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Border heats up as Syria slides toward civil war
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May 21, 2012 02:02 AM
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Attention is once again on the border between Lebanon and Syria. A letter from Syrian’s United Nations envoy Bashar Jaafari addressed to Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon accuses Lebanon of harboring terrorists from Al-Qaeda and the Muslim Brotherhood who are working to undermine Special Envoy...
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Baabda’s priorities: security, constitution
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May 17, 2012 01:47 AM
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State officials and politicians have been busy dealing with the street violence in Tripoli, the impasse over retroactive approval for overspending by former governments, and the election law for the 2013 parliamentary polls. Meanwhile, observers have also been following the renewed criticism of...
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Jumblatt verbal salvos target various fronts
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May 12, 2012 02:19 AM
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Recent comments by Progressive Socialist Party leader Walid Jumblatt have raised eyebrows, as observers wonder whether the Druze politician is weighing in on the simmering cold war between President Michel Sleiman and Free Patriotic Movement leader Michel Aoun. When Jumblatt addressed a rally in...
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Kesrouan gears up early for 2013 polls
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May 10, 2012 01:45 AM
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JOUNIEH, Lebanon: Though the parliamentary elections are scheduled for over one year from now, electoral maneuvering in the form of discussing likely candidate lists and potential alliances is already running at full steam in Kesrouan. Sources close to independent politicians in Kesrouan said that...
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U.S. to push for timely elections
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April 30, 2012 01:24 AM
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The fate of domestic politics in the country is now tied to the timing of the upcoming parliamentary elections, with political forces busy arranging their affairs and alliances while awaiting Interior Minister Marwan Charbel’s announcement of a new electoral law. Foreign influence is now...
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Government focuses on elections to detriment of people
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April 25, 2012 02:00 AM
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The Lebanese government is blind to the needs of the people as it is preoccupied with its own internal disputes, which have not let up even after it received a vote of confidence last week. The parties are also focused on next year’s parliamentary elections, treating the polls as if they...
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Rapprochement sought between Hariri, Mikati
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April 17, 2012 12:29 AM
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Though the upcoming polls are still over a year away, diplomatic sources in Beirut are stressing their countries’ strong interest in Lebanon’s parliamentary elections both in terms of the electoral law to be employed and the political alliances. The sources recalled recent statements...
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Sleiman visits Australia to tackle diaspora concerns, bilateral ties
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April 14, 2012 01:32 AM
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BEIRUT: President Michel Sleiman leaves Saturday for a one-week official visit to Australia, where his agenda will range from the concerns of the Lebanese diaspora to bilateral ties and fighting terror. Sleiman will be accompanied by Deputy Prime Minister Samir Moukbel, Foreign Minister Adnan...
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President and patriarch see eye to eye
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April 10, 2012 01:59 AM
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President Michel Sleiman and Patriarch Beshara Rai’s simultaneous announcements of Pope Benedict XVI’s planned visit to Lebanon from Sept. 14-16 – during which he will sign the Post-Synodal Apostolic Exhortation for the Middle East – is a sign of the coordination and...
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West interested in dialogue with Islamists: EU sources
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April 02, 2012 01:14 AM
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According to a high-ranking French diplomat, Syrian President Bashar Assad’s visit to Baba Amr, the former rebel stronghold in Homs that was recently taken by regime forces, points to the start of a new stage in the Syrian conflict. In this phase, great powers may reconsider their...
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European diplomat: Fall of Baba Amr part of solution
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March 10, 2012 01:45 AM
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As battles between Syrian troops and army defectors rage across Syria – prior to the arrival in Damascus of U.N.-Arab League envoy Kofi Annan for talks with President Bashar Assad – it appears that the options of military intervention in the country or arming the opposition have become...
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World powers support stability in Lebanon: diplomats
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March 05, 2012 02:04 AM
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Despite the turmoil in neighboring Syria and popular upheavals in other Arab countries, Lebanon has managed to maintain stability, thanks to an international decision to isolate the country from the turbulence in the region, according to Western diplomats accredited in Beirut. The diplomats cited...
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Baroudi talks ahead of 2013 election bid
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March 01, 2012 01:44 AM
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JBEIL, Lebanon: Wissam Baroudi, son-in-law of President Michel Sleiman who is eyeing a 2013 parliamentary run as an independent, said Wednesday that appointments for high-ranking civil service posts were unlikely for the moment, as were National Dialogue talks. Moreover, the engineer by trade...
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Fears of extremism in Syria mount
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February 29, 2012 01:49 AM
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Western experts seem hesitant to support decisive military action against the Syrian regime, given that knowledge about the Syrian situation is unclear. This lack of knowledge is especially pointed in the case of the Syrian opposition groups, who are currently divided. These troubles are linked to...
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Tug-of-war mounts in Christian Gathering
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February 28, 2012 01:43 AM
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The recently formed Independent Christian Gathering is meeting regularly to discuss national and international affairs, and despite the fact that the gathering does not have a political affiliation, sources say that factions within it are working to pull it in various directions. A former minister...
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