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Syria-Lebanon-Iran
Bassil calls on Mikati to quit, Hezbollah to boycott govt. meetings
2022-10-30
Free Patriotic Movement
Despite its name a Christian party allied with Hizbullah, neither free nor particularly patriotic...
 chief Jebran Bassil has called on caretaker PM and PM-designate Najib Mikati to "step down so that the president can call for immediate parliamentary consultations that lead to designating someone else" to form a new government.

In remarks to al-Akhbar newspaper published Saturday, Bassil said that when presidential vacuum begins, Mikati's caretaker cabinet will "lack legitimacy, conformity to the (National) Pact and Christian and parliamentary confidence."

"It will be boycotted by most of its ministers," Bassil added.

Hezbollah meanwhile told Mikati that its two ministers "will not take part in any cabinet session that he would call for during presidential vacuum, in soldiarity with the ministers of the president and the FPM," al-Akhbar said.

The ministers loyal to the president, the FPM, the Tashnag Party
Socialist party representing the Armenian diaspora in Leb. They're Christians, but they try to remain neutral, which means they get shot at without shooting back...
 and ex-MP Talal Arslan meanwhile held a meeting Friday and agreed to boycott any cabinet session.
Link


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
Assad Receives Lebanese Druze Delegation
2021-09-08
[ENGLISH.AAWSAT] Syrian Hereditary President-for-Life Bashir Pencilneck al-Assad
Despoiler of Deraa...
 received in Damascus on Sunday head of the Lebanese Democratic Party MP Talal Arslan and a large Druze delegation that included spiritual leader of the sect in 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, a practice dating back to the heady human sacrifice days of Baal Moloch. In 2020 Hezbollahblew up a considerable portion of Beirut and many of its inhabitants when its ammonium nitrate faci8lity exploded. They blamed it on... somebody else. It wasn't them though. Trust them on that...
 Nasseredine al-Gharib.

The delegation also included various Lebanese political and partisan figures, including former minister Wiab Wahhab and Saleh al-Gharib.

Assad said the delegation "represented the true face of Lebanon," reported the state news agency SANA.

They represent the majority of Lebanese "who believe in the need and importance of the relationship with Syria and who have been loyal to it throughout the years of war," he added.

Ties between the neighboring countries should not be affected by changing conditions on the ground, rather they must be strengthened, he continued.

"Syria will always stand by the Lebanese people and support it on various levels," he stressed.

For his part, Arslan said the suffering of the Lebanese and Syrian people is the result of "new colonialism that is trying to violate the rights of people and dignities of nations."

Sides that are hostile to Syria are hostile to Lebanon and Arabism, he declared.

No one in Lebanon agrees to the severing of relations between Lebanon and Syria, he claimed.

Wahhab underscored the importance and standing of Syria in the region, saying the "Arabs won’t find a place among regional powers except with the return of Syria."

The Lebanese delegation later visited the Druze-majority city of Jaramana in the Damascus countryside. They met with various political and Druze officials from the southern Sweida and Golan regions.

Sources told Asharq al-Awsat that Druze spiritual leader in Sweida, Hikmat al-Hajiri, did not attend the meeting. No reason was given for his absence.

Activists from Sweida, however, attributed his absence to tensions and concerns over the eruption of infighting in the region.

The tensions stem from ongoing negotiations taking place between the counter-terrorism force, affiliated with the Syrian al-Liwa Party, and National Defense Forces (NDF) over returning military vehicles that were seized by the force.

In return, a member of the counter-terrorism force, who is being held by the state security forces, would be released.

Clashes had erupted on Saturday between the Syrian al-Liwa Party and NDF in al-Harisa town in eastern Daraa on Saturday.

Six members of the NDF were maimed. The NDF was forced to retreat from the town and they set up checkpoints inside Sweida city on the road leading to the provinces’ eastern countryside.

The NDF also brought in more members and harassed pedestrians in regions held by the counter-terrorism force. People were assaulted and four civilians were kidnapped, forcing their relatives to surround the headquarters of the NDF in Sweida city to demand their release. They threatened to resort to force if their demands are not met.
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Syria-Lebanon-Iran
Lebanese minister Salah Ghrib says he survived assassination attempt, two people from his convoy dead
2019-07-01
[TWITTER] Ghrib is apparently close to pro-Syrian Druze leader Talal Arslan.
"Habibi, please start my car for me"
Link


Syria-Lebanon-Iran
Lebanese minister accuses Joumblatt of conspiring against Syrian Druze
2018-07-29
[ALMASDARNEWS] The Lebanese Minister of Displaced Persons and leader of the Lebanese Democratic Party, Talal Arslan, slammed his political foe, Walid Joumblatt, in a statement on Saturday evening.

Arslan, a prominent Druze politician, began his statement on Saturday by offering his condolences to the families that lost loved ones as a result of 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....
 (ISIS/ISIS/ISIS) terrorist attack on Wednesday.

The Lebanese minister then accused the U.S. military of conspiring with Islamic State to carry out this deadly attack that killed more than 250 people in the al-Sweida Governorate.

"Washington has not wanted to withdraw from any area in Syria, but their primary objective of protecting Israel has failed," Arslan stated.

The veteran politician then turned his attention to Walid Joumblatt, who he accused of conspiring against the Syrian Druze of al-Sweida.

"Walid Joumblatt has been conspiring against Syria and Syrian Druze," the Lebanese minister said.

"Walid Joumblatt continues to play tricks against Syria and adhere to foreign agendas," he continued.

The Lebanese minister then accused Walid Joumblatt of going to The Sick Man of Europe Turkey
...just another cheapjack Moslem dictatorship, brought to you by the Moslem Brüderbund....
 to request the deportation of Syrian Druze from the Idlib province.

Arslan would conclude his statement by affirming his support for the Syrian government and Syrian Druze, adding that the latter is firmly in support of the state.

Link


Syria-Lebanon-Iran
Alleged Bid to Assassinate Berri Aims at Inciting Sunni-Shiite Strife
2014-03-03
[An Nahar] The alleged plot to assassinate Speaker Nabih Knobby Berri
Speaker of the Lebanese parliament, a member of AMAL, a not very subtle Hizbullah sock puppet...
 aims at destabilizing the country and inciting a Sunni-Shiite strife, the pan-Arab daily Asharq al-Awsat reported on Sunday.

AMAL Movement, Development and Liberation bloc, MP Ali Khreis told the daily that Berri's liquidation bid aims at causing chaos in Leb and creating a Sunni-Shiite strife.

The politician hailed the efforts exerted by security agencies to unveil terrorist networks, especially the Internal Security Forces Intelligence Bureau and the army's intelligence.

He voiced hope that the security agencies would be able to unveil all terrorist schemes before they are carried out.

The newspaper reported that "ISF intelligence bureau previously obtained information about a plot set to assassinate Berri after monitoring the premises of the Beirut neighborhood of Ein el-Hellhole."

The speaker's security team was urged to boost security measures to safeguard Berri.

Sources told the daily that the plot aims at inciting sedition in Leb as the Shiites view Berri as "a patriotic political figure ."

On Friday, media reports said that Lebanese national Mahmoud Abou Aalfa, who is affiliated to the Qaeda-linked Abdulllah Azzam Brigades, confessed that the myrmidon group was plotting to assassinate Berri, who is the head of the AMAL movement.

Aalfa had reportedly acknowledged that several people were tasked with monitoring the entrances of Ain el-Tineh and the places that Berri frequently visits.

The suspect pointed out that the scheme was to target the Speaker with a booby-trapped car by a jacket wallah or more.

Reports said that another group was also tasked with monitoring the residence of former Minister Wiam Wahab, who is head of the 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.

Media reports said on February 20 that the ISF Intelligence Bureau had tossed in the calaboose
Drop the gat, Rocky, or you're a dead 'un!
, ahead the twin blasts that targeted the Beirut suburb of Bir Hasan, Aalfa who confessed of being tasked by the Lebanese Sheikh Sirajeddine Zouraykat of the Abdulllah Azzam Brigades with monitoring al-Manar TV and the Iranian Cultural Center.

The twin suicide boom-mobileings in Bir Hasan near the Iranian Cultural Center killed at least six people and maimed more than 100 others, the second attack in less than four months targeting Iranian interests in Leb.

The Abdullah Azzam Brigades
... Leb's current al-Qaeda affiliate, named after a guy whose car the current head of al-Qaeda had boomed...
 grabbed credit for the double bombing, vowing additional attacks in retaliation to 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...
's involvement in the Syria war.

On Wednesday, the head of the Lebanese Democratic Party, MP Talal Arslan, was urged to boost security measures after security agencies obtained information that he might be the target of an liquidation bid.
Link


Syria-Lebanon-Iran
Abdullah Azzam Brigades Plotting to Assassinate Parliament Speaker
2014-03-01
[An Nahar] Investigations with detained Death Eaters revealed that Speaker Nabih Knobby Berri
Speaker of the Lebanese parliament, a member of AMAL, a not very subtle Hizbullah sock puppet...
 was allegedly the target of an liquidation bid, local newspapers reported on Friday.

According to As Safir and al-Akhbar newspapers, Lebanese national Mahmoud Abou Aalfa, who is affiliated to the Qaeda-linked Abdulllah Azzam Brigades, confessed that the bully boy group was plotting to assassinate Berri, who is the head of the AMAL movement.

Aalfa had reportedly acknowledged that several people were tasked with monitoring the entrances of the Beirut neighborhood of Ain el-Tineh and the places that Berri frequently visits.

The suspect pointed out, according to newspapers, that the scheme was to target the Speaker with a booby-trapped car by a jacket wallah or more.

Security sources unveiled that scheme was reaching the zero-hour.

Security agencies advised Berri to boost his security measures and lessen his movement amid the delicate circumstances.

The newspapers also reported that another group was also tasked with monitoring the residence of former Minister Wiam Wahad, who is head of the 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.

Media reports said on February 20 that the Internal Security Forces Information Bureau had incarcerated
Book 'im, Mahmoud!
, ahead the twin blasts that targeted the Beirut suburb of Bir Hasan, Aalfa who confessed of being tasked by the Lebanese Sheikh Sirajeddine Zouraykat of the Abdulllah Azzam Brigades with monitoring al-Manar TV and the Iranian Cultural Center.

The twin suicide boom-mobileings in Bir Hasan near the Iranian Cultural Center killed at least six people and maimed more than 100 others, the second attack in less than four months targeting Iranian interests in Leb.

The Abdullah Azzam Brigades
... Leb's current al-Qaeda affiliate, named after a guy whose car the current head of al-Qaeda had boomed...
 grabbed credit for the double bombing, vowing additional attacks in retaliation to 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...
's involvement in the Syria war.

On Wednesday, the head of the Lebanese Democratic Party, MP Talal Arslan, was urged to boost security measures after security agencies obtained information that he might be the target of an liquidation bid.

Earlier in February, media reports had said that former premier Najib Miqati has become a target for liquidation in light of their circulation of a security document alleging that a political figure in Beirut or 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...
 may be targeted by a suicide bomber.

Miqati hails from Tripoli.

Reports had said that a terrorist cell was plotting the liquidation of several officials and judges, including Berri and 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...
.
Link


Syria-Lebanon-Iran
Officials Call for Strengthening Security Forces after Shwaifat Blast
2014-02-04
[An Nahar] Political officials on Monday called for boosting cooperation among security agencies, in the wake of the suicide kaboom that hit a passenger van in the Shwaifat area, the second kaboom to rock Leb in three days.

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...
 asked military, security and judicial authorities to "be strict in pursuing the instigators and perpetrators of the bombings that are taking place on Lebanese soil, in order to arrest them and refer them to the relevant judicial authorities."

Lebanese Democratic Party leader MP Talal Arslan called during an interview on LBCI for "providing the necessary political protection for all security agencies in the country."

He voiced his belief that "an all-embracing cabinet would alleviate the sharp polarization in the country and would contribute positively in confronting crises and terrorism, in addition to providing a political cover for security institutions."

Meanwhile,
...back at the wine tasting, Vince was about to start tasting his third quart...
 State Minister Marwan Kheireddine, who is close to Arslan, said "the same as the latest bombings, this blast was aimed at killing people and there are no religious or political centers in the area."

For his part, MP Ali Ammar, member of Hizbullah's Loyalty to Resistance parliamentary bloc, said "this crime is part of the terrorist operations that are targeting the entire region and further unity is needed among the Lebanese."

"We must confront the takfir
...an adherent of takfir wal hijra, an offshoot of Salafism that regards everybody who doesn't agree with them as apostates who most be killed...
is through strengthening our security institutions and pressuring the countries that support them," Ammar added.

"The society must be liberated from the sectarian and inflammatory rhetoric and a cabinet must be formed as soon as possible," he went on to say.

Ammar also stressed that "no one will be able to defeat the resistance, no matter what they do."

And as it condemned the attack and voiced solidarity with the victims' families, the March 14 General-Secretariat noted that "Hizbullah's involvement in the ongoing fighting in Syria will only bring to Leb further disasters, destruction, terrorism and tears."

"Stability in Leb can only be achieved through specific measures on the ground, involving the deployment of the Lebanese Army along the Lebanese-Syrian border to protect our people in Akkar and the Bekaa, with the assistance of U.N. forces as allowed by (U.N. Security Council) Resolution 1701, which was endorsed by Hizbullah in 2006," the general-secretariat added.
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Syria-Lebanon-Iran
Jumblat on Letter to Assad Report: I haven't Reached This Level of Political Stupidity
2013-11-05
[An Nahar] 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...
 denied on Monday reports saying that he sent a letter to Syrian Hereditary President-for-Life Bashir Pencilneck al-Assad
Supressor of the Damascenes...
, in an attempt to reconsider his current relation with the Damascus regime.

"I haven't reached this level of political dotage and stupidity," Jumblat told the PSP-affiliated al-Anbaa website.

The Daily Star newspaper reported on Monday that Lebanese Democratic Party leader MP Talal Arslan has conveyed a letter form Jumblat to Assad, in which the PSP leader asked for a reconsideration of the relations between his party and the Syrian regime.

The report also said the letter included asking Assad to allow two Druze soldiers to rejoin the Syrian army after they had announced their defection.

"Assad sent a partial reply to Jumblat," The Daily Star quoted sources close to the March 8 alliance as saying.

However,
there's more than one way to skin a cat...
 Arslan on Monday denied these reports.
Link


Syria-Lebanon-Iran
Arslan Says Accusing Hizbullah of Inciting Sedition Is 'Unjust'
2013-06-19
[An Nahar] Lebanese Democratic Party leader MP Talal Arslan considered on Tuesday that accusing Hizbullah of of inciting sedition in Leb "is unjust and an infringement on the deaders' blood."

"Accusing Hizbullah's resistance of inciting strife in the country is unfair and an infringement on every honorable countryman and on the blood shed by the deaders," Arslan said in a statement.

He stressed: "Stop the distortion, the lies and the offenses."

"We understand that not everyone agrees with some or most of the resistance's ideas in Leb. But we do not understand how a group can resort to manipulating facts and distorting the truth in such an unacceptable manner that does not serve Leb's interests."

Arslan expressed: "We are at a stage when there are no morals in political relations. The political speech has tanked."

"This indicates that some factions want to link the situation in Leb to regional and foreign interests, no matter what was the price," he noted.

A delegation from the March 14 alliance on Tuesday handed 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...
 a memo that calls for Hizbullah's "immediate" pullout from Syria and the deployment of the Lebanese army along the border with the war-torn country.

The signatories claimed that the party's role in the fighting is a clear violation of the Constitution, the illusory sovereignty of the Lebanese state and international resolutions.
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Syria-Lebanon-Iran
Arslan to a Syrian Delegation: Syria, Lebanon Destinies are One
2011-10-17
[An Nahar] The Lebanese Democratic Party leader MP Talal Arslan on Sunday said that Syrian and Lebanese fates are one stressing that what the West and Israel are planning for Syria will affect Leb.

"Leb and Syria's destinies are linked together, and thus, Leb's stability is linked to Syrian stability, its steadfastness and its resistance against the Western-Israeli campaign against it" Arslan said in front of a Syrian delegation who visited him at his residence in Khaldeh.

Syria had been witnessing unprecedented protests against its regime in which the suppression of demonstrators led to 3000 deaths according to the United Nations
...the Oyster Bay money pit...
, while Syrian authorities say that it had been facing a "terrorist groups" and a media "conspiracy" against it.

Arslan said: "Unfortunately, there is a huge media campaign from neighboring and regional countries on Syria magnifying the issue."

He noted that those who meddle with Syria are "meddling in Syria's resistance role in the region which consistent with the Lebanese and Paleostinian's position."

"Some political parties are betting on the Syrian instability and on hitting its national unity," Arslan said, expressing regret that these parties are colluding against the regime.

He added: All those who tried throughout history to have politics prevail over geography had failed."

Link


Syria-Lebanon-Iran
Arslan Hands Written Resignation, Suleiman and Miqati to Discuss it Monday
2011-07-03
[An Nahar] The premiership received on Saturday Minister Talal Arslan's written resignation from cabinet, reported LB television.

President Michel Suleiman and Prime Minister Najib Miqati will discuss this issue on Monday.

The minister had announced his resignation soon after the formation of the new government on June 13.

He justified his decision by saying: "In line with my convictions, I announce to the Lebanese public my resignation from the government of the so-called Prime Minister Najib Miqati whom I am not honored to sit next to in cabinet."

"Miqati is either trying to create a dispute between me and Free Patriotic Movement
Despite its name a Christian party allied with Hizbullah, neither free nor particularly patriotic...
 Party leader MP Michel Aoun
...a wholly-owned subsidiary of Hizbullah...
, the Resistance
That'd be the Hezbullies, natch...
, or PSP 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...
," Arslan had declared.

In addition, he accused the premier of conspiring against national unity.

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