticks, stones and even furniture in new violence spilling over from Lebanon's political crisis. At least two people were reported killed. Black smoke poured into the sky from cars engulfed in flames as armored vehicles full of troops moved in to try to keep the two sides apart. But the riot spread through the streets around Beirut Arab University as students smashed parked cars in a battle that raged for three hours. After the rioters dispersed, the military declared a nighttime curfew....

Donors in aid boost for Lebanon Mr Chirac said he was "overjoyed" by the amount pledged Foreign donors have pledged $7.6bn (£3.5bn) in aid and loans for Lebanon at a conference in Paris, French President Jacques Chirac has said.The biggest pledges came from Saudi Arabia, the US, France and the EU. Lebanon has been struggling to recover following last summer's conflict between Hezbollah militants and Israel. As the donors met, clashes erupted between students from rival political factions at a Beirut University, leaving at least two dead, reports say. Lebanon has been rocked by violence and protests since late...

The Lebanese army, struggling to restore order to the streets of the capital after violence Thursday, has imposed a nighttime curfew in Beirut, a military official said. The official, speaking on customary condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to talk to the media, told The Associated Press that the curfew would last from 8:30 p.m. Thursday until 6 a.m. Friday.

BEIRUT, Lebanon (AP) - Students for and against the government hurled rocks and furniture at each other Thursday as Lebanon's power struggle turned violent on a university campus and spilled onto nearby streets. Hezbollah's Al-Manar television said one of the militant group's supporters was killed, but security officials could not immediately confirm the death. Security officials said at least 17 people were injured. Other TV stations reported that about 25 people were hurt. Soldiers fired shots in the air to disperse the rioters at the Beirut Arab University in the Tarik el-Jadideh neighborhood, the officials said, speaking on condition of...

BEIRUT, Lebanon - Pro- and anti-government factions clashed for a second day in the northern Lebanese city of Tripoli on Wednesday, a day after violence nationwide claimed three lives and injured more than 170 people. Tripoli, the country's second largest city, saw some of the heaviest fighting on Tuesday, when a general strike called by the Hezbollah-led opposition sparked clashes with government supporters in Beirut and other parts of Lebanon. The violence gave a frightening glance into the turmoil that could result from the long power struggle between pro-Iranian Hezbollah and the U.S.-backed govenrment of Prime Minister Fuad Saniora. In...

Hezbollah's men of terror are both the strength and the Achilles heel of a movement that seeks to spread Islamic states, says Amir Taheri The scene is Beirut, some years on, when Hezbollah has driven out the “Crusader-Zionists” and begun building the model Islamic state it has promised since the 1980s. The rallying cry of Tony Blair — for western democracies to remain united in the global war against terror and engage in a battle of values — has not been heeded. The western powers, led by the United States, have run away from the Middle East, allowing the Islamic...

BEIRUT (Reuters) - Protesters trying to topple Lebanon's cabinet blocked highways with blazing tires on Tuesday, sparking clashes with government loyalists in which two people were killed and at least 100 people hurt, police said.The violence raised the stakes in a campaign by Iranian- and Syrian-backed Hezbollah and its Shi'ite and Christian allies to oust Prime Minister Fouad Siniora's Western-supported government and hold early parliamentary elections.Lebanese troops tried to keep rival groups apart, but police said a member of the Christian pro-government Lebanese Forces party was shot dead in the town of Batroun, north of Beirut.Another person was shot and...