By REBECCA COLLARD For decades, Lebanon’s Bekka Valley has hosted a vibrant and sometimes violent hashish industry. Police often clash with the well-armed cannabis growers who use machine guns and rocket-propelled grenades to defend their crops, which bring in billions of dollars every year. But now the Lebanese government is milling a controversial idea: Taking […]
FPM attacks Geagea , accuses him of hindering the cabinet formation
BEIRUT, Lebanon – The Free Patriotic Movement and its leader Gebran Bassil snapped back at Lebanese Forces leader Samir Geagea in a statement Thursday, after he gave a televised interview with local news channel MTV, criticizing the FPM for hindering the government formation process. “Personal and collective political suicide is when a person harms himself, his brother and […]
Aoun Asserts to US Lebanon’s Commitment to Implement UN Resolution 1701
US Assistant Secretary of Defense for International Security Robert Story Karem expressed his country’s concern over Iran’s role in the region, a source following up on the official’s visit to Lebanon told Asharq Al-Awsat. The source said Karem discussed the issue with President Michel Aoun during their meeting at the presidential palace on Thursday. They […]
Syria Ties Further Complicate Lebanon’s Cabinet Formation Process
The Lebanese government formation crisis has grown after demands by some parties for bigger shares – seen as the main obstacle – were topped by calls for an agreement on the normalization of relations with Syria as part of the cabinet’s policy statement. Sources informed of President Michel Aoun’s stances expressed surprise at the attempts […]
FPM chief says it is up to the bloc members to cast a blanc ballot or vote for Berri’s relection
Free Patriotic Movement chief MP Gebran Bassil announced Tuesday after the bloc’s weekly meeting that it is up to the bloc members to cast a blanc ballot or vote for Speaker Nabih Berri’s reelection during Wednesday’s election session of the news speaker . “We have decided to allow the members of our parliamentary bloc to […]
PM Hariri trying to resolve Aoun, Berri crisis
Lebanese Prime Minister Saad Hariri is reportedly planning to visit Ain el Tinah prior to this week’s cabinet session to seek a solution to the crisis between Speaker Nabih Berri and president and President Michel Aoun , according to media reports. The dispute between Berri and Aoun broke out after the president and the premier signed a decree […]
Lebanese foreign minister blasted over Israel comments
Lebanese politicians on Thursday criticized Foreign Minister Gebran Bassil over a television interview in which he was shown saying that Lebanon did not have an ideological problem with Israel and was not against it having security. The comments, made to al-Mayadin television channel during a long interview on Tuesday, had just started attracting attention. Lebanon […]
How Saudi effort to orchestrate Hariri’s fall failed and backfired
Lebanon’s prime minister, Saad Hariri, was summoned at 8:30 a.m. to the Saudi royal offices — unseemly early, by the kingdom’s standards — on the second day of a visit that was already far from what he had expected. Mr. Hariri, long an ally of the Saudis, dressed that morning in jeans and a T-shirt, […]
Israel violated UNSC resolution and Lebanese border 11,000 times, says Aoun
Lebanese President Michel Aoun said Monday that the Israeli regime has so far violated the UN Security Council resolution 1701 and the Lebanese border 11,000 times. Aoun made the remarks in a statement released after he met with Acting UN Special Coordinator for Lebanon Pernille Dahler Kardel. “Beirut, as a response to this, is only […]
Hezbollah smuggled tons of cocaine Into the U.S. during Obama admin , report
hezbollah flags The Islamist militant group Hezbollah exploded into a major cocaine trafficker for the United States over the past decade—and it happened under former President Barack Obama’s watch to help score a nuclear deal with Iran, a report revealed Monday. Project Cassandra, a campaign launched by the Drug Enforcement Administration in 2008, found that the […]