and whether his office should be at the Grand Serail near the Prime minister or in an adjacent building .
General Aoun feels he was cheated when he accepted the position of Deputy PM for his closest aide Issam Abu Jamra. He expected this position to be the next best position after the premier post, but it turned out that this position has absolutely no constitutional authority and hence Abu Jamra cannot keep an eye on Siniora, as Aoun intended for him to do .
Saturday
20:52 A huge picture of former President Bashir Gemayel was hanged in Sassin Square in the presence of Nadim Gemayel marking the occasion of the twenty-sixth anniversary of his election as President of the Republic
20:23 MP Robert Ghanem told LBC: we should not rush in deciding on the size of electoral districts in the new electoral law before the completion of reforms being researched by the Committee of Administration and Justice
19:41 Family dispute between members of Saleh family and Saif Eddine family developed into an armed clash. The army intervened and is pursuing those that were armed
19:22 MP Hussein Hajj Hassan : The Lebanese are in no need of an overheated situation but prefer to calm down the ambience in order to deal with the economic and social problems that are overburdening them
19:11 Minister Murr: The army has many qualified people and during the next cabinet meeting we will propose the name of the new army chief
16:40 UNIFIL: Israel did not enter Meis al-Jabal: contrary to what was reported in Lebanese newspapers UNIFIL did not register any Israeli
violation of the Blue Line in Meis al-Jabal Southern village, UNIFIL deputy spokesperson Andrea Tenenti said.
Concerning a meeting between General Graziano and Israeli Defense Minister, Tenenti said, “This is something to be agreed upon by the two sides, within the framework of UNSCR 1701, whenever necessary.”
14:41 Future Movement MP Mustafa Allouch said that his statement about the conditions in Tripoli was misunderstood, and confirmed that he did not mean to insult the army.
14:45 Mustaqbal MP Ammar Houri: We will not accept Punishment while others go untouched.
14:40 PM Fouad Siniora signed a decree that states the formation of a ministerial committee to establsh development and social projects in the North, Baalbek, Hirmel, and Jbeil.
14:36 MP Samir Jisr reports Maronite Patriarch Nasrallah Sfeir’s desire to have an independent army commander who is at a distance from all political parties
12:00 Lebanese army command responds to Mustaqbal MP Mustafa Alloush: The military was not and will never ever take sides in any internal conflict.
11:30 State Minister Nassib Lahoud headed to the United States where he would take part in a Democratic Party convention.
09:50 As Safir was told by speaker Berri: The new electoral law will pave the way for new alliances. With the adoption of the new electoral law the Doha settlement would be fully implemented. Berri confirmed that divisions inside the cabinet would paralyze it . Berri criticized all those who said that national unity cabinet was impossible. He said that Lebanon experienced the national unity cabinet in the past, during the presidency of Amin Gemayel, where unity cabinet was headed by assassinated former PM Rachid Karami.
09:45 Salloukh departed this morning to Equatorial Guinea
09:33 Al Anbaa: the front running candidates for army chief position are : Intelligence chief General George Khoury , and Generals George Massaad, Charles Chikhani, Jean Qahwaji, Antoine Kareem, Sherbil Baraq and Maroon Khoraish
09:20 Abu Jamra: It is a shame that the request to have an office at the grand Serail for the deputy PM is considered to have election champagne goals
09:12 Al Rai al AAM : the vetoes against the front running candidates for the army chief position could result in eliminating them all and replacing them by a consensus candidate
09:05 Al Ahdab told Free Lebanon: The biggest mistake is to go for the elections without resolving the issue of the ( Hezbollah) arms and other illegal arms
08:42 Minister Shatah told "Voice of Lebanon": There is a concentrated attempt to target Premier Siniora to prevent him from performing his role as head of the government and its official spokesperson, but these attempts will fail and will be costly to the Government and Lebanon as a whole because the country is no longer willing to accept such behavior
08:18 Al Jisr told al Sharq al Awasat: "Hezbollah" is attempting encroachment on the city of Tripoli
08:03 "Al Hayat": If things continue as they are with regards to disagreement over the appointment of an army chief then our sources say the president may make this decision on his own
08:00 "Al Hayat": Those concerned about the appointment of army chief are not giving up and will reactivate consultations as soon as Hariri returns to Beirut
7:30 Al Liwaa: An Israeli force made up of 8 soldiers made a brief penetration overnight into Mais al-Jabal before pulling out.
7:15 Five people were wounded in an overnight clash in Beirut’s Tarik al Jadeedeh neighborhood.
07:02 al Akhbar : Jumblatt has heard from Hariri that he is opposed to the nomination of Khoury as army chief because of certain issues that took place in the past , but Jumblatt stressed the positive role of Khoury in preventing a security and military explosion in the country
06:24 Minister Gibran Basil told "Al-Nahar:" We do not want anyone to affect our spiritual relationship with our Christians leaders but as ministers we want to exercise our role and will not give it to anyone. It is natural that Patriarch Sfeir should not be represented in the government nor the army
05:54 "An-Nahar sources:" Kouchner's visit to Lebanon is aimed at expressing the readiness of Paris and the European Union to keep up an eye on the upcoming Lebanese elections
05:54 Nawaf Salam conveyed a message to the Secretary General of the UN in which Lebanon is protesting against the threats made by Israeli PM Olmert and other Israeli officials against Lebanon and asked that this matter be given paramount importance
05:32 French diplomatic sources: Kouchner's visit to Damascus is to extend a hand but with wide open eyes and he will be advising the Syrian officials to keep a distance from the American- Russian tension line
05:17 Majority parliamentary sources told "Al-Nahar:" There are questions about the feasibility of adoption of electoral law in installments instead of waiting two or three weeks until the completion of the work of the administration and justice committee of parliamentary
05:08 French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner will arrive Sunday evening at Beirut airport
05:05 "An-Nahar": A U.S. envoy , David Hale who is responsible for the Lebanese file at the US State department will arrive next Tuesday will. His trip will highlight the increasing American interest in the Lebanese affairs
Friday
23:54 LBC: Gunfire between the army and youngsters in Tariq el Jadeedeh in western Beirut due to dispute . No casualties reported
23:48 Five wounded as a result of a dispute between the residents of Dana and the army
23:24 The media office of the Prime Minister : Law no. 111/59 issued in 1959 authorizes the minister or the prime minister the delegation of some of their administrative responsibilities to their employees
21:13 Minister of public works Ghazi Aridi: Betting on this government will largely depend on its ability to gain the confidence of the Lebanese citizens
20:22 PM Siniora asent a letter to UN chief Ban Ki Moon to protest against Israeli war threats and asked him to share the Lebanese
Tags: Government
