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Jumblat: Deployment of Security Forces in Dahieh Proves there Can Be No Substitute to State

Progressive Socialist Party leader MP Walid Jumblat hailed on Monday the plan to deploy official security forces in Beirut's southern suburbs of Dahieh.

He said in his weekly editorial in the PSP-affiliated al-Anbaa website: “The deployment demonstrates that there can be no substitute to the state, which protects all Lebanese, especially in light of the mounting political, security, economic, and social challenges.”

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Army Continues Taking Precautionary Measures in Beirut to Avert Bomb Attacks

The Army Command announced on Friday that it is continuing its precautionary measures in and around Beirut and throughout Lebanon in order to combat the threat of bomb attacks that had recently plagued the country.

It said in a statement that it will deploy patrols and checkpoints and set up surveillance stations in Beirut.

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Arrest Warrants Issued against 3 Syrians over Attempt to Fire Rockets from Aramoun to Dahieh

Arrest warrants were issued on Wednesday against Syrians over their involvement in an attempt to fire rockets from the Aramoun region to Beirut's southern suburbs, reported the National News Agency.

Military Examining Magistrate Fadi Sawan issued three arrest warrants against Mohammed and Ghayyath Qarhathan and Omar al-Dirani.

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Edgy Lebanese Add Smartphones to their Anti-Car Bomb Arsenal

As Lebanon reels from deadly bomb attacks that revived painful memories of the civil war, jittery authorities are banking on a smartphone application and other alert systems to prevent further bloodshed.

The attacks -- twin car bombs in the northern city of Tripoli last week and a blast in a densely populated Beirut's southern suburbs eight days before -- have shaken the Lebanese just as a military strike on neighboring Syria appears imminent.

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Asiri on Hizbullah's Searching of Embassy Car: No One Has Authority to Take over State Duties

Saudi Arabia's Ambassador to Lebanon Ali Awadh Asiri condemned Hizbullah members' searching of a Saudi Embassy car on Thursday, saying that such a development leaves a “negative impression” before the public, reported An Nahar daily on Saturday.

He told the daily: “No side has the right to perform the duties of the state.”

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Beirut Municipality to Install CCTVs across City, Stage Patrols with ISF

The Beirut Municipality on Thursday decided to install CCTV security cameras across the capital due to the "extraordinary" security situation and to stage joint patrols with the Internal Security Forces.

"Given that security in the capital is a red line and that the national duty requires taking extraordinary measures to boost citizens' confidence in the security situation, we have decided to install a network of cameras that would cover Beirut's streets and which would be linked to a modern control room," Beirut Municipality chief Bilal Hamad said at a press conference following an emergency meeting for the municipal council.

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Suspicious Syrian Car in Spears St. in Beirut Free of Explosive Material

An explosion heard Friday morning in Spears area in Hamra was caused by the use of a detonator by the Internal Security Forces to open a car suspected of carrying a bomb.

According to the state-run National News Agency, a Kia car that is carrying a Syrian license plate was suspected of containing suspicious material.

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Syrians, Lebanese Held over Bid to Smuggle Captagon via Beirut Port

Several Syrian and Lebanese nationals have been arrested in connection with the attempt on Monday to smuggle a large quantity of Captagon pills to a Gulf state via the Beirut Port, the Directorate General of Internal Security Forces announced on Tuesday.

"On August 6, 2013, the Central Anti-Drug Bureau obtained information about an attempt to smuggle a quantity of narcotics from Syria to an Arab country via the Beirut Port through using a giant air-conditioning machine,” the ISF said in a statement.

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U.N. Chemical Experts Arrive in Beirut on Way to Syria

Two senior U.N. officials who will travel to Damascus for talks on the purported use of chemical weapons in Syria's conflict arrived in Beirut on Tuesday, an airport official said.

Swedish scientist "Ake Sellstrom and Angela Kane (the U.N. high representative for disarmament) arrived this afternoon in Beirut from Paris," the official said on condition of anonymity.

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Sousan Rejects Calls for Deserting Army, All Weapons on Domestic Scene amid Pro-Asir Abra Demo

Sidon Mufti Sheikh Salim Sousan condemned on Friday the recent clashes in the southern city, demanding that the state assume its responsibilities in following through with the investigation in the unrest.

He said: “We reject the use of arms on the internal scene in Lebanon regardless of which side they belong to.”

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