Lebanon’s Hizbullah announced on Thursday that Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah has been re-elected as the Shiite Muslim group’s leader for a sixth term.A Hizbullah statement did not say when the group’s top officials voted to re-elect Nasrallah, who has held the post since an Israeli helicopter gunship killed his predecessor, Sheikh Abbas Mousawi. No one ran against Nasrallah.

The ministerial committee tasked with drafting the policy statement for Prime Minister Rafik Hariri’s newly formed government is holding extensive meetings to finalize its mission before Independence Day on November 22.However, the issue of Hizbullah’s arms seems to be the main topic of contention, which is delaying the finalization of the political section of the statement.

Internal Security Forces (ISF) arrested a Tebnine teacher on suspicion of spying for Israel, media reports said Thursday. The reports added that ISF had put the man under close watch for seven months prior to his arrest Wednesday afternoon. Al-Akhbar newspaper quoted sources at the ISF directorate as saying that the 54-year-old man admitted to spying for Israel, adding that he was recruited by a man who fled to Israel.

Commander of the UNIFIL Major General Claudio Graziano said the peacekeeping forces, in collaboration with the Lebanese Armed Forces, will continue its work to stop war provocations in south Lebanon. Speaking following a meeting with Prime Minister Rafik Hariri at the Grand Serail, he said there was “optimism and a general desire to keep the situation under control.”