Free Republic

Syrian rebels have killed a top intelligence officer in the eastern province of Deir Ezzor, Syrian state media said on Thursday, according to AFP... Jamaa was head of military intelligence in the province, where the regime has been battling armed opposition fighters seeking to overthrow President Bashar Al-Assad. State media gave no immediate details on where in the province Jamaa was killed or how, but jihadist forums said he died during clashes with jihadist fighters in the city of Deir Ezzor. Rami Abdel Rahman, director of the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights NGO, said initial reports suggested Jamaa had been...

Tony Blair has refused to rule out imposing sanctions against Syria over the assassination of Lebanon's former prime minister. A United Nations report has suggested Syrian involvement in the death of Rafik Hariri in February. Mr Blair said there could be no more serious crime than trying to destroy the democracy of another country. Asked on Sky News about sanctions, he said: "I don't think you rule anything out in going forward." 'Must be dealt with' Mr Blair added that the assassination was a "very, very serious issue". "If there is any implication at all, as indeed there is in...

Beirut, Asharq Al-Awsat- The name al-Ahbash, recently mentioned in the media in connection to the UN investigation into the murder of former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik Hariri, refers to The Association of Islamic Charitable Projects in Lebanon which was founded by A Abdullah ibn Muhammad ibn Yusuf al Hirari, nicknamed “al Habashi”, referring to his Ethiopian origin. Born in the city of al Hirara , near Somalia , al Hirari settled in Lebanon in 1950 where he taught religious studies and cultivated a personal following. Maintaining strong relations with the Syrian government, the groups leader, Nizar al Halabi was killed...

BEIRUT, Lebanon - The son and political heir of former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik Hariri on Saturday called for an international tribunal to try his father's killers after a U.N. probe implicated top Syrian and Lebanese intelligence officials. Lebanese security officials, meanwhile, said police had arrested an Islamic fundamentalist in connection with the assassination _ the first since chief U.N. investigator Detlev Mehlis released his findings into the investigation of Feb. 14 killing of Hariri in a Beirut car bombing. Saad Hariri, the former premier's son and a Lebanese legislator, made the appeal two days after Mehlis handed his report...

DAMASCUS — Syria on Saturday pledged to cooperate with the international community even as it rejected a U.N. report on the murder of former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafiq Hariri that implicated top Syrian figures. The report accused Syria of blocking and misleading the four-month-long investigation into the February bomb blast that killed Hariri and 20 others on the Beirut seafront, and raised the threat of international sanctions. "The report was influenced by the political climate that prevailed in Lebanon after the (Hariri) assassination, and it is based on preconceived ideas that led to accusatory and slanderous conclusions against Syria without...

Friday, February 25, 2005 FROM WND'S JERUSALEM BUREAU'U.S. will get Syria out by May'Former Lebanese PM says war in Iraq will allow his country to be freePosted: February 25, 20059:00 a.m. Eastern By Aaron Klein © 2005 WorldNetDaily.com JERUSALEM -- The U.S. led war against terrorism and its advances in Iraq and Afghanistan have enhanced the climate in the Middle East and will enable the international community to force Syria to withdraw its troops from Lebanon likely by May, former Lebanese Prime Minister Michel Aoun told WorldNetDaily today in an exclusive interview. "The U.S. and EU are backing us in our movement...

JERUSALEM – Lebanese security officials backed by Syria carried out the assassination of former Prime Minister Rafiq Hariri, who knew his life was in danger, a Lebanese opposition leader told WorldNetDaily in an exclusive interview today. "Lebanese security services handled by Syrian security were behind the assassination of Hariri," said Walid Jumblatt, a leading opposition figure in Lebanon. He said in a meeting with Hariri two weeks ago the former prime minister said he felt he was in danger. "Hariri said something bad was going to happen and that it is either going to be you or me." Hariri, along...

JERUSALEM – Lebanese security officials backed by Syria carried out the assassination of former Prime Minister Rafiq Hariri, who knew his life was in danger, a Lebanese opposition leader told WorldNetDaily in an exclusive interview today. "Lebanese security services handled by Syrian security were behind the assassination of Hariri," said Walid Jumblatt, a leading opposition figure in Lebanon. He said in a meeting with Hariri two weeks ago the former prime minister said he felt he was in danger. "Hariri said something bad was going to happen and that it is either going to be you or me." Hariri, along...

Former Lebanese prime minister Rafiq Hariri was killed in a massive bomb blast in central Beirut on Monday. The explosion destroyed a number of public buildings and vehicles, showing that the complicated terrorist act was carried out by a well equipped organization. The situation in Lebanon and the region is now so critical that any discord could cause a new crisis for this small but strategic country. Lebanon, which has been the cradle of peaceful coexistence among different religious and ethnic groups, experienced a 15-year civil war due to a series of domestic, regional, and international factors in the 1970s...

Oct. 14, 2003 Lebanon won't let Palestinians buy land By JPOST.COM STAFF A bill which would have allowed Palestinians to buy property in Lebanon has been withdrawn, prompting accusations of racism and discrimination, the Arabic Aljazeera network reported. An estimated 390,000 Palestinians live in Lebanon, half of whom live in camps. On Monday any hopes of ever owning their own property were dashed when Lebanese Parliament speaker Nabih Berri withdrew draft legislation which would have lifted a ban on Palestinian refugees from owning property in Lebanon. The current legislation forbids the acquisition of real estate by all non-Lebanese persons "who...