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Syria-Lebanon-Iran
Sunday's vote early results: LF, independents make significant gains
2022-05-17
[AnNahar] Lebanese Democratic Party leader Talal Arslan, Arab Tawhid Party
... a Leb political party established by former minister, MP, and Syrian stooge Weaam Wahhab in 2006. Supporters of the party are mainly Druze and it is a part of the March 8 (Hezbollah) Alliance. A bomb exploded outside a party office in the Chouf in 2012.
 leader Wiam Wahhab, and Assaad Hardan of the Syrian Socialist Nationalist Party have lost in Sunday's parliamentary vote, according to early results.

Meanwhile,
...back at the shootout, Butch started the buffalo stampeding......
 the LF said it won at least 20 seats, adding five members from the 2018 vote. This would make it the largest Christian bloc in parliament, replacing the Free Patriotic Movement
Despite its name a Christian party allied with Hizbullah, neither free nor particularly patriotic...
The October 17 forces said they won at least seven seats, three in Beirut II, three in Chouf-Aley and one in South III, with a reported probability of a second breakthrough in the South III.

Hardan, a strong Hizbullah
...Party of God, a Leb militia inspired, founded, funded and directed by Iran. Hizbullah refers to itself as The Resistance and purports to defend Leb against Israel, with whom it has started and lost one disastrous war to date, though it did claim victory...
 ally in the third district in the South reportedly lost his seat to the independent candidate Elias Jradeh, while another independent, Mark Daou, running in the Mount Lebanon Hezbollahstan
...Formerly inhabited by hardy Phoenecian traders, its official language is now Arabic, with the usual unpleasant side effects. ...
 region of Aley against longtime Druze politician Talal Arslan, said he's "heading to a big victory."

In Beirut II, the list backed by ex-PM Fouad al-Saniora won one seat and the Hizbullah, Amal, FPM list won three seats, while the October 17 forces won at least two seats. The PSP candidate on Saniora's backed list, MP Faisal al-Sayegh, lost his seat to the Druze candidate who ran on MP Fouad Makhzoumi's list. The latter's list won two seats.

In Beirut I, the LF have won so far 3 seats, while independent candidate Paula Yaacoubian's list Li Watani won two seats, the FPM won two and the Kataeb two.

In Sidon-Jezzine, the LF won 2 seats and the Free Patriotic Movement and Amal lost in an unprecedented defeat in this district.

Ghada Ayyoub (LF), Abdel Rahman al-Bizri, Oussama Saad, Said al Asmar (LF) and independent candidate Charbel Massaad won the highest votes in the district.

In Batroun, FPM chief Jebran Bassil maintained his seat while the LF won the second seat by a higher number of votes.

In West Bekaa, according to early results, Hassan Murad, Wael Abou Faour, Qabalan Qabalan, Charbel Maroun, independent candidate Yassin Yassin, and Ghassan Skaf will likely win, while Deputy Speaker Elie Ferzli will likely lose.

In Akkar, the FPM won three seats while ex-Mustaqbal
... the Future Movement, political party led by Saad Hariri...
 affiliated, MP Hadi Hbeish, has lost.

In 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...
-Minieh-Dinniyeh, Justice Minister Ashraf Rifi's list has won at least 3 seats, for the first time, with one seat to an allied LF candidate, while Faisal Karami's seat is not guaranteed yet.

In the Metn district, the Kataeb, the LF, and the FPM have won 2 seats each. Michel Murr and Hagop Pakradounian have also won.

In Baadba, the FPM lost one of its past seats to an LF-allied candidate Camille Chamoun of the National Libaral Party (al-Ahrar).

Al Ahram explains:
Early results: Lebanon's Hezbollah suffers election losses

[AlAhram] Lebanon's militant Hezbollah group and its allies appear to have suffered some losses in this weekend's parliamentary elections, with their opponents gaining more seats and some of their traditional partners not making it into the legislature, early results showed Monday.

Despite the apparent setback, Hezbollah and its main Shiite ally, the Amal group of Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri, are likely to retain the 27 seats allocated to the sect. The unofficial results show that independents, including those from the 2019 protest movement, made some gains by removing longtime politicians from parliament.

The closely watched elections on Sunday were the first since a devastating economic crisis erupted in Lebanon in October 2019, triggering nationwide protests against the ruling class blamed for decades of corruption and mismanagement.

It was also the first election since the August 2020 Beirut port explosion that killed more than 200 people, injured thousands and destroyed parts of the Lebanese capital. The blast, widely blamed on negligence, was set off by hundreds of tons of poorly stored ammonium nitrate that ignited in a port warehouse.

The Saudi-backed Christian Lebanese Forces party, which has been among the most vocal critics of the Iran-armed Hezbollah, says it won at least 20 seats, adding five members from the 2018 vote. This would make it the largest Christian bloc in parliament, replacing the Free Patriotic Movement that was founded by President Michel Aoun and has been a Hezbollah ally since 2006.

Independents also appear to be making some significant gains, but they remain far from making changes as the main winners of the vote are likely to be mainstream political group.

A strong Hezbollah ally in south Lebanon reportedly lost his seat to an independent, while another independent, Mark Daou, says ``we are heading to a big victory.'' Daou is running in the Mount Lebanon region of Aley against longtime Druze politician Talal Arslan.

Official results were expected to be announced later Monday.

Lebanon holds elections every four years and the new parliament will elect a new president after Aoun's term ends in October.
Link


Syria-Lebanon-Iran
Hariri Meets Aides of Franjieh, Jumblat, Berri as PSP Delegation Visits Speaker
2016-10-20
[An Nahar] al-Mustaqbal
... the Future Movement, political party led by Saad Hariri...
 Movement leader ex-PM 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.
 held separate talks Tuesday at the Center House with representatives of Marada Movement
the personal militia of Suleiman Franjieh, president of Lebanon at the outbreak of the civil war, currently Syrian toadies, but you never know when that could change...
 chief MP Suleiman Franjieh, Progressive Socialist Party leader MP 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...
 and Speaker Nabih Knobby Berri
Speaker of the Lebanese parliament, a member of AMAL, a not very subtle Hizbullah sock puppet...
Hariri's talks with Health Minister Wael Abou Faour, who is close to Jumblat, tackled "the current developments in the country," Hariri's press office said in a statement.

The ex-PM later met with Culture Minister Rony Araiji and ex-minister Youssef Saade of Franieh's Marada Movement in the presence of his adviser ex-MP Ghattas Khoury.

Talks addressed the latest political developments.

Later on Tuesday, Hariri met at the Center House with Berri's aide and Finance Minister Ali Hassan Khalil.

"The meeting lasted ten minutes and Khalil conveyed a message to Hariri," LBCI television said.

Following the meeting, a PSP delegation comprising Taimur Jumblat, Wael Abou Faour, Akram Shehayyeb and Ghazi Aridi visited Ain el-Tineh for talks with Berri in Khalil's presence.
Link


Syria-Lebanon-Iran
43 Dead, 239 Hurt as 2 IS Suicide Bombers Target Bourj al-Barajneh in Leb
2015-11-12
[AnNahar] Twin suicide kabooms rocked a busy shopping street Thursday in the Beirut southern suburb of Bourj al-Barajneh, killing 43 people and wounding 239 others, in the worst such attack in years.

NNA said the attack was carried out by two jacket wallahs who blew up their explosive vests in the Ain al-Sikkeh street.

The Internal Security Forces said two men on foot set off boom jackets in front of a shopping center.

Health Minister Wael Abou Faour, speaking from the scene on a street of shops where vendors also sell from stalls, said many of the injured were at death's door.

The army said the body of a "third terrorist" was found at the scene of one of the blasts after he apparently failed to blow himself up.

The myrmidon Islamic State
...formerly ISIS or ISIL, depending on your preference. Before that al-Qaeda in Iraq, as shaped by Abu Musab Zarqawi. They're very devout, committing every atrocity they can find in the Koran and inventing a few more. They fling Allah around with every other sentence, but to hear the pols talk they're not really Moslems....
 group claimed the attack in a statement posted online.

"Soldiers of the Caliphate detonated explosives planted on a cycle of violence in an area frequented by Rafida (Shiites)," the statement said.

"After the apostates gathered in the area, one of the knights of martyrdom detonated his boom belt in the midst of them," the statement added.

The claim could not be independently verified but the statement followed the usual format of IS claims of responsibility and was circulated on jihadist online accounts.

An AFP photographer saw extensive damage to buildings around the site of the blast and bodies inside some of the nearby shops.

There was blood on the streets, and security forces were trying to cordon off the scene and keep people from gathering.

Local television stations showed footage of maimed people being carried away by emergency services and civilians.

"I'd just arrived at the shops when the blast went off. I carried four bodies with my own hands, three women and a man, a friend of mine," a man who gave his name as Zein al-Abideen Khaddam told local television.

- 'Thought world ended' -
Another described the sound of the blasts.

"When the second blast went off, I thought the world had ended," he said.

The maimed were evacuated to several hospitals in the area, including the Bahman hospital in neighboring Haret Hreik.

"We've received dozens of maimed people and they're continuing to arrive," a doctor there told AFP.

The blast is the first to target Beirut's southern suburbs since June 2014, when a suicide boom-mobile killed a General Security officer who had tried to stop the bomber.

But prior to that, a string of attacks targeted Hizbullah
...Party of God, a Leb militia inspired, founded, funded and directed by Iran. Hizbullah refers to itself as The Resistance and purports to defend Leb against Israel, with whom it has started and lost one disastrous war to date, though it did claim victory...
 strongholds throughout the country.

Between July 2013 and February 2014, there were nine attacks on Hizbullah bastions, most claimed by jihadist myrmidons.

The groups claimed the attacks were in Dire Revenge for Hizbullah's decision to send thousands of fighters into neighboring Syria to support Hereditary President-for-Life Bashir Pencilneck al-Assad
Supressor of the Damascenes...
's forces against an Islamist-dominated uprising.
Link


Syria-Lebanon-Iran
43 Dead, 239 Hurt as 2 IS Suicide Bombers Target Bourj al-Barajneh in Leb
2015-11-13
[AnNahar] Twin suicide kabooms rocked a busy shopping street Thursday in the Beirut southern suburb of Bourj al-Barajneh, killing 43 people and wounding 239 others, in the worst such attack in years.

NNA said the attack was carried out by two jacket wallahs who blew up their explosive vests in the Ain al-Sikkeh street.

The Internal Security Forces said two men on foot set off boom jackets in front of a shopping center.

Health Minister Wael Abou Faour, speaking from the scene on a street of shops where vendors also sell from stalls, said many of the injured were at death's door.

The army said the body of a "third terrorist" was found at the scene of one of the blasts after he apparently failed to blow himself up.

The myrmidon Islamic State
...formerly ISIS or ISIL, depending on your preference. Before that al-Qaeda in Iraq, as shaped by Abu Musab Zarqawi. They're very devout, committing every atrocity they can find in the Koran and inventing a few more. They fling Allah around with every other sentence, but to hear the pols talk they're not really Moslems....
 group claimed the attack in a statement posted online.

"Soldiers of the Caliphate detonated explosives planted on a cycle of violence in an area frequented by Rafida (Shiites)," the statement said.

"After the apostates gathered in the area, one of the knights of martyrdom detonated his boom belt in the midst of them," the statement added.

The claim could not be independently verified but the statement followed the usual format of IS claims of responsibility and was circulated on jihadist online accounts.

An AFP photographer saw extensive damage to buildings around the site of the blast and bodies inside some of the nearby shops.

There was blood on the streets, and security forces were trying to cordon off the scene and keep people from gathering.

Local television stations showed footage of maimed people being carried away by emergency services and civilians.

"I'd just arrived at the shops when the blast went off. I carried four bodies with my own hands, three women and a man, a friend of mine," a man who gave his name as Zein al-Abideen Khaddam told local television.

- 'Thought world ended' -
Another described the sound of the blasts.

"When the second blast went off, I thought the world had ended," he said.

The maimed were evacuated to several hospitals in the area, including the Bahman hospital in neighboring Haret Hreik.

"We've received dozens of maimed people and they're continuing to arrive," a doctor there told AFP.

The blast is the first to target Beirut's southern suburbs since June 2014, when a suicide boom-mobile killed a General Security officer who had tried to stop the bomber.

But prior to that, a string of attacks targeted Hizbullah
...Party of God, a Leb militia inspired, founded, funded and directed by Iran. Hizbullah refers to itself as The Resistance and purports to defend Leb against Israel, with whom it has started and lost one disastrous war to date, though it did claim victory...
 strongholds throughout the country.

Between July 2013 and February 2014, there were nine attacks on Hizbullah bastions, most claimed by jihadist myrmidons.

The groups claimed the attacks were in Dire Revenge for Hizbullah's decision to send thousands of fighters into neighboring Syria to support Hereditary President-for-Life Bashir Pencilneck al-Assad
Supressor of the Damascenes...
's forces against an Islamist-dominated uprising.
Link


Syria-Lebanon-Iran
Report: ISIL to Release Hostage ahead of Holidays as Goodwill Gesture
2014-12-12
[AnNahar] The relatives of kidnapped soldiers and coppers were informed by an international side that the Islamic State
...formerly ISIS or ISIL, depending on your preference. Before that al-Qaeda in Iraq, as shaped by Abu Musab Zarqawi. They're very devout, committing every atrocity they can find in the Koran and inventing a few more. They fling Allah around with every other sentence, but to hear the pols talk they're not really Moslems....
 of Iraq and the Levant group is ready to release a hostage before the holidays as a goodwill gesture.
Or perhaps not... The nice thing about promised is that they raise hopes, which can then be dashed by deciding not to. This reinforces who is ruling, and who is ruled.
According to Ad Diyar newspaper published on Thursday, the relatives said that ISIL's initiative is to press the Lebanese state to change its maneuvers and its techniques in dealing with the abduction ordeal.

Health Minister Wael Abou Faour, who has been highly informed on the case, expressed hope in comments published in the daily that Progressive Socialist Party leader MP Walid ?Jumblat wouldn't ask him to reveal all the aspects of the case.?

Abou Faour continuously headed to the protest camp of the relatives of the captives in Beirut's Riad Solh Square and persuaded them to open roads, vowing that the state will resolve the hostage crisis.

Sources close to the negotiations with the jihadists told the newspaper that the cabinet didn't receive yet any serious pledge from ISIL or the al-Qaeda-affiliate al-Nusra
...the current nom de guerre of al-Qaeda in the Levant, which isn't to be confused with al-Qaeda in Iraq and the Levant...
 Front that they will not harm any soldier or policeman.

The comments come a day after Salafist holy man Sheikh Salem al-Rafehi revealed that he urged Islamist bad boy Anas Sharkas, who is also known as Abu Ali al-Shishani, not to harm any of the remaining captive servicemen in his custody.

Rafehi said that Shishani telephoned him to thank him for the effort exerted by the Moslem Scholars Committee over the case of his wife Ola al-Oqaili.

The relatives of the kidnapped soldiers and coppers called on Monday on the Moslem Scholars Committee to play a bigger role in the negotiations after Qatar
...an emirate on the east coast of the Arabian Peninsula. It sits on some really productive gas and oil deposits, which produces the highest per capita income in the world. They piss it all away on religion, financing the Moslem Brotherhood and several al-Qaeda affiliates...
 withdrew from the case on Sunday.

However,
death is not the end. There remains the litigation over the estate...
 the committee filed a request to be officially tasked by the state to follow up the case.

The committee is touring Lebanese officials to press negotiations forward.

The security force members were captured when the jihadists briefly overran Arsal in August, sparking fierce battles with Lebanese troops.

Four have been executed so far, and the jihadists have threatened to kill the remaining hostages unless there is a deal to free Islamist prisoners in Leb.
Link


Syria-Lebanon-Iran
Abou Faour: First MERS Infection Detected in Lebanon
2014-05-09
As the slow motion pandemic continues...
[AnNahar] Health Minister Wael Abou Faour announced on Thursday afternoon that the first case of Middle East Respiratory Syndrome coronavirus has been detected in Leb.

"One person has been diagnosed with MERS, and he was being treated at a hospital in the country," Future television quoted the minister as saying.

But Abou Faour noted that the infected patient "has left the hospital after showing signs of recovery."

Ministry sources told An Nahar daily that the man, who is a Lebanese national, arrived in Leb coming from a Gulf country.

Earlier in the day, the minister denied that any MERS cases were detected in Leb, stressing that all precautions have been taken at the Rafik Hariri International Airport.

"We took some measures at the airport. Two thermal cameras were installed to detect individuals with high body temperatures, the first indicator for infections with the MERS virus," the state-run National News Agency quoted him as saying.

"Until the moment, all samples taken at the hospitals have tested negative. No cases of infection with the deadly virus have been recorded in Leb so far," added the Minister in the morning.

Abu Faour's comments came after touring the airport accompanied by head of the Public Health parliamentary committee Atef Majdalani where they inspected the measures taken at the airport to halt possible entry of infected individuals to Leb.

On Wednesday, media reports raised fears that an infected Saudi national was transferred to the Hotel Dieu hospital on suspicion of MERS infection, but were renounced by the hospital afterwards.
Link


Syria-Lebanon-Iran
Disputes Delay Appointments to Wed. as Govt. OKs Saudi Grant, Renews Terms of Salameh's Deputies
2014-04-01
[AnNahar] The cabinet on Monday postponed appointing Internal Security Forces acting chief Maj. Gen. Ibrahim Basbous and acting Prosecutor General Samir Hammoud as full-term civil servants following a dispute that prompted the suspension of the meeting for around an hour.

However,
alcohol has never solved anybody's problems. But then, neither has milk...
 the council of ministers managed to approve several key resolutions after the session was resumed, including the renewal of the terms of the deputy central bank governors, accepting the $3 billion Saudi donation to the army
How much of the Middle East is the House of Saud keeping afloat nowadays?
and extending the contracts signed with Global Telecom Holding (formerly known as Orascom Telecom) and Zain (formerly known as MTC Group) -- the firms that run the state-owned mobile phone operators Touch and Alfa.

According to Information Minister Ramzi Jreij, discussions over the rest of appointments were postponed to a session that will be held on Wednesday.

As Monday's session got underway, the ministers of the March 8 forces
... the opposition to the Mar. 14th movement, consisting of Hizbullah and its allies, so-called in commemoration of their Mar. 8th, 2006 demonstration of strength in Beirut ...
 rejected approving the pending administrative appointments in a "partial" manner.

"President Michel Suleiman
...before assuming office as President, he held the position of commander of the Leb Armed Forces. That was after the previous commander, the loathesome Emile Lahoud, took office as president in November of 1998. Likely the next president of Leb will be whoever's commander of the armed forces, too...
 insisted that the security appointments must happen tonight in order to implement the approved security plan," LBCI TV reported.

But "Hizbullah
...Party of God, a Leb militia inspired, founded, funded and directed by Iran. Hizbullah refers to itself as The Resistance and purports to defend Leb against Israel, with whom it has started and lost one disastrous war to date, though it did claim victory...
 and a number of March 8 ministers insisted that the appointments must be approved as one package and not separately," LBCI added.

And after media reports said the session was suspended due to a clash over the file of oil exploration, the TV network pointed out that the meeting was stopped before embarking on the topic.

"Maj. Gen. Ibrahim Basbous is supposed to be appointed as full-term commander of the ISF," Justice Minister Ashraf Rifi said before the session, as Interior Minister Nouhad al-Mashnouq stressed that "the appointments will be approved today."

LBCI had reported before the resumption of the session that Health Minister Wael Abou Faour and Industry Minister Hussein Hajj Hassan carried out contacts to "resolve the dispute and approve the appointments of Basbous and Hammoud tonight."

"The cabinet is a consensus cabinet and everything in it must be addressed through consensus, including appointments," Hajj Hassan, who represents Hizbullah in the government, said.

"We in Hizbullah are facilitating things and the issue is inclined to be resolved," he noted.

Abou Faour earlier announced that the cabinet would debate the issue of the oil exploration decrees, amid expected disputes over contracts and maritime oil exploration blocs.
Link


Syria-Lebanon-Iran
Government Approves Security Plan in Tripoli, Bekaa's North
2014-03-28
[AnNahar] The cabinet approved on Thursday a security plan for the northern city of 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...
 and areas bordering Syria as President Michel Suleiman
...before assuming office as President, he held the position of commander of the Leb Armed Forces. That was after the previous commander, the loathesome Emile Lahoud, took office as president in November of 1998. Likely the next president of Leb will be whoever's commander of the armed forces, too...
 said a solution to the fighting and repeated attacks was urgently needed.

Health Minister Wael Abou Faour told news hounds that the cabinet approved the recommendations of the Higher Defense Council on a security plan in Tripoli and Bekaa valley's northern areas.

Defense Minister Samir Moqbel and Interior Minister Nuhad al-Mashnouq proposed the plan to the HDC during a meeting it held under Suleiman on Wednesday.

Later, Information Minister Ramzi Greij confirmed a decision to task the army and security forces to implement a security plan.

The government also tasked them with seizing arms depots in Tripoli and taking all measures to arrest suspects involved in the fighting in the city in addition to kidnappers and assailants involved in car theft in the Bekaa.

Suleiman told the cabinet that the army will come under attack as long as it is a separation force in Tripoli.

"A security solution has become necessary," he told the first cabinet session that he chaired after the government received parliament's vote of confidence last week.

"The situation is no longer acceptable," he said.

Tripoli witnesses frequent gunbattles between two of the city's impoverished rival neighborhoods, one dominated by Sunnis who support Syrian rebels, and the other by Alawites, who are from the same sect of Syrian Hereditary President-for-Life Bashir Pencilneck al-Assad
Despoiler of Deraa...
Clashes in Tripoli have left scores of casualties over the past days alone.

Border areas also come under rocket attacks and shelling from Syria and have witnessed abductions in return for ransom and other security incidents.

Suleiman hailed the Arab League
...an organization of Arabic-speaking states with 22 member countries and four observers. The League tries to achieve Arab consensus on issues, which usually leaves them doing nothing but a bit of grimacing and mustache cursing...
 summit that concluded on Wednesday, saying it supported Leb's army, the Syrian refugees, the Baabda Declaration and the Special Tribunal for Leb.

Suleiman attended the first day of the summit that was held in Kuwait.

On recent corruption scandals, he said: "The state should carry out its duties."

The financial prosecutor charged on Wednesday several National Social Security Fund (NSSF) employees with the embezzlement of funds, the National News Agency said.

On a positive note, Abou Faour announced during a presser that the prices of 629 medications will be slashed by 20 percent.
Link


Syria-Lebanon-Iran
Village in Akkar Hit by Shells, Gunfire as Battles Intensify along Border
2014-03-21
[An Nahar] Clashes intensified on Thursday between the Syrian regime troops and gunnies along the Lebanese-Syrian border with shelling and gunfire targeting Khat al-Petrol village in the Akkar border area of Wadi Khaled.

According to the state-run National News Agency, heavy gunfire and shelling from the Syrian side of the border targeted the northern town as battles flared up along the border.

The NNA reported that mortar shells hit at dawn the banks of Nahr al-Kabir in northern Leb.

Ambulances had rushed to Khat al-Patrol town after casualties were reported.

Houses along the border were also damaged during the gunbattles.

The news agency said that the battles are in the cross-border town of Bqayaa.

At least 35 Syrians maimed in the festivities were admitted to a hospital in the nearby town of al-Qobayat for treatment.

President Michel Suleiman
...before assuming office as President, he held the position of commander of the Leb Armed Forces. That was after the previous commander, the loathesome Emile Lahoud, took office as president in November of 1998. Likely the next president of Leb will be whoever's commander of the armed forces, too...
 contacted several officials to inquire about the aerial shelling and rocket attacks against Lebanese border towns.

"It is not acceptable that Lebanese citizens and regions remain exposed to shelling as a consequence of the Syrian conflict," Suleiman said.

"We call on these feuding factions to stop transforming Leb into a target for their attacks," he added. "Leb can't tolerate this situation any longer."

Suleiman urged army troops to control the border, noting that it must also be monitored inside Syria.

The shelling came a day after Syrian troops recaptured the town of Al-Hosn close to the border, sparking a new exodus of refugees adding to the thousands who had already sought shelter in mainly Sunni Mohammedan Wadi Khaled.

Later, the NNA reported that Syrian authorities closed the legal border crossing in Bqayaa, causing traffic to come to a halt in both directions.

Wadi Khaled residents called on the Lebanese army to interfere to stop the Syrian shelling on the area.

The international highway in the Beddawi area was shortly blocked to protest the incident.

NNA later reported that two houses burned in the village of Bani Sakher in Wadi Khaled after coming under Syrian shelling.

An army post near al-Bqayaa border crossing reportedly came under fire from the Syrian side.

Interior Minister Nouhad al-Mashnouq urged the residents of the areas to reopen the roads to facilitate the transportation of the injured.

For his part, Health Minister Wael Abou Faour ordered the hospitals to receive Lebanese and Syrian people, who were maimed in the festivities.
Link


Syria-Lebanon-Iran
Sami Gemayel Rejects 'Lebanese's Right to Resist' Formula in Policy Statement
2014-02-28
[An Nahar] Phalange Party
The Kataeb (Phalange) party was founded by Pierre Gemayel in 1936, who modeled the party after Spanish and Italian Fascist parties he had observed as an Olympic athlete during the 1936 Summer Olympics held in Berlin, then Nazi Germany. The movement's uniforms originally included brown shirts and members used the Nazi salute. Despite the party's uniform, its strong sense of nationalism and dedication to a single charismatic leader, the Lebanese Kataeb was not and never became a fascist party nor did it espouse a totalitarian ideology.
 Central Committee Coordinator MP Sami Gemayel criticized on Thursday reports saying the ministerial policy statement will include a clause on "Lebanese people's right to resist."

"There is no consensus over the resistance. Who is going to resist?" Gemayel asked after holding talks with Speaker Nabih Knobby Berri
Speaker of the Lebanese parliament, a member of AMAL, a not very subtle Hizbullah sock puppet...
 in Ain el-Tineh.

"Does this mean we are going to live in a jungle where everyone gets arms licenses?" he added.

The Phalange MP also told news hounds that Hizbullah
...Party of God, a Leb militia inspired, founded, funded and directed by Iran. Hizbullah refers to itself as The Resistance and purports to defend Leb against Israel, with whom it has started and lost one disastrous war to date, though it did claim victory...
 is the only party that has reservations over mentioning the Baabda Declaration in the policy statement.

"We discussed with Berri the crisis in the country and we are thinking of structural solutions to problems in Leb."

Health Minister Wael Abou Faour announced on Wednesday that the ministerial panel tasked with drafting a policy statement has reached a "satisfactory formula" regarding mentioning the Baabda Declaration in the draft.

The minister explained that the formula respects all parties' stances.

MTV revealed that Abou Faour's formula mentions commitment to the resolutions of the national dialogue sessions that were held at the parliament and in Baabda.

The same source also said Finance Minister Ali Hassan Khalil suggested mentioning the Lebanese's right to resist against Israel in the statement, but added that the March 14 camp insisted on writing "Leb's rights to resist' instead to underscore the role of the state."
Link


Syria-Lebanon-Iran
At Least Two Troops Killed in Hermel Army Checkpoint Blast
2014-02-23
[An Nahar] Two troops were killed on Saturday and several others were maimed in a massive suicide car kaboom at an army checkpoint in the Bekaa town of Hermel.

The attack was claimed by Al-Nusra Front in Leb.

The suicide car blast destroyed the checkpoint which lies at the entrance of Hermel, and at which cars are routinely stopped and searched by army troops.

"A suicide kaboom took place near al-Assi bridge area at the entrance of Hermel," the state-run National News Agency reported.

"The blast killed two troops, among them an army officer, and maimed five others while other 10 civilians were also lightly injured in the bombing."

"One victim's body and 14 maimed were transferred to three hospitals in the region," the news agency said.

The NNA identified one injured civilian as Mohammed Dib Ayyoub.

Meanwhile,
...back at the the conspirators' cleverly concealed hideout Montefiore's foot was still stuck and the hound had completely soaked his uniform with slobber...
 al-Jadeen television and al-Mayadeen channel both said three people were killed in the bombing.

Military sources told LBCI television that among the maimed were three army recruits and two civilians.

"The maimed recruits are Imad Mahmoud Abou Zeid, Hassan Ali Jaafar and Elie Shhade Rizk while the civilians are Khodr Abu Bakr and his wife Rita."

Minister of Public Health Wael Abou Faour urged all hospitals in the region to admit those that were maimed in the blast.

The NNA provided details on the moment of the kaboom: "When army troops asked the driver to turn the lights on inside the car, he refused to do so and then detonated the vehicle."

Media reports also said the checkpoint was not the target.

"The attacker was entering Hermel and when army forces at the checkpoint suspected him, he detonated the booby-trapped car," LBCI said.

LBCI noted that the checkpoint where the car went kaboom! belongs to the border regiment whose mission is deploying troops on the Lebanese-Syrian border.

"Obtained information said two booby-trapped cars were located at the entrance of Hermel, and one of them only went kaboom! at the checkpoint," al-Mayadeen said.

In the evening, the army released a statement detailing on Saturday's developments.

"At 7:00pm a four-wheeled vehicle driven by a jacket wallah detonated at an army checkpoint, killing and wounding several troops and civilians," the released communique said.

The statement noted that the attacker blew himself inside the car when army forces tried to stop him after finding him suspicious.

It considered that Saturday's operation requires embracing the military institution.

"We will never stop facing anyone trying to harm Leb and we'll work to dismantle terrorist networks and prosecute runaways regardless of the sacrifices to be offered," the statement stressed.

"Once again, the army is paying in blood the price of fighting terrorism and attempting to safeguard civil peace in the country. The military institution has warned months ago of what is being planned for Leb and we have intensified our campaigns to arrest planners and executors of these terrorist acts."

"We have announced our readiness to confront terrorism that aims at creating chaos and inciting sedition in Leb."

Late on Saturday evening, Al-Nusra Front in Leb grabbed credit for the attack.

"In a blessed martyrdom (suicide) operation, the Hermel area was struck on Saturday," the Al-Nusra Front in Leb said on Twitter hours after the blast.

It also posted photographs of children with amputated limbs, under the headline: "The crimes of the party of Iran (Hizbullah
...Party of God, a Leb militia inspired, founded, funded and directed by Iran. Hizbullah refers to itself as The Resistance and purports to defend Leb against Israel, with whom it has started and lost one disastrous war to date, though it did claim victory...
) in Syria".

Following the blast, the municipality of the Bekaa town urged citizens to stay away from the site of the kaboom.

Also, State Commissioner to the Military Court Judge Saqr Saqr tasked police forces with cordoning off the site of the kaboom and gather all found information and clues about the car and the bomber, according to the NNA.

"He also tasked forensic doctors with collecting humans remains and carry out the necessary DNA testing," the NNA added.

Hermel, in the Bekaa Valley where Hizbullah has a strong presence, has seen multiple attacks in recent months related to the war raging in neighboring Syria.

Until Saturday, the attacks had all killed civilians.
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Syria-Lebanon-Iran
6 Dead as Qaida Claims Suicide Blasts in Beirut's Southern Suburbs
2014-02-20
[An Nahar] Six people were killed on Wednesday in two suicide kabooms that went off near an Iranian cultural center in Beirut's southern suburbs, an attack claimed by the al-Qaeda linked Abdullah Azzam Brigades
... Leb's current al-Qaeda affiliate, named after a guy whose car the current head of al-Qaeda had boomed...
The Health Ministry said six people died and over 129 were maimed in what the Lebanese army stated were two simultaneous suicide kabooms at around 9:25 am in the Bir Hassan neighborhood in locations with a distance of only 100 meters from each other.

Health Minister Wael Abou Faour said human remains found in the area likely belonged to the bombers.

But the army command asked the families of those missing in the double bombing to head to al-Rassoul al-Aazam hospital on the airport road to carrying out DNA tests.

Voice of Leb radio (93.3) said one of the jacket wallahs set off his explosives when police corporal Mohammed Dandash felt suspicious of him at a checkpoint in the area.

Dandash argued with him when the bomber tried to search for a location to park his car.

The corporal was among the six people killed in the blast.

The other suicide bomber, who was in another vehicle, was driving in the opposite direction and immediately triggered his explosives when the first blast went off, VDL said.

The army said the first blast was caused by around 75 kilograms of explosives and mortars stashed in a Mercedes carrying the fake license plate of Z121363.

The second kaboom went off in a BMW X5, which was loaded with 90 kilos of explosives and mortars.

Its license plate is S158298, it said, adding the car was stolen from the airport road.

The Kuwaiti embassy, which lies in the area, said none of its staff was injured in the attack.

The Iranian Embassy
...You will never find a more wretched hive of scum and villainy!...
 said there were "no severe injuries among the diplomats and the staff at the cultural center."

The blasts took place close to the Beirut offices of Iran's official news agency, IRNA, and Iranian television IRIB.

A thick smoke billowed in the sky when the blasts went off as several vehicles went in flames.

Buildings in the area were also heavily damaged as seen on TV footage.

At one point, the army opened fire in the air to disperse the crowds that gathered in the area and pave way for ambulances and firefighters to transport the maimed and douse the blaze.

The Abdullah Azzam Brigades claimed the attack on its twitter account.

"The brothers of the Abdullah Azzam Brigades, of the Hussein bin Ali Brigades claim the attack against the Iranian cultural center, which was a double martyrdom operation," it said.

The group said that the attack came in response to Hizbullah's fighting in Syria's war.

"We will continue... to target Iran and its party in Leb, in its security and political and military centers, until our demands are achieved," it said.

"First: that the party of Iran withdraws its forces from Syria. Second, that our prisoners are released from Lebanese prisons."

The same neighborhood witnessed near simultaneous attacks in November when suicide bombers linked to the Brigades targeted the Iranian embassy.

The blasts were the latest to hit a predominantly Shiite area.

Military prosecutor Judge Saqr Saqr tasked the army intelligence with cordoning off the area and looking for evidence after he inspected the scene of the attacks.
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