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BEIRUT (Reuters) – Lebanon's Prime Minister-designate Saad al-Hariri will announce a new national unity government to include Iranian- and Syrian-backed Hezbollah in the next few days, politicians said on Saturday. Lebanon has been without a functioning government since Hariri led his coalition, backed by the United States and Saudi Arabia, to victory in a June parliamentary election against Hezbollah and its allies. Politicians from both sides said Hariri had now clinched a deal with the opposition on the new government's make-up. A government acceptable to all main parties is seen as key to maintaining stability in a country facing sectarian...

Note: Photo and video included. SNIPPET: "It appeared to be a typical Al-Quds Day rally, replete with hateful speeches about the destruction of the State of Israel and the waving of Hizballah flags. The rally resembled other international versions of this year's Al-Quds Day celebration, an annual Islamist holiday initiated by Iranian revolutionary and terrorism exporter, Imam Ruhollah Musavi Khomeini. However, this event wasn't held in downtown Karachi or Damascus, but in downtown Washington, D.C's Sheridan Circle. The rally was organized by an employee of the Fairfax County Department of Planning and Zoning, Faheem Darab. It even featured speakers as...

When a tyrannical regime dies, you can see the symptoms in the little things. Late Friday afternoon, after millions (yes, millions–this according to Le Monde, France 2, and L’Express, with the BBC saying that the demonstrations were bigger than those at the time of the Revolution) of Greens mobbed the streets and squares of more than thirty towns and cities to call for the end of the regime, there was a soccer game in Azadi Stadium in Tehran. It holds about a hundred thousand fans, and it was full of men wearing green and carrying green balloons. When state-run tv...

Everyone in Lebanon has been noticing how Hezbollah's rhetoric has been heating up lately. The group's leader, Hassan Nasrallah, made it clear in a number of speeches this week that his party would tolerate neither spies, Israeli "aggression" nor what he described as Lebanese government hypocrisy. It's volatile talk ahead of critical June 7 elections in which Hezbollah needs to sway at least some Christians to vote in its favor. On Monday, Nasrallah warned that the Islamic militant group would be on high alert as Israel prepared to conduct its largest military maneuvers since 1961, a series of armed forces...

It's official - Cairo and Hizbullah are fighting a full-fledged media war. The Egyptian press and government officials have, for several consecutive days, been hurling insults at the Shi'ite group, in one instance comparing its leader Sheikh Hassan Nasrallah to a monkey.

Rosaries bearing a picture of Hezbollah chief Hassan Nasrallah have provoked controversy in Lebanon’s Christian community, whose members say the depiction is insulting. Christians are set to play a significant political role in Lebanon’s Shiite-Sunni power struggle through the June 2009 parliamentary elections, the Middle East Times reports. Hezbollah is a mainly Shiite Islamic party. "The rosaries are an insult to our Christian beliefs," an official with the Christian Lebanese Forces party said on Thursday, according to Alarab Online. Speaking on condition of anonymity, she characterized the rosaries as “an attempt to influence public opinion within the Christian community so...

Note: The following blog entry is a quote: http://www.thememriblog.org/blog_personal/en/13165.htm Graffiti Praising Hizbullah On Walls Of Christian School In Lebanon Unknown persons have written graffiti praising Hizbullah on the walls of the Christian school in the Christian city of 'Amshit in the Jabil region. Among the slogans were "There is no victory but Nasrallah's," "there is no messiah but Nasrallah," and "Jabil and Keserwan [Christian regions in Lebanon] belong to the Muslims." It was also reported that pupils entering the school found that a cross that had hung on the wall lying broken on ground, and that it had been replaced...

BETHLEHEM, West Bank: Venezuelan flags and portraits of President Hugo Chavez have been flying high during protests in the West Bank against Israel’s assault on the Gaza Strip. The Venezuelan president’s decision on January 6 to expel Israel’s ambassador from Caracas – the only country apart from Mauritania to take such a step – has made the left-wing South American leader a hero to Palestinians. Hamas has welcomed Chavez’s “courageous decision,” while Hassan Nasrallah, head of Lebanon’s Hezbollah group, urged Arab states to follow the Venezuelan president’s example. Chavez on Saturday accused Israel of being the “murder arm” of the...

"THE BRIEF LIFE AND EXQUISITE MARTYRDOM OF A HAMAS MORTAR CREW" Snippet: "Via Hamas' al-Aqsa TV station, said to be filmed in Jabaliya on 06 January 2008. At about 1'15" the crew is hit by an apparent Israeli counter-strike."

Note: The following text is a quote: http://www.mfa.gov.il/MFA/About+the+Ministry/Behind+the+Headlines/Ttragedy_school_Jebaliya_6-Jan-2009.htm Behind the Headlines: The tragedy at the school in Jebaliya 6 Jan 2009 An initial inquiry by forces on operating in the area of the incident indicates that a number of mortar shells were fired at IDF forces from within the Jebaliya school. In response to the incoming enemy fire, the forces returned mortar fire to the source. Preliminary Background Briefing Today, a reported 30 Palestinians were killed in a heartrending tragedy at a school in Jebaliya. Initial investigations indicate that Hamas terrorists fired mortar bombs from the area of the school...

The Lebanese Shiite movement Hezbollah called late Saturday on Hamas to "defeat Israel and kill as many Israeli soldiers as they can."

Chief of Lebanese Shiite armed group Hezbollah Hasan Nasrallah on Saturday accused Arab leaders of collaborating with Israel to proceed until Monday with its attacks on Gaza, the party's TV al-Manar reported. "Arab foreign ministers gave Israel until Monday to proceed with its military attacks on Gaza," Nasrallah told a gathering on Ashoura occasion. He added that if the Israelis do not succeed until Monday, then the Arab leaders might extend the "grace period for the enemy." Nasrallah accused Arab leaders of failing to meet in an urgent Arab summit to discuss Gaza Strip situation, and come up with a...

Home Front Command reiterates that residents should immediately take cover if they hear the siren sound, or if they hear an explosion.

Egyptian Foreign Minister Ahmed Abul Gheit on Monday slammed Hizbullah chief Hassan Nasrallah for calling for mass demonstrations in Egypt to force the government to open the country’s border with Gaza Strip. "Someone yesterday called on the Egyptian people to take to the streets and create an atmosphere of anarchy. In other words, they want an atmosphere of anarchy similar to the one they created in their own country," Abul Gheit told a press conference in Turkey. "This person also called on the Egyptian armed forces, but he is not aware of the situation," Egypt's top diplomat said after talks...

In a press conference held on Monday afternoon in Ankara with his Turkish counterpart, Egyptian Foreign Minister Ahmed Aboul Gheit responded to criticism by Hizbullah leader Hassan Nasrallah on Sunday, saying that "They have practically declared war on Egypt via several satellite stations. The Egyptian people reject and opposes this declaration." "They want for there to be chaos in Egypt as there is in their country," Gheit said of Hizbullah. "I tell this man [Nasrallah]: No, no! Our armed forces can defend our homeland from people like you. Your interest in creating chaos is not in the best interest of...

(IsraelNN.com) Hizbullah terrorists have vowed to open a second front against Israel in the north in retaliation for the IDF military operation against Hamas terrorists in Gaza. Terrorist chief Hassan Nasrallah issued a statement on Hizbullah's Al-Manar television station Sunday, vowing that "northern Israel will burn as Gaza is burning." Nasrallah rarely appears in person; he speaks via a video hook-up from his hideout due to fears of assassination by Israeli agents, following the 2006 Second Lebanon War. Hizbullah officials were quoted in a number of Arabic-language publications on Saturday warning that they would not permit Israel to attack Gaza...

"OPERATION CAST LEAD The IDF's Fight Against Terror in Gaza" (December 28, 2008) # http://israel.internet-haganah.com/archives/001473.html December 28, 2008 "IAF STRIKES ON WEAPONS CACHES & STORAGE FACILITIES" http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mmSAp4Qt068 "IAF STRIKES ON GAZA-WEAPON CACHES" (Added December 28, 2008) # http://israel.internet-haganah.com/archives/001472.html December 28, 2008 "HAMAS REFUSES TO ALLOW WOUNDED TO ENTER EGYPT FOR CARE" # http://israel.internet-haganah.com/archives/001471.html December 28, 2008 "KOL ISRAEL" # http://israel.internet-haganah.com/archives/001470.html December 28, 2008 "AND THEN THERE IS THE ARAB LEAGUE" # http://israel.internet-haganah.com/archives/001469.html December 28, 2008 "YES, IT IS BETTER THIS TIME AROUND" # http://israel.internet-haganah.com/archives/001468.html December 28, 2008 "ONE WORD..." # http://israel.internet-haganah.com/archives/001467.html December 28, 2008 "EGYPTIAN FOREIGN MINISTER LAYS BLAME FOR...

Homeland Security Threat Assessment for the years 2008-2013 says Hizbullah may foment terror attack in US if there is some kind of 'triggering' event. 'The threat of terrorism and the threat of extremist ideologies have not abated," Chertoff says Associated Press The terrorism threat to the United States over the next five years will be driven by instability in the Middle East and Africa, persistent challenges to border security and increasing Internet savvy, says a new intelligence assessment obtained by The Associated Press. Chemical, biological, radiological and nuclear attacks are considered the most dangerous threats that could be carried out...

Hizbullah, also an Islamist group, has long been using the mixed language of Islam and Arabism, which is why Chuck Freund and I came up with the labels "Pan-Arabist Islam/ism" or "Arabo-centric Islam" (see also Matt Frost, who has an interest in this particular subject. Cf. Lee Smith's old article in Slate, and, Josh Landis' excellent post on the Baath and whether it's "secular"). In fact, speaking of Nasser, that's precisely the sort of image Hassan Nasrallah has been projecting: a Shiite Nasser. If you take a look at Avi Jorisch's Beacon of Hatred, you'll see in the accompanying DVD-Rom...

Beirut does not feel like a conservative place. The girls wear shorts up to here and hair down to there. Cocktails are consumed by the gallon, and there is a rumbustious, if incestuous, arts scene. But this week, the limits of Lebanon's liberal attitude to art were tested by images of Hassan Nasrallah, the leader of the militant Shia group Hezbollah, and a smiling Barbie doll. Some photographs, featuring Barbie dolls and a garish Middle Eastern mishmash of political and religious iconography, were removed from a high-profile exhibition of work by the Lebanese artist Jocelyne Saab by the gallery over...

Hizbullah leader Sheikh Hassan Nasrallah on Tuesday lashed out at the Jewish state, calling Israelis "racist war criminals" and warning that Hizbullah was "stronger than ever." He also expressed skepticism regarding US President-elect Barack Obama's promises of change. In a speech marking Martyr Day in Beirut, Nasrallah said: "We come here every year to reiterate our pride and our respect for our martyrs. We mention them at every turn and not only on happy days. We remember them in our feelings and thoughts and in our everyday social interactions." According to the Hizbullah leader, Israel was behind a series of...

Found this interesting here are his comments: As for the recent election of U.S. President Barack Obama to the White House, Nasrallah called on people not to "exaggerate their hopes, so that no one might be later disappointed.' He called on people to "wait and see." "Our Arab and African world might sympathize with Obama due to his past and color. However, no one must over exaggerate their hopes to be later disappointed." He explained. "America is governed by interests and strategies. It would be illogical to bet on a tyrant to change. You must rather work to be strong."...

The Iraqi Web site Almalaf on Wednesday quoted diplomatic sources in Beirut as saying Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah was poisoned last week and that his life was saved by Iranian doctors who were rushed to Lebanon to treat him. The sources reportedly told the paper that a particularly poisonous chemical substance was used against the Shi'ite militia's leader. His medical condition was apparently critical for a number of days, until the Iranian doctors arrived and managed to save his life.

DAMASCUS - Word is coming out of south Lebanon that Saudi money under United States urging is being pumped into the Shi'ite community - in vain - to create a bloc among Lebanese Shi'ites against Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah. The Saudis are strongly opposed to Hezbollah, claiming that it is an extension of Iranian influence in the Arab world. More recently, the Saudis have began coordinating with former vice president Abdul-Halim Khaddam to break Hezbollah's influence in Lebanon. In testimony of just how influential Nasrallah is as secretary general of Hezbollah, the Saudis have stunningly failed - despite tremendous efforts...

Hizbullah leader Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah has stressed that his group will not disarm even if the Shebaa Farms were liberated and acknowledged that a Hizbullah fighter was behind the downing of a Lebanese army helicopter last week. "Shebaa Farms are not a pretext to keep our arms. If the Farms were liberated now, the weapons will stay," Nasrallah said in a televised speech late last Thursday. "I am telling you that from now because we are speaking of resistance as a defense need for Lebanon," he added. The Shiite leader also stressed that Hizbullah will not surrender its weapons "as...

A draft policy statement that could secure Hizbullah's existence as an armed organization and guarantees its right to "liberate or recover occupied lands" is expected to be approved by the Lebanese council of ministers on Monday before being presented to the parliament in the coming days. Some observers in Lebanon see the clause on "resistance" as a significant victory for Hizbullah, which has long resisted giving up its arms in its fight against Israel. "Lebanese officials from the president down had always legitimized Hizbullah's resistance as a national cause," Timur Goksel, a former senior UNIFIL adviser/spokesman who now teaches in...

Lebanon's 'Soldiers of Virtue' By FOUAD AJAMI July 23, 2008 There have been a dozen prisoner exchanges between Hezbollah and Israel since the early 1990s, but Samir Kuntar was always a case apart. In 1979 Kuntar and his companions killed a policeman, kidnapped a young father, Danny Haran, and killed him in front of his 4-year-old daughter. Then Kuntar turned to the child and crushed her skull against a rock with the butt of his rifle. In the mayhem, Danny Haran's wife, Smadar, hiding in her home, accidentally smothered to death the couple's 2-year-old daughter. Now Hezbollah's leader, Hassan Nasrallah,...

Al-Qaeda Draws New Recruits Via Internet Al-Qaeda is using the Internet to recruit vulnerable young people to its terrorist network, according to a programme aired on Saudi Arabian TV late on Tuesday. Umm Osama, the founder of al-Qaeda's first women-only website, al-Khansa, joined several others on the programme to discuss how they renounced jihadist ideology. Among those who sought a response to this question was an imam from the Medina mosque, Saleh Ibn Awad al-Mudamsi, and the father of a young al-Qaeda suspect held in an Iraqi prison. Read More Qaeda Targets U.S. Oil Interests in North Africa U.S....

Hezbollah's strategic communication machine has undertaken a massive campaign to convince the international community, the Arab and Muslim world that an overwhelming majority of Lebanese are now firmly behind Sayed Hassan Nasrallah in his vision for the future of the Eastern Mediterranean and probably the Greater Middle East. The Hezbollah chief revealed the bulk of his agenda for Lebanon and the region, and even displayed his alignment with Tehran's ambitions. 1. Hezbollah "offers its strategy" to all Arabs Nasrallah called on the "Arab people and governments to adopt the strategies of the organization," i.e., the victory achieved in Lebanon against...

BEIRUT: Iraqi President Jalal Talabani called on Hizbullah's secretary general Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah on Friday not to interfere in Iraq's internal affairs. "Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah does not have the right to interfere in Iraq's internal affairs, as we have not interfered in Lebanon's affairs," Talabani said after a large-scale meeting with heads of Iraqi dailies and newspapers. "Iraq is an independent country and is the cradle of civilization. All those preaching Jihad and patriotism have learned from us," he added. "[The Shiite holy city of] Najaf has graduated militants and Shiite clerics, and it is not acceptable that students impose...

Here is a summary of the main points made by Secretary General of Hezbollah, Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah this week in Beirut, after the invasion of (mostly Sunni) West Beirut, the attack against (mostly Druze) southern Mount Lebanon and after the declaration of Doha and the election of a new President for Lebanon. Nasrallah delivered his "victory speech" last Monday, outlining the new agenda of the Iranian funded organization in Lebanon. My full analysis will be published Monday. Following are twelve major assertions Nasrallah made. As carried live by Hezbollah-owned al Manar TV, and posted on its web site later, the...

BERLIN, May 28 (UPI) -- Israel and Hezbollah are nearing a prisoner-swap deal brokered by Germany, according to a report. The online version of German newsmagazine Der Spiegel said Eldad Regev and Ehud Goldwasser, two Israeli soldiers kidnapped by Hezbollah in 2006, would be exchanged for five Lebanese terrorists held in Israeli prisons. Hezbollah leader Sheik Hassan Nasrallah himself indicated that the report was true. In a speech released Tuesday, he said one of the Lebanese prisoners, Samir Quntar, would "soon be among us." The deal was brokered by a German spy who enjoys great respect from both parties; the...

BEIRUT, Lebanon - Lebanon's new president got a red carpet welcome Monday, but was quickly thrust into the political thicket as Hezbollah's leader warned against any efforts to disarm his Iranian-backed guerrilla group. Sheik Hassan Nasrallah delivered his stern message after military bands and an honor guard saluted President Michel Suleiman on his first day on the job. Suleiman, the former army commander, was a consensus candidate agreed on by both Hezbollah and its pro-Western political foes, but he drew pointed comments from Nasrallah after saying in his inauguration speech Sunday that there should be a dialogue over Hezbollah's arsenal....

While the West is busy living its daily life, a beast is busy killing the freedom of a small community on the East Mediterranean: Lebanon. Indeed, as of last week, the mighty Hezbollah, armed to the teeth with 30,000 rockets and missiles and aligning thousands of self described “Divine soldiers” has been marching across the capital, terrorizing its population, shutting down media, taking its politicians and the Prime Minister as hostages, and looting at will. The hordes of Lebanon’s “Khomeinist Janjaweeds” have conquered already half of the Middle East’s cultural capital, Beirut. As I have reported before, Hezbollah has occupied...

BEIRUT, Lebanon - Heavy fighting broke out Monday between government supporters and opponents in Lebanon's second-largest city, where the two sides battled with rocket-propelled grenades, heavy machine guns and mortars, security officials and residents said. Residents said they heard strong explosions reverberating through Tripoli. At least six people were wounded, security officials said. The fighting had stopped Sunday morning after Lebanese troops deployed between the two sides, then flared again Monday after soldiers pulled back when the situation calmed. The fresh clashes erupted when pro-government forces thought opponents gathering for a funeral in a nearby neighborhood were preparing a new...

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...

"The one who killed our commander must be punished. The killers must be punished and they will be punished, God willing," Hizbullah leader Sheikh Hassan Nasrallah said Monday. In a televised address in Beirut to mark 40 days since the slaying of Hizbullah terror chief Imad Mughniyeh, Nasrallah drew cheers from the crowd saying, "We will choose the time, place and manner of punishment." Mughniyeh was killed in a car bombing in Damascus, in February. Hizbullah and Iran have accused Israel of the assassination. Israel has denied involvement. "We feel Mughniyeh's presence more than ever. Our brothers have found nothing...

Beirut - Israel recently conveyed a warning to Syria through a third party that it would hold Damascus accountable if Lebanese Hezbollah launched attacks on the Jewish state, Israeli and European sources said on Friday. The sources, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the warning stemmed largely from Israeli concerns that Hezbollah would launch salvos of cross-border rockets to coincide with any major Israeli offensive in the Hamas-controlled Gaza Strip. The sources said the message was conveyed in February through at least one European intermediary following the assassination of a top Hezbollah commander ( pictured) and before this month's five-day...

The leader of Hezbollah, Sheik Hassan Nasrallah, has now called for revenge against Israelis and Jews around the world, for the assassination of Imad Mughniyeh, which he claims was done by Israel. It does not matter, of course, who actually pulled off the assassination. Israel and the Jews would be blamed by Hezbollah even if Syria had been responsible. Blame Israel and the Jews for everything is what Hezbollah always does. In the past, Hezbollah has taken revenge against what it claimed to be Israeli actions by murdering Jewish school children in Argentina. Once again it is threatening to attack...

The German weekly Der Spiegel reported Saturday that Prime Minister Ehud Olmert plans to declare the two soldiers kidnapped by Hezbollah, Eldad Regev and Udi Goldwasser, dead. Olmert was in Germany last week, and the Germans are the chief mediators between Israel and Hezbollah on this issue. The likelihood that they are dead increases with every day that goes by with no sign of life from them. Israeli security sources confirmed last night that the intelligence community is reassessing the kidnapped soldiers' situation and is likely to make "difficult decisions" on the matter in the coming weeks. But Israel is...

Lebanon's western-backed Prime Minister Fuad Siniora said that Lebanon has no interest in declaring an "open war" on Israel as this would harm Hezbollah in addition to the Islamic and Arab causes, Lebanese reports quoted him Saturday as saying. "I don't believe we have an interest to wage an open war worldwide because this would be harmful to Hezbollah as well as to the Islamic and Arab causes," Siniora was quoted as telling the Lebanese satellite channel Future TV. "We have had an earlier experience. We must not repeat this experience," Siniora said in reference to the July 2006 war...

It is quite possible that terror master Imad Mughniyeh was not killed Tuesday night in Damascus for his past crimes, but to prevent him from carrying out additional attacks in the future. On January 30, French security services raided a Paris apartment and arrested six Arab men. Three of the men - two Lebanese and one Syrian - were travelling on diplomatic passports. According to the Italian Libero newspaper, the six were members of a Hizbullah cell. Documents seized included tourist maps of Paris, London, Madrid, Berlin and Rome marked up with red highlighter to indicate routes, addresses, parking lots...

DAMASCUS BLAST ON TUESDAY KILLED SENIOR HEZBOLLAH MILITARY COMMANDER - LEBANESE POLITICAL SOURCE

Hezbollah chief threatens Israel By SAM F. GHATTAS, Associated Press Writer BEIRUT, Lebanon - The chief of Hezbollah vowed Thursday to retaliate against Israeli targets anywhere in the world after accusing the Jewish state of killing the militant Imad Mughniyeh in Syria. Israel ordered its military, embassies and Jewish institutions overseas to go on alert Thursday, fearing revenge attacks for a car bomb that killed Mughniyeh — accused of masterminding dramatic attacks that killed hundreds of Americans in Lebanon in the 1980s. Hezbollah and its Iranian backers blamed Israel but Israel denied involvement. In a videotaped eulogy broadcast on a...

Some of Hizbullah leader Hassan Nasrallah's responsibilities have been taken away by the organization's backer Iran, the pan-Arabic daily Asharq Alawsat claimed Thursday. Reportedly, Nasrallah is no longer in control of the organization's military wing, which is now headed by Nasrallah's deputy Sheikh Na'im Kassem. The Iranian official Asharq Alawsat cites as the one who demoted Nasrallah is none other than Iran Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. The report follows a similar report by Israeli daily Ma'ariv Wednesday, but none of the reports have been officially confirmed by Iran. Western intelligence sources cited by Asharq reported that Teheran was furious...

"Sometimes," Blaise Pascal once noted, "we learn more from the sight of evil than from an example of good." The great philosopher's pithy observation took on new resonance this week, as Israelis were given ample opportunity to catch a glimpse of what sheer, unadulterated wickedness truly looks like. In Beirut, it took the form of Hizbullah thug-in-chief Hassan Nasrallah. Speaking on Saturday to a crowd of tens of thousands of cheering supporters, the bearded and bespectacled terror boss delivered one of the most chilling speeches in recent memory. "O Zionists," he declared, "your army has left the body parts of...

BEIRUT, Lebanon - No president will be elected in Lebanon unless the Hezbollah-led opposition gets veto power in the future government, the leader of the militant group declared Wednesday. Sheik Hassan Nasrallah accused the anti-Syrian parliamentary majority of creating the current presidential deadlock by refusing a partnership with the Syrian-backed opposition. "A solution lies in a partnership through a constitutional guarantee (and) through a veto power for the opposition, which represents more than half of the Lebanese people," Nasrallah said in an interview with the private Lebanese NBN television. A parliamentary session to elect a new president was postponed for...

Extra army and police troops were sent to the Lebanese capital Tuesday to guard key roads and government sites as prospects appeared to dim that the country's embattled parliament would convene to elect a new president. Meanwhile, France's foreign minister and the Arab League chief continued their mediation here, meeting separately with leaders of the US-backed government and Syrian- and Iranian-supported opposition. The two Lebanese sides have been deadlocked for weeks over picking the next president. Parliament was supposed to convene Wednesday to start the voting. But the session itself was unlikely to take place as the rival factions seemed...

BEIRUT - France's foreign minister blamed unnamed parties on Monday for blocking a deal between feuding Lebanese leaders to agree on a compromise candidate for president, two days before a key parliamentary vote. France has been pushing the anti-Syrian majority coalition and the opposition, led by pro-Syrian Hezbollah, towards picking a candidate from a list drafted by the patriarch of the Maronite Christian church to which Lebanese presidents must belong. "Everybody was agreed (on the process). Everybody said they had agreed. Now I'm amazed, France is amazed, that something is stuck, something is blocked, something is derailed, and I would...

A member of al-Qaida-affiliated group has admitted to planning to assassinate Hizbullah chief Sheikh Hassan Nasrallah, the Lebanese newspaper A-Safir reported on Thursday. The Beirut-based newspaper said this member held a Libyan passport. When his house was raided, Lebanese security forces found a large quantity of cyanide, the report added. The admission came following the arrest of three members of a "fundamentalist" cell last summer. According to the report, the members also admitted to having fired Katyusha rockets from Lebanon into Israel between 2004 and 2007 in a bid to spark tension between the Jewish state and Hizbullah.