Prime Minister Tammam Salam on Monday stressed that the government will not bow to “the blackmail of terrorism,” after the abductors of the Lebanese servicemen threatened to murder seven of them.
“Terrorism is trying to impose its conditions on us and there is suffering, but we have to mend the wounds of the families” of the hostages, Salam said at a reception organized by the Lebanese community in Dubai, where he arrived earlier in the day for a two-day official visit.
Full StoryA spat over Qatar's alleged support for the Muslim Brotherhood that alienated other nations in the six-country Gulf Cooperation Council appears to have been resolved because of major regional challenges.
Possible concessions by Doha may also have paved the way in overcoming the unprecedented dispute.
Full StoryGulf leaders agreed Sunday to return Saudi, Emirati, and Bahraini envoys to Qatar, ending eight months of tense relations with the gas-rich state over its support for the Muslim Brotherhood.
Earlier, leaders including the emirs of Kuwait and Qatar, the king of Bahrain and the UAE vice president arrived in Saudi Arabia for a previously unannounced summit aimed at resolving their differences.
Full StoryTwo car bombs struck near the shuttered Egyptian and United Arab Emirates embassies in Libya's militia-controlled capital within minutes of each other Thursday, an AFP correspondent and a UAE official said.
Two guards posted outside the empty Egyptian embassy compound were wounded in the first blast, Libya's LANA news agency reported.
Full StoryArab leaders in the Gulf could hold a special meeting to resolve differences within their ranks ahead of a scheduled annual summit in Qatar next month, newspapers said Wednesday.
According to Kuwaiti daily Al-Anbaa, consultations are underway to convene an informal meeting of Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) leaders before their December 9-10 summit in Doha.
Full StorySouth Korea's Hyundai Heavy Industries said it had signed Wednesday a $1.94 billion deal to build offshore oil and gas processing platforms in the United Arab Emirates.
Under the deal with Abu Dhabi Marine Operating Co. -- a subsidiary of the Abu Dhabi National Oil Co.-- the world's top shipbuilder will build four giant platforms and underwater power cables as part of a new offshore oil and gas production complex.
Full StoryPrime Minister Tammam Salam is expected to travel to the United Arab Emirates on Monday to continue a tour he kicked off recently to Saudi Arabia and other Gulf countries.
A ministerial source described in comments published in al-Liwaa newspaper on Tuesday the ties between Lebanon and UAE as “strong.”
Full StoryGulf monarchies have indefinitely postponed a ministerial meeting ahead of their annual summit, an official said Monday, amid a simmering dispute over Islamists between Qatar and three other members.
The Gulf Cooperation Council foreign ministers had been scheduled to meet in Doha on Monday, but the talks were postponed without any new date set, a Gulf official told AFP, requesting anonymity.
Full StoryThe head of Libya's self-declared government, Omar al-Hassi, has called in an interview with Agence France Presse for new elections to pull the violence-wracked nation back from chaos.
Three years after veteran dictator Moammar Gadhafi was toppled and killed in a NATO-backed uprising, the oil-rich North African country has two rival governments and a host of armed militias sparring for influence.
Full StoryThe Qatari envoy who is in the outskirts of Arsal to negotiate in the case of kidnapped soldiers by extremist groups since last August, received on Friday the list of demands of the abductees.
According to LBCI: “The Qatari envoy, who is in the outskirts of Arsal, received the list of demands of the soldiers' kidnappers.”
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