Al-Mustaqbal movement and Hizbullah stressed Tuesday during their fifth dialogue session their rejection of gunfire “on all occasions” and “under any excuse,” four days after a fiery speech by Hizbullah's secretary-general was marred by heavy celebratory gunfire that sparked panic among the citizens of Beirut and its suburbs.
“The conferees underlined their rejection of gunfire on all occasions, in all Lebanese regions and under any excuse,” said the two parties in a joint statement issued after the talks in Ain al-Tineh.
Full StoryThe Kataeb Party on Monday called for ending all acts that “entangle Lebanon” in battles that “exceed its capacity,” describing it as “the weakest link” in the strife-torn region.
In a statement issued after the weekly meeting of its political bureau, the party expressed “grave concern over the course of events in which Lebanon has been implicated due to the ongoing war in Syria and its local repercussions.”
Full StoryNigeria's Supreme Court on Friday quashed the conviction of a Lebanese national who had been sentenced to life in prison for conspiring to import weapons, purportedly on behalf of Hizbullah.
The five judges of the country's top court unanimously ruled that prosecutors made a crucial technical error and should have tried Talal Ahmad Roda in the northern city of Kano, where he was arrested, rather than the capital Abuja.
Full StoryJustice Minister Ashraf Rifi on Friday asked the public prosecution to seek the arrest and penalization of those who opened fire in celebration of a much-anticipated speech by Hizbullah chief Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah.
The celebratory gunshots and rocket-propelled grenades sparked panic and damaged cars and the facades of some buildings in the capital Beirut and its suburbs.
Full StorySpain and Israel have agreed to carry out a joint investigation on the death of a Spanish U.N. peacekeeper who was killed in Lebanon during Israeli shelling near the border, Madrid said on Friday.
The soldier was killed on Wednesday when the Israeli military shelled border areas in southern Lebanon following a Hizbullah attack that left two Israeli soldiers dead, Spanish authorities said.
Full StoryThe Foreign Ministry on Friday submitted a complaint against Israel to the U.N. Security Council over its violation of Resolution 1701 through the retaliatory shelling that followed Hizbullah's operation in the occupied Shebaa Farms.
The complaint was filed through Lebanon's envoy to the U.N. Nawwaf Salam.
Full StoryHizbullah chief Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah declared on Friday that the party no longer recognizes the rules of engagement with Israel, saying that it has the right to respond to an Israeli attack in any way or time it deems fit.
He said: “The resistance no longer recognizes the rules of engagement and it has the right to respond to the enemy at any time or place.”
Full StoryChairman of Iranian Parliament's National Security and Foreign Policy Committee Alaeddin Boroujerdi arrived in Lebanon on Thursday a day after Hizbullah launched an attack against an Israeli convoy in the occupied Shebaa Farms that left two Israeli troops dead.
He expressed upon his arrival in Beirut his congratulations to Hizbullah on its operation, which was in retaliation to an Israeli airstrike on January 18 on Syria's Quneitra region that left six party members and an Iranian general dead.
Full StoryThe United States on Wednesday condemned Hizbullah's deadly operation in the Israeli-occupied Shebaa Farms as an "act of violence," urging all parties to refrain from actions that could escalate the situation, as France requested an urgent meeting of the U.N. Security Council.
U.S. State Department spokesperson Jen Psaki said that Washington did not want "an escalation of the situation."
Full StoryThe Mustaqbal parliamentary bloc stressed on Wednesday that the government alone is responsible for issues of war and peace, adding that the Shebaa operation earlier during the day should remind all Lebanese factions of the importance of preserving stability and security.
It said in a statement after its weekly meeting: “No side has the right to usurp the will of the Lebanese people and replace the constitutional authority of the state that is tasked with making national decisions.”
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