The short list of candidates for the top position in the army is down to two and one is strongly favored
The president held this position until he was elected as the president of the republic
The other key issues that are being discussed are : Prime Minister Fouad Siniora's visit to Iraq , dialogue talks, the national debt and the economy of the country
Wednesday
23:05 Lebanese Forces Leader Samir Geagea in live interview on Future TV: It is not true that Hezbollah gained open legitimacy in the ministerial statement as some of its MPs claim. PM Fouad Siniora is one of the best PMs in Lebanon’s history at both national and Christian levels
19:47 Lebanese Prime Minister Fouad Siniora returns to Lebanon and describes his quick visit to Iraq as “successful”.
19:14 PM Siniora in press conference with PM Nouri Al-Maliki: Iraq will give Lebanon privileged access to oil
18:51 Belgian navy ship F930 Leopold heads to Lebanon to perform military operations, under the command of UNIFIL and in conjunction with Lebanese security forces, aimed at stopping Syrian and Iranian weapons bound for Hezbollah from entering Lebanon by sea.
18:06 Hezbollah-led opposition leaders meet to discuss the appointment of new army commander , head of intelligence and other security appointments.
18:01 Hamas Representative in Lebanon Osama Hamdan: “everything is now under control at the Ain el Heleh Palestinian refugee camp"
16:15: Hezbollah-led pro-Syrian bloc released the following statement on Lebanese- Syrian relations: Normalizing Lebanese-Syrian relations will pave the way for a new phase of coordination and cooperation between the two countries so that they can work on common interests on the basis of mutual respect and their awareness of the dangers that threaten their stability.
14:01 Berri and Jean Obaid discussed the development in the parliament
13:20 The army command called on the media not to try to politically classify the officers that are candidates to head the
13:00 Berri from Baabda: The issue of strategic defense must be the first topic on the agenda of the dialogue talks . Discussing it will lead to to the issues of the state , economy, defense and army. Berri emphasized that he would not interfere with Prime Minister Fouad Siniora’s work, nor with any ministerial tasks, as he did not want the premier to interfere in parliamentary affairs.
12:30 Army Command: denied what has been said about the separation between Bab al tabbanah and Jebel Mohsin using barbed wire. The command said what happened is a procedure that was used during the inspection of one of the points and upon completion of the procedure the barbed-wire fence was removed
12:16 MP Marwan Hamadeh said the Special Tribunal for Lebanon , was not open for discussion. Responding to General Michel Aoun’s claim that the deputy prime minister should stand in for the premier in the latter’s absence, Hamadeh noted that the Lebanese constitution did not outline the deputy PM’s authorities, saying he believed Aoun’s ultimate aim was the 2009 parliamentary elections.
12:00, President Suleiman is currently meeting speaker Berri at the Baabda Palace
11:20-Rifai told "LBC": The Deputy Prime Minister post is not mentioned in the constitution . The meetings of the cabinet are secret and should not be interrupted by strangers , since this will void all its decisions . The appointment of a deputy PM is a constitutional error and this error should be corrected by re classifying him as a minister of State .
11:25 New TV: Hezbollah Spokesman Hussein Rahhal said on Wednesday that Sheikh Hassan al-Chahhal, the Salafist leader who signed the memorandum of understanding with Hezbollah earlier this week, must have been subjected to pressure to revoke the MOU. Rahhal said his party was ready to follow through with the MOU and was “open to all suggestions.”
10:25 The founder of Salafists in Lebanon, Sheikh Dai al-Islam al-Chahhal, told Future News that the memorandum of understanding with Hezbollah was categorically rejected because “one party overshadowed the other.” He also said Sheikh Hassan al-Chahhal, a Salafist figure and charity leader, signed the memorandum because he was “embarrassed.”
09:40 Sources of al Rai newspaper : The opposition have moved from the streets to the institutions and are adamant at pursuing the policy of
harassment of the majority until the parliamentary elections in 2009
09:20 PM Siniora arrived in Baghdad on board a private plane where he was received by Iraqi PM Nouri al-Maliki at the airport.. He was accompanied by Ministers Salloukh , Mitri and Shamsuddin
09:05 Voice of Lebanon: 4 murdered in Petromin, Qoura province . The crime was initiated by Psychiatrist Dr Jack Huraiki when he shot Ghassan, Shereen and Chantale Ghanem and then committed suicide at his home
9:15 Israeli fighter jets violated the Lebanese airspace when they flew over Tyre and Bin Jbeil.
09:00 Al Qabas sources: Hezbollah wants to postpone the dialogue talks on the defense strategy till after the military and diplomatic situation in the region becomes clearer .
08:30 Michel Moussa told Voice of Lebanon: The issue of the appointments of the army chief and the intelligence chief concerns the president the most and since he is the son of this institution he should have the last word .
08:01 Al Sharq al Awsat: The Kuwaitis join the list of investors in downtown Beirut hotels . So far they have invested $18 billion
07:40 Al Akhbar : President Suleiman has postponed his to the countries in the region until after the end of Ramadan
07:35 The Lebanese security forces arrested Mahmoud al Bahri in Baal Mohsin after searching him and finding out he had a grenade in his possession
07:29 Minister Marouni told Voice of Lebanon: The consultations are ongoing regarding the high level security appointments but the agenda of the cabinet meeting tomorrow does not list this issue. We are calling for filling these position based on qualifications. Expanding the dialogue will jeopardize its results because with more participants, reaching a solution will be harder.
07:14 Al Akhbar : Unofficial reports point to the possibility of announcing the name of the army chief during the cabinet meeting this Thursday and the person who seems to be the most strongly favored is General Jean Kahwaji
07:00 Al Akhbar : President Suleiman was told by president Assad during the summit last week that the only Lebanese official that brought up the issue of the missing Lebanese directly with the Syrian officials is former PM Najib Mikati
06:38 An Nahar : Defense Minister Elias Murr continues with his consultations , which aim at reaching consensus on the new army chief ...the consensus could soon be reached
06:19 "An-Nahar:" Minister Tabourian apologized for not being able to accompany PM Siniora during his visit to Iraq because he is too busy in Beirut" according to rumors
06:17 Government's agenda includes 146 items. The most salient is number 10 which deals with establishing diplomatic relations between Lebanon and Syria," and the second most salient is number 24 which calls for "the restoration and preparation of offices belonging to Ministers of State ( without portfolios "
06:02 Sources of prime minister Siniora told "Al-Nahar:" He will take for talks with Iraqi officials three files: 1- strengthening bilateral relations between the two countries. 2- oil file 3- increasing trade exchange between the two countries
05:51 Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah: Calming things down is in the national interest because it could lead to a serious national dialogue
05:42 Salloukh told "As Safir": Syria remains Lebanon's gateway to the Arab world and our relations with Iraq or Jordan cannot reach their intended potential if the relationship with Syria is not good
05:37 Siniora to Iraq accompanied by a ministerial delegation composed of Foreign Minister Fawzi Salloukh, Information Minister Tareq Metri, financial Minister Mohammed Shatah and Administrative Development minister Ibrahim Shamseddine
05:33 Tabourian refuses to participate in the delegation accompanying the Siniora during his visit to Iraq.
05:32 ministerial sources hinted that the possibility of the appointment of Vice-Governors of the Bank of Lebanon is almost a done deal
05:22 The government distributed to the ministers a supplement to the agenda for the meeting tomorrow, containing the texts of agreements and protocols signed between Lebanon and Syria and asked the relevant ministers to review and prepare comments for submission to the cabinet within a period of 1 month
05:21 Siniora sources: there are exaggerations in addressing the performance of the government reach the extent of inventing things are unfounded
05:13 Deputy PM Abu Jamrah told "As safir ": I refuse to have a marginal position and to keep watching what Siniora is doing without knowing the contents of the documents he is signing nor the types of files that he is discussing
05:10 "As safir ": consensus on the name of the commander of the Army is expected today . The short list contains 2 names and one of these names seems to be strongly favored
Tuesday
21:04 Saudi%
Tags: Assad
