Special Tribunal for Lebanon spokesman Martin Youssef said Lebanon is compelled by U.N. Security Council resolution 1757 to arrest the four suspects in ex-Premier Rafik Hariri’s murder and transfer them to The Hague.
Youssef told An Nahar daily published Wednesday that Tribunal President Judge Antonio Cassese will take his decision in the next few days on whether Lebanon has done enough in its search for the four suspects against whom the STL had issued arrest warrants.
Full StoryInformed sources have denied that Syria has sent to Lebanon for the second time arrest warrants against 33 Lebanese personalities in the lawsuit filed by former head of Lebanon’s General Security Department Maj. Gen. Jamil Sayyed.
The sources told al-Mustaqbal daily published Tuesday that Syria only sent a detailed document on the identities of the 33 figures. They include judges, security officers, politicians, journalists and other Lebanese, Arab and foreign officials and individuals.
Full StoryThe Special Tribunal for Lebanon probing the assassination of ex-Premier Rafik Hariri will take new procedures before the end of August, al-Liwaa newspaper reported on Friday.
STL’s Prosecutor Daniel Bellemare obtained new information on the case, the daily said.
Full StoryLoyalty to the Resistance bloc MP Ali Ammar stressed on Tuesday that the Americans and Israelis are Lebanon’s only enemies, reassuring the March 14 camp that they are not considered as enemies of the March 8 camp.
He said during the parliament session aimed at discussing the cabinet’s policy statement: “The American enemy created strife in Lebanon and the Arab world.”
Full StoryMarch 14 MP Marwan Hamadeh demanded on Tuesday Prime Minister Najib Miqati to amend the clause on the Special Tribunal for Lebanon in the government policy statement and return to the national charter and the Doha Accord.
He said during the parliament session aimed at discussing the government’s policy statement: “The term of ‘in principle’ should be dropped from the statement because it means that the truth will be abandoned.”
Full StoryThe leadership of the March 14-led opposition is planning to hold a large-scale meeting in which former Premier Saad Hariri, who is currently in Paris, would take part ahead of the parliamentary vote of confidence session, al-Liwaa daily reported Thursday.
The newspaper said the meeting would be similar to the Bristol 2 conference and would be aimed at agreeing on the major steps that the opposition would take to confront Premier Najib Miqati’s cabinet in the parliament.
Full StoryMeetings held between top March 14 officials and former Premier Saad Hariri in Paris were aimed at finding ways to confront the new cabinet “after the constitutional coup entered its second stage,” said a high-ranking official in the coalition on Tuesday.
The March 14 forces had said that the collapse of Hariri’s cabinet in January was the result of a coup staged by Hizbullah and its allies. In remarks to al-Liwaa newspaper, the official considered the formation of Prime Minister Najib Miqati’s government as the second stage of the coup.
Full StorySeveral opposition officials have traveled to Paris to discuss with former Premier Saad Hariri the approach that the March 14 forces would take after the formation of PM Najib Miqati’s cabinet.
An Nahar daily said that among the March 14 politicians who went to France are Phalange party leader Amin Gemayel, MP Marwan Hamadeh and former lawmakers Fares Soaid, Samir Franjieh and Bassem al-Sabaa.
Full StoryDeputy Speaker Farid Makari and some members of the Parliament Bureau Committee, MP Ahmed Fatfat, Marwan Hamadeh, Antoine Zahra, and Serge Toursakissian condemned on Thursday Speaker Nabih Berri’s decision to hold a parliament session on June 8, labeling it as “a blow to democratic parliamentary practices in Lebanon.”
They said in a statement: “His decision violates the privileges of the committee and parliament’s internal system in that he devised next week’s schedule by himself.”
Full StorySpeaker Nabih Berri headed on Wednesday a meeting for the Parliament Bureau Committee, after which the schedule for next week’s June 8 parliamentary session was distributed.
Official sources from the meeting stated that the schedule includes draft laws and proposed projects to be addressed by the MPs.
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