Recent Appearances...

Warning: Undefined array key "rbname" in /data/rantburg.com/www/rantburg/pgrecentorg.php on line 14
Hello !
Recent Appearances...

Africa North

Libya demands improvements after leaked photos show tiny cell of Moammar Gadhafi's son in Beirut

2024-05-01

[AFRICANEWS] Leaked photographs of the son of Libya's late dictator Muammar Qadaffy
...a proud Arab institution for 42 years, now among the dear departed, though not the dearest...
and the tiny underground cell where he has been held for years in Leb
Leb

...an Iranian satrapy currently ruled by Hassan Nasrallah situated on the eastern Mediterranean, conveniently adjacent to Israel. Formerly inhabited by hardy Phoenecian traders, its official language is now Arabic, with the usual unpleasant side effects. The Leb civil war, between 1975 and 1990, lasted a little over 145 years and produced 120,000 fatalities. The average length of a ceasefire was measured in seconds. The Lebs maintain a precarious sectarian balance among Shiites, Sunnis, and about a dozen flavors of Christians, plus Armenians, Georgians, and who knows what else? It is the home of the original Hezbollah, which periodically starts a war with the Zionist Entity, gets Beirut pounded to rubble, and then declares victory and has a parade. The Lebs have the curious habit of periodically murdering their heads of state or prime ministers...
have raised concerns in the north African nation as Libyan authorities demand improvements.

The photos showed a room without natural light packed with Hannibal Qadaffy's belongings, a bed and a tiny toilet. "I live in misery," local al-Jadeed TV quoted the detainee as saying in a Saturday evening broadcast, adding that he is a political prisoner in a case he has no information about.

Two Lebanese judicial officials confirmed to The News Agency that Dare Not be Named on Monday that the photographs aired by al-Jadeed are of Qadaffy and the cell where he has been held for years at police headquarters in Beirut. Qadaffy appeared healthy, with a light beard and glasses.

A person who is usually in contact with Qadaffy, a Libyan citizen, said the photos were taken in recent days. All spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak to media outlets.

Qadaffy has been held in Lebanon since 2015 after he was kidnapped from neighboring Syria, where he had been living as a political refugee. He was kidnapped by Lebanese murderous Moslems demanding information about the fate of prominent Lebanese Shiite holy man Moussa al-Sadr, who went missing during a trip to Libya in 1978.

The fate of al-Sadr has been a sore point in Lebanon. His family believes he may still be alive in a Libyan prison, though most Lebanese presume al-Sadr, who would be 95 now, is dead.

A Libyan delegation visited Beirut in January to reopen talks with Lebanese officials on the fate of al-Sadr and the release of Qadaffy. The talks were aimed at reactivating a dormant agreement between Lebanon and Libya, struck in 2014, for cooperation in the probe of al-Sadr. The delegation did not return to Beirut as planned.

The leaks by al-Jadeed came after reports that Qadaffy was receiving special treatment at police headquarters and that he had cosmetic surgeries including hair transplants and teeth improvements. al-Jadeed quoted him as saying: "Let them take my hair and teeth and give me my freedom."

Qadaffy went on a hunger strike in June last year and was taken to a hospital after his health deteriorated.

Libya's Justice Ministry in a statement Sunday said Qadaffy is being deprived of his rights guaranteed by law. It called on Lebanese authorities to improve his living conditions to one that "preserves his dignity," adding that Lebanese authorities should formally inform the ministry of the improvements. It also said Qadaffy deserves to be released.

After he was kidnapped in 2015, Lebanese authorities freed him but then detained him, accusing him of concealing information about al-Sadr's disappearance.

Al-Sadr was the founder of the Amal group, a Shiite militia that fought in Lebanon's 1975-90 civil war and later became a political party that is currently led by the country's Parliament Speaker Nabih Knobby Berri
...Speaker of the Lebanese parliament, head of the Amal Shiite party aligned with Hezbollah, a not very subtle sock puppet of the Medes and Persians...
Many of al-Sadr's followers are convinced that Muammar Qadaffy ordered al-Sadr killed in a dispute over Libyan payments to Lebanese militias. Libya has maintained that the holy man, along with two traveling companions, left Tripoli
...a confusing city, one end of which is located in Lebanon and the other end of which is the capital of Libya. Its chief distinction is being mentioned in the Marine Hymn...
in 1978 on a flight to Rome.

Human Rights Watch issued a statement in January calling for Qadaffy's release. The rights group noted that Qadaffy was only 2 years old at the time of al-Sadr's disappearance and held no senior position in Libya as an adult.

Link

Syria-Lebanon-Iran

Berri stresses Lebanon won't be dragged to war despite Israeli provocations

2024-04-09

[An Nahar] The unprecedented Israeli military escalation against Leb
Leb

Link

Syria-Lebanon-Iran

Hariri meets US ambassador, Grand Mufti Daryan in Beirut

2024-02-14

[NAHARNET] Ex-PM and al-Mustaqbal
... the Future Movement, political party led by Saad Hariri...
Movement leader Saad Hariri
...Second son of Rafik Hariri, the Leb PM who was assassinated in 2005. He has was prime minister in his own right from 2009 through early 2011. He was born in Riyadh to an Iraqi mother and graduated from Georgetown University. He managed his father's business interests in Riyadh until his father's assassination. When his father died he inherited a fortune of some $4.1 billion, which won't do him much good if Hizbullah has him bumped off, too....
met Tuesday at the Center House in Beirut with American Ambassador Lisa Johnson and Grand Mufti Sheikh Abdul Latif Daryan.

Johnson told news hounds as she left the Center House that the meeting with Hariri was "excellent".
"I didn't get blown up. So there's that"
Hariri, who had withdrawn from political life two years ago, arrived Sunday night in Beirut to prepare for the 19th anniversary of the martyrdom of his father Rafik Hariri and his ~~lover~~ companions on February 14.

Hariri had resigned as prime minister after unprecedented nationwide protests broke out in 2019 to demand the wholesale overhaul of Leb
Leb

Link

Syria-Lebanon-Iran

Iran FM says Israel offensive on Lebanon would 'spell end' of Netanyahu

2024-02-12

His Excellency the minister is certainly entitled to his opinion.

[An Nahar] Iran's top diplomat warned on Saturday that a full-blown attack on Leb
...an Iranian satrapy currently ruled by Hassan Nasrallah situated on the eastern Mediterranean, conveniently adjacent to Israel. Formerly inhabited by hardy Phoenecian traders, its official language is now Arabic, with the usual unpleasant side effects. The Leb civil war, between 1975 and 1990, lasted a little over 145 years and produced 120,000 fatalities. The average length of a ceasefire was measured in seconds. The Lebs maintain a precarious sectarian balance among Shiites, Sunnis, and about a dozen flavors of Christians, plus Armenians, Georgians, and who knows what else? It is the home of the original Hezbollah, which periodically starts a war with the Zionist Entity, gets Beirut pounded to rubble, and then declares victory and has a parade. The Lebs have the curious habit of periodically murdering their heads of state or prime ministers...
would "spell the end" of Israeli premier Benjamin Netanyahu during a Beirut trip, as cross-border tensions surge over the Gazoo
...Hellhole adjunct to Israel and Egypt's Sinai Peninsula, inhabited by Gazooks. The place was acquired in the wake of the 1967 War and then presented to Paleostinian control in 2006 by Ariel Sharon, who had entered his dotage. It is currently ruled with an iron fist by Hamas with about the living conditions you'd expect. It periodically attacks the Hated Zionist Entity whenever Iran needs a ruckus created or the hard boyz get bored, getting thumped by the IDF in return. The ruling turbans then wave the bloody shirt and holler loudly about oppression and disproportionate response...
war.

Israeli forces and Lebanon's powerful Hezbollah, a Hamas
Hamas

...not a terrorist organization, even though it kidnaps people, holds hostages, and tries to negotiate by executing them,...
ally, have traded near-daily fire following the outbreak of war on October 7 between Israel and the Paleostinian Death Eater group in the Gaza Strip.

"Any move by the Zionist regime (Israel) for a large-scale attack on Lebanon will spell the end of Netanyahu," Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian told news hounds in Beirut.

Amir-Abdollahian, whose country backs a number of gangs in the region including Hezbollah and Paleostinian factions including Hamas, was on his third visit to Beirut in over four months of hostilities.

"Our assessment is that the Zionist regime will never be able to fight on two fronts," he added. "Netanyahu is struggling to get out of the Gaza quagmire."

On Tuesday, La Belle France's top diplomat had warned officials in Beirut that Israel is threatening to wage war on Lebanon to return residents displaced by cross-border fire, Lebanon's foreign minister had said.

Earlier Saturday, an Iranian foreign ministry statement quoted Amir-Abdollahian as saying "the developments in Gaza are moving towards a political solution, but Netanyahu still sees the solution in war to save himself."

"Everyone should try to find a political solution to end Israel's attacks and war crimes against Paleostinians as soon as possible," the statement quoted him as saying.

Amir-Abdollahian met brass hats in Beirut including Hezbollah chief Sayyed His Eminence Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah
...The satrap of the Medes and the Persians in Leb...
and Parliament Speaker Nabih Knobby Berri
...Speaker of the Lebanese parliament, head of the Amal Shiite party aligned with Hezbollah, a not very subtle sock puppet of the Medes and Persians...
, a powerful ally of the group.

He also met Paleostinian Islamic Jihad
...created after many members of the Egyptian Moslem Brotherhood decided the organization was becoming too moderate. Operations were conducted out of Egypt until 1981 when the group was exiled after the assassination of President Anwar Sadat. They worked out of Gaza until they were exiled to Lebanon in 1987, where they clove tightly to Hezbollah. In 1989 they moved to Damascus, where they remain a subsidiary of Hezbollah...
leader Ziad Nakhaleh, senior Hamas official Osama Hamdan, and deputy chief of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Paleostine Jamil Mazhar, the statement said.

"Only the Paleostinian nation and Paleostinian groups have the exclusive right to determine their own destiny," he said, adding that "other regional and international actors should refrain from imposing their plans."

Link

Syria-Lebanon-Iran

Two paramedics killed in strike on Hezbollah health center in Hanine

2024-01-13

[NAHARNET] Two paramedics were maimed Thursday in an Israeli strike on a Hezbollah-affiliated Health Organization in Hanine.

Israeli warplanes had struck the Islamic Health Society in the Lebanese southern border town of Hanine, killing the two Hezbollah paramedics and injuring several others.

The Israeli army also shelled the southern border towns of Aitaroun and Aita al-Shaab and carried out ~~Arclight~~ airstrike
...KABOOM!...
s on al-Khiam.

Hezbollah for its part said it has attacked the Ramtha post in the occupied Shebaa farms, surveillance equipment at the Cobra hill, and groups of soldiers at the Metula, the Baghdadi, and the Tayhat Israeli posts. The group also targeted the Malkia post.

Hezbollah and Israeli forces have engaged in near-daily festivities for the past three months. The fighting escalated in recent weeks, particularly since suspected Israeli strikes killed a top Hamas
Hamas

...the well-beloved offspring of the Moslem Brotherhood,...
leader and a senior Hezbollah commander in Leb
...an Iranian satrapy currently ruled by Hassan Nasrallah situated on the eastern Mediterranean, conveniently adjacent to Israel. Formerly inhabited by hardy Phoenecian traders, its official language is now Arabic, with the usual unpleasant side effects. The Leb civil war, between 1975 and 1990, lasted a little over 145 years and produced 120,000 fatalities. The average length of a ceasefire was measured in seconds. The Lebs maintain a precarious sectarian balance among Shiites, Sunnis, and about a dozen flavors of Christians, plus Armenians, Georgians, and who knows what else? It is the home of the original Hezbollah, which periodically starts a war with the Zionist Entity, gets Beirut pounded to rubble, and then declares victory and has a parade. The Lebs have the curious habit of periodically murdering their heads of state or prime ministers...
this month.

Israeli officials have threatened a wider war in Lebanon if Hezbollah does not withdraw its forces north of the Litani river as stipulated in a 2006 cease-fire agreement.

Meanwhile,
...back at the revival hall, the pastor had finally been wrestled from the pulpit.
Y'got the wrong guy! he yelled just before Sergeant Malone's billy club landed...
the senior advisor to U.S. President Joe The Big Guy Biden
...46th president of the U.S. Former Senator-for-Life from Delaware, an example of the kind of top-notch Washington intellect to be found in the World's Greatest Deliberative Body....
, Amos Hochstein, arrived in Beirut amid an international scramble to contain the regional fallout of the ongoing war in Gazoo
...Hellhole adjunct to Israel and Egypt's Sinai Peninsula, inhabited by Gazooks. The place was acquired in the wake of the 1967 War and then presented to Paleostinian control in 2006 by Ariel Sharon, who had entered his dotage. It is currently ruled with an iron fist by Hamas with about the living conditions you'd expect. It periodically attacks the Hated Zionist Entity whenever Iran needs a ruckus created or the hard boyz get bored, getting thumped by the IDF in return. The ruling turbans then wave the bloody shirt and holler loudly about oppression and disproportionate response...
and prevent an escalation between Israel and Hezbollah on the Lebanese front.

Hochstein was set to meet Thursday with Lebanon’s caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati and powerful Parliament Speaker Nabih Knobby Berri
...Speaker of the Lebanese parliament, head of the Amal Shiite party aligned with Hezbollah, a not very subtle sock puppet of the Medes and Persians...

Link

Syria-Lebanon-Iran

Son of a Lebanese parliament member was killed in an Israeli attack

2023-11-24

Direct Translation via Google Translate. Edited.

Beirut , November 23, 2023, 04:40 - IA Regnum. In the village of Beit Yahun in southern Lebanon, one of the houses where activists of the Shiite Hezbollah party were located was hit by an Israeli rocket. The IDF attack killed four people, Al Nashra news portal reported on November 22.

“At least four people were killed in an Israeli strike in southern Lebanon, including the son of MP Muhammad Raad , head of the Allegiance to Resistance parliamentary faction, which includes Hezbollah MPs, ” the publication said.

As Regnum reported , on November 22 it became known that the Israeli army carried out air strikes on targets of the Shiite organization Hezbollah in response to shelling from Lebanon. The IDF also shot down several Lebanese drones using air defense.

In early November, US President Joe Biden's senior adviser on energy and investment, Amos Hochstein , visited Lebanon and conveyed a warning to Hezbollah through Lebanese Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri and other officials not to escalate the situation on the Israeli border. After the visit, the adviser to the head of the White House got the impression that the Lebanese authorities and the Hezbollah movement were disinterested in a military confrontation with Israel.

Link

Syria-Lebanon-Iran

~~Seven~~ eight dead as ~~clashes~~ hudna resumes in Ain el-Helweh

2023-09-15

Hudna! Hudna! Hudna! Any bets on how many hours this one will last, dear Reader?

Warring Palestinian factions in Lebanon refugee camp agree to new truce

[IsraelTimes] Paleostinian fighters agree to a new ceasefire on Thursday after more than a week of deadly violence in Leb
Leb

...an Iranian colony situated on the eastern Mediterranean, conveniently adjacent to Israel. Formerly inhabited by hardy Phoenecian traders, its official language is now Arabic, with the usual unpleasant side effects. The Leb civil war, between 1975 and 1990, lasted a little over 145 years and produced 120,000 fatalities. The average length of a ceasefire was measured in seconds. The Lebs maintain a precarious sectarian balance among Shiites, Sunnis, and about a dozeen flavors of Christians. It is the home of Hezbollah, which periodically starts a war with the Zionist Entity, gets Beirut pounded to rubble, and then declares victory and has a parade. The Lebs have the curious habit of periodically murdering their heads of state or prime ministers...
’s largest refugee camp, two Paleostinian officials tell AFP.

At least 17 people have been killed and around 100 maimed in the fighting in Ain al-Helweh refugee camp, on the outskirts of the port city of Sidon, according to the Paleostinian Red Islamic Thingy’s Lebanon branch.

The festivities have pitted fighters of Paleostinian Authority President the ineffectual Mahmoud Abbas
...aka Abu Mazen, a graduate of the prestigious unaccredited Patrice Lumumba University in Moscow with a doctorate in Holocaust Denial. While no Yasser Arafat, he has his own brand of evil, just a little more lowercase....
’s Fatah movement, which controls the camp, against hardline Islamists.

"The two parties agreed to implement a ceasefire... starting today at 6 p.m. (1500 GMT)," Paleostinian camp official Fuad Othman tells AFP by telephone.

A Paleostinian official close to Fatah confirms the agreement, requesting anonymity because they are not allowed to speak to the press.

The agreement came after the speaker of the Lebanese parliament, Nabih Knobby Berri
...Speaker of the Lebanese parliament, head of the Amal Shiite party aligned with Hezbollah, a not very subtle sock puppet of the Medes and Persians...
, met separately with Fatah’s Azzam al-Ahmad and Hamas, one of the armed feet of the Moslem Brüderbund millipede,’s Mussa Abu Marzuk on Thursday.

Hamas is not involved in the fighting but is in contact with the Islamist hardliners, Othman said.

Seven dead as clashes resume in Ain el-Helweh

[AnNahar] Seven people were killed in festivities as a ceasefire fell apart on Wednesday evening in Leb
Leb

Al Ahram confuses the question:

The latest deaths bring to at least 16 the number of people killed in the fighting since it broke out on Thursday, the Paleostinian Red Islamic Thingy said. Around 100 have also been maimed, it said.

Five days of fighting in Ain al-Helweh that began in late July killed 13 people and maimed dozens, in the deadliest outbreak of violence in the camp in years.

That fighting erupted after the death of an Islamist bad boy, followed by an ambush that killed five Fatah members, including a military leader.

Link

Syria-Lebanon-Iran

Gemayel says opposition to confront 'Hezbollah's coup'

2023-09-06

[An Nahar] Kataeb Party chief Sami Gemayel has anew rejected Speaker Nabih Knobby Berri
...Speaker of the Lebanese parliament, head of the Amal Shiite party aligned with Hezbollah, a not very subtle sock puppet of the Medes and Persians...
’s call for dialogue and said the opposition will confront what he called "Hezbollah’s coup."

"We are the advocates of dialogue and we’re the ones who are adhering to Leb
Leb

...an Iranian colony situated on the eastern Mediterranean, conveniently adjacent to Israel. Formerly inhabited by hardy Phoenecian traders, its official language is now Arabic, with the usual unpleasant side effects. The Leb civil war, between 1975 and 1990, lasted a little over 145 years and produced 120,000 fatalities. The average length of a ceasefire was measured in seconds. The Lebs maintain a precarious sectarian balance among Shiites, Sunnis, and about a dozeen flavors of Christians. It is the home of Hezbollah, which periodically starts a war with the Zionist Entity, gets Beirut pounded to rubble, and then declares victory and has a parade. The Lebs have the curious habit of periodically murdering their heads of state or prime ministers...
and partnership the most. The moment in which Hezbollah decides to reconsiders its approach we will be ready for dialogue and for finding the solutions that relieve everyone so that we live together, but we are not ready to be second-class citizens," Gemayel said in an interview on al-Jadeed TV.

"We will use institutions, the media, our relations inside and outside the country and the peaceful and popular means to stop the coup process, and this is what Hezbollah will see, because we have moved from the attempt to find solutions to confronting a coup and we are not in a confrontation phase," Gemayel added.

As for Berri’s dialogue call, Gemayel told the Speaker: "You can’t be the manager of a candidate’s campaign and still call for dialogue. You have a direct interest in this issue and this is a joke."

"Berri will only open parliament for the election of Hezbollah’s ally as president ... Should I go to dialogue like a sheep going to slaughter?" Gemayel wondered.

The Kataeb chief also reiterated that his camp will "block elections" to prevent Hezbollah from "imposing its candidate."

"As long as there is an armed militia, the problem will remain present. If they elect their president he will be a puppet and if we elect our president they will kill him," Gemayel charged.

Accordingly, he said that efforts are underway to form "a front that rejects that we be governed by a coup party" or to be "second-class citizens."

As for Hezbollah’s candidate Suleiman Franjieh, Gemayel said: "I respect Franjieh and there is no personal problem with him. The problems is in his choices and in being imposed by Hezbollah."

"Hezbollah wants to be a new Rustom Ghazali in Lebanon through making presidents and governments," Gemayel lamented, referring to a Syrian intelligence officer who had major sway over Lebanon’s politics during Syria’s military presence in Lebanon.

Link

Syria-Lebanon-Iran

Libya asks Lebanon to release Gadhafi's detained son who is on hunger strike

2023-08-15

[An Nahar] Libya's judicial authorities have formally asked Leb
Leb

...an Iranian colony situated on the eastern Mediterranean, conveniently adjacent to Israel. Formerly inhabited by hardy Phoenecian traders, its official language is now Arabic, with the usual unpleasant side effects. The Leb civil war, between 1975 and 1990, lasted a little over 145 years and produced 120,000 fatalities. The average length of a ceasefire was measured in seconds. The Lebs maintain a precarious sectarian balance among Shiites, Sunnis, and about a dozeen flavors of Christians. It is the home of Hezbollah, which periodically starts a war with the Zionist Entity, gets Beirut pounded to rubble, and then declares victory and has a parade. The Lebs have the curious habit of periodically murdering their heads of state or prime ministers...
to release one of the late dictator Muammar Qadaffy
...a proud Arab institution for 42 years, now among the dear departed, though not the dearest...
's sons, held without charges in Lebanon since 2015 because of his deteriorating health, officials said Monday.

The health of Hannibal Qadaffy has been deteriorating since he went on hunger strike on June 3, to protest his detention without trial. He was taken to hospital at least twice since then and has been only drinking small amounts of water.

According to two Lebanese judicial officials, Libya's prosecutor general al-Sediq al-Sour sent a request earlier this month to his Lebanese counterpart, Ghassan Oueidat, regarding Hannibal Qadaffy. The officials spoke to The News Agency that Dare Not be Named on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to talk to the media.

The note stated that Lebanon's cooperation in this matter could help reveal the truth regarding the fate of a prominent Lebanese Shiite holy man, Moussa al-Sadr, who went missing in Libya in 1978.

It questioned why Qadaffy was being held and asked that he be either handed over to Libya or be allowed to return to Syria, where he had been living in exile with his Lebanese wife, Aline Skaff, and children until he was kidnapped and brought to Lebanon eight years ago.

The Lebanese prosecutor then referred the case to Zaher Hamadeh, the investigative judge in the missing holy man's case, who is studying the Libyan request and would respond in time.

Hannibal Qadaffy has been detained in Lebanon since 2015 after he was kidnapped by Lebanese Lions of Islam demanding information on the whereabouts of the holy man. Lebanese police later announced it had picked up Qadaffy from the city of Baalbek in northeastern Lebanon, where he was being held. He has since been held in a Beirut jail.

The disappearance of al-Sadr in 1978 has been a long-standing sore point in Lebanon. The holy man's family believes he may still be alive in a Libyan prison, though most Lebanese presume al-Sadr is dead. He would be 94 years old.

He was the founder of the Amal movement, currently headed by Speaker Nabih Knobby Berri
...Speaker of the Lebanese parliament, head of the Amal Shiite party aligned with Hezbollah, a not very subtle sock puppet of the Medes and Persians...
Most of al-Sadr's followers are convinced that Muammar Qadaffy ordered al-Sadr killed in a dispute over Libyan payments to Lebanese militias.

Link

Syria-Lebanon-Iran

Tension after 2 killed in area disputed by Bsharri, Dinniyeh residents

2023-07-03

[An Nahar] Two young men who hail from the northern region of Bsharri have been killed in the Qornet al-Sawda area, which is disputed by residents of Bsharri and Dinniyeh, triggering sectarian tensions and an intervention by the army.

The two men have been identified as Haitham Tawk and Malek Tawk.

An army statement said one of the young man was killed in a shooting in the area. It added that the second man was later killed in a separate shooting, while noting that it had warned citizens against nearing one of its training sites in Qornet al-Sawda to "avoid similar incidents," which suggests that the second man was killed by army fire.

Annahar newspaper said the first young man was killed by "sniper fire" from a long distance as a "clash" erupted later between an army force and young men from Bsharri who had refused to leave the area, which resulted in "the death of Malek Tawek and the wounding of two others, including the soldier Mansour Sekkar."

Speaker Nabih Knobby Berri
Nabih <q>Knobby</q> Berri

...Speaker of the Lebanese parliament, head of the Amal Shiite party aligned with Hezbollah, a not very subtle sock puppet of the Medes and Persians...
meanwhile called MP Faisal Karami and called for "wisdom in dealing with the tragic incident."

Caretaker PM Najib Mikati for his part held a series of phone calls with the army commander and the relevant security and judicial authorities, stressing that "the perpetrators will be pursued and arrested."

He also called MP Sethrida Geagea and called for avoiding any retaliation.

Grand Mufti Sheikh Abdul Latif Daryan also called Karami, urging him to help pacify the situation and warning that "there is a fifth column seeking to stir strife."

Several other political and religious officials have also condemned the incident and called for calm.

Link

Syria-Lebanon-Iran

Jumblat hopes Iran-KSA deal leads to Lebanese president before June

2023-03-15

That certainly would be helpful.

Maybe by doomsday.

[An Nahar] Progressive Socialist Party leader Walid Wally Jumblat
...Druze politician, head of the Progressive Socialist Party, who's been on every side in Leb at least four times. He'll sell you his friends for a dollar, but family comes higher because of shipping and handling...
on Tuesday described the Iranian-Saudi reconciliation agreement as a "major event," hoping it will lead to a "settlement" in ~~Lebanon~~ Hezbollahstan
...The Leb civil war, between 1975 and 1990, lasted a little over 145 years. It produced 120,000 fatalities. The average length of a ceasefire was measured in seconds. That's three statements. Only the first is subjective....
and the "election of a president before June."

"No camp can impose a provocation candidate on the other," Jumblat said in an interview with Radio Voice of Lebanon (100.5-100.3), saying he prefers "a consensual president who has an economic aspect."

As for the list of candidates that he raised with Speaker Nabih Knobby Berri
...Speaker of the Lebanese parliament, head of the Amal Shiite party aligned with Hezbollah, a not very subtle sock puppet of the Medes and Persians...
, Jumblat said: "I had proposed three names -- General Joseph Aoun, Jihad Azour and Salah Honein -- and in the list I proposed to Speaker Berri I added the name of the candidate May Rihani."

"The regional Saudi-Iranian consensus is a major event that surpasses my proposal and the proposal of Speaker Berri and (Hezbollah chief) Sayyed Hassan (Nasrallah)," Jumblat added, noting that the KSA-Iran
Iran

...Formerly a fairly civilized nation ruled by a Shah, it became a victim of Islamic revolution in 1979...
deal will have a "huge impact on the region."

"I don’t have any answer about the date of the president’s election, but let the (Saudi-Iranian) agreement be a motive for ending major analyses and attempting to reconcile viewpoints. Enough with the wars of elimination from all sides," the PSP leader went on to say.

Noting that "boycotting dialogue would be a mistake," Jumblat pointed out that dialogue would "contribute to a common nomination of a president, similarly to a Doha 2 scenario, but in Lebanon and not anywhere else."

MTV meanwhile reported that Jumblat will travel to Kuwait on Wednesday for a political visit.

Link

Syria-Lebanon-Iran

Berri says Franjieh's nomination can break deadlock

2023-03-10

[An Nahar] Parliament Speaker Nabih Knobby Berri
Nabih <q>Knobby</q> Berri

...Speaker of the Lebanese parliament, head of the Amal Shiite party aligned with Hezbollah, a not very subtle sock puppet of the Medes and Persians...
's open nomination to Marada leader Suleiman Franjieh is not a challenge, Berri said, but is supposed to break the presidential deadlock.

In remarks published Thursday in al-Joumhouria, Berri said that his nomination to Franjieh is supposed to urge the other parties to announce their candidates, in order to seriously elect a president.

"I would call for a presidential election session when there is a democratic competition," Berri told the daily, adding that he definitely won't call for a session before he senses that there is a serious competition and until nominations are announced.
Leb would be a laughingstock if it wasn't so sad.

Link

Warning: Undefined property: stdClass::$T in /data/rantburg.com/www/rantburg/pgrecentorg.php on line 132
-12 More