Hezbollah and the Amal Movement are still rejecting Army chief Joseph Aoun's presidential nomination, al-Jadeed TV reported on Wednesday.
Full StoryFrance’s special envoy to Lebanon, Jean-Yves Le Drian, met Wednesday in Beirut with Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri as he visits Lebanon in an attempt to help the parliament elect a president — a position that has been empty for more than two years amid sharp political and sectarian divides.
Lebanon’s parliament is scheduled to meet on Thursday to elect a president. Le Drian will attend the session at the invitation of Berri.
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MPs who took part in meetings with visiting U.S. envoy Amos Hochstein said the latter noted that Army chief Joseph Aoun is trusted by Washington and that cooperation with him has been successful, a media report said.
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The opposition will hold a meeting in Maarab at 7:00 pm to announce support for Army chief Joseph Aoun’s presidential nomination, media reports said on Wednesday, a day prior to a presidential election session called for by Speaker Nabih Berri.
Full StoryThe United Nations joined the Lebanese government to appeal for an additional $371.4 million in humanitarian aid for people displaced by the conflict between Israel and Hezbollah.
The extension builds on an initial aid appeal for $426 million launched in October, as all-out war flared between the two sides and sent hundreds of thousands in Lebanon fleeing their homes.
Full StoryLebanese political heavyweights held talks Wednesday a day ahead of a parliamentary session to elect a president, but even with key player Hezbollah weakened by war, there is no guarantee of consensus.
The tiny Mediterranean country, already deep in economic and political crisis, has been without a president for more than two years amid bitter divisions between Hezbollah and its opponents.
Full StoryThe Lebanese government said it has decided to grant an Emirati request to hand over Egyptian opposition activist Abdul Rahman al-Qaradawi, son of the late spiritual leader of the Muslim Brotherhood.
Qaradawi, also wanted by the Egyptian authorities, was arrested in Lebanon late last month after he crossed the border from Syria, a Lebanese judicial official told AFP at the time.
Full StoryCaretaker prime minister Najib Mikati is to visit Damascus "soon", the information minister said on Tuesday -- the first such visit since Islamist-led rebels seized power in Syria last month.
"There will be a visit to Syria soon, headed by Prime Minister Mikati," Ziad Makari told reporters after a cabinet meeting. Last week, Mikati’s office said he had a phone call with Syria’s de facto leader Ahmed al-Sharaa, who invited him to Damascus.
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U.S. Major General Jasper Jeffers, the Chairman of the Cessation of Hostilities Implementation Mechanism, was joined by French Brigadier General Guillaume Ponchin on a visit to the Lebanese Armed Forces (LAF) 5th Brigade headquarters in southwest Lebanon on Tuesday morning, the U.S. Embassy said.
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The opposition and change MPs will have a “unified plan” in the January 9 presidential election session, MP George Okais announced after a meeting for the opposition and change MPs on Tuesday.
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