Free Patriotic Movement head Jebran Bassil has said he hasn't discussed the presidential elections with Marada Movement leader Suleiman Franjieh on a Friday meeting hosted by Hizbullah chief Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah.
Bassil said Sunday night, in a TV interview, that he welcomed Nasrallah's invitation and that he has nothing against Franjieh personally.
Full StoryMarada Movement chief Suleiman Franjieh has noted that his meeting with Free Patriotic Movement chief Jebran Bassil at an iftar banquet hosted by Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah “came within its natural course and regardless of any electoral alliance.”
“We wanted it to be public, because we endorse transparency and clarity with you. We talked about opening a new page and the possibility of holding coordinative meetings,” Franjieh told supporters.
Full StorySaudi Ambassador to Lebanon Walid al-Boukhari visited Monday Grand Mufti Sheikh Abdul Latif Daryan at Dar al-Fatwa.
Daryan had announced the visit on Sunday, after having met with al-Boukhari at the Saudi Embassy in Baabda.
Full StoryMaronite Patriarch Beshara al-Rahi on Sunday expressed relief over three developments that took place over the past days – the announcement that Pope Francis will visit Lebanon in June, Lebanon’s tentative deal with the International Monetary Fund, and the return of the Saudi and Kuwaiti ambassadors to Beirut.
“These positive steps coincide with important regional and international developments and we hope the Lebanese state will capitalize on them and employ them exclusively within the national framework,” al-Rahi said in his Palm Sunday sermon.
Full StoryIsraeli warplanes on Saturday carried out an air raid on targets in central Syria from Lebanon’s airspace, Syrian state media said.
Syria’s air defenses managed to shoot down some of the fired missiles, Syrian news agency SANA reported.
Full StoryHizbullah chief Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah held a meeting overnight with Free Patriotic Movement chief Jebran Bassil and Marada Movement leader Suleiman Franjieh, Hizbullah said on Saturday.
A Hizbullah statement said Nasrallah hosted Bassil and Franjieh over a Ramadan Iftar banquet in the presence of a number of senior officials.
Full StoryKuwaiti Ambassador to Lebanon Abdul-Al al-Qinai and Saudi Ambassador Walid al-Boukhari returned Friday to Beirut, five months after a row erupted over the Riyadh-led military intervention in Yemen.
Last October, Riyadh had recalled its ambassador and ordered the Lebanese envoy to leave the kingdom within 48 hours. Three other Gulf states -- the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain and Kuwait -- sided with Saudi Arabia and expelled Lebanese envoys.
Full StoryEconomic and financial experts have reiterated doubts over the willingness of Lebanon's political elite, widely blamed for endemic corruption, to implement the reforms requested by the International Monetary Fund to resuscitate the economy, shortly after Lebanon and the IMF reached a tentative deal.
A former vice governor of Lebanon's central bank, Nasser Saidi, said he had doubts that such reforms would ever materialize.
Full StoryParliament Speaker Nabih Berri on Friday referred a much-awaited capital control draft law to the joint parliamentary committees, which will now study it before referring it to parliament’s general assembly.
Berri’s move comes a day after Lebanon and the International Monetary Fund reached a tentative agreement for comprehensive economic policies that could eventually pave the way for financial aid for the crisis-hit country, after Lebanon implements wide-ranging reforms.
Full StoryHizbullah lauded Friday the "heroic" attack by a Palestinian gunman who shot dead two people and wounded several more in Tel Aviv.
"The attack has shown the weakness and the fragility of the Zionist entity," Hizbullah said in a statement.
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