ready to be launched against Israel at 10 PM on Christmas day
Marada party leader former minister Suleiman Franjiyeh went to Bkirki yesterday and met with Maronite Patriarch Nasrallah Boutros Sfeir in the presence of Lebanese president Michel Suleiman. It was a reconciliation meeting which the president has arranged. It was hailed as a constrictive development and described by Joseph Tarabey the Maronite League chief who accompanied Franjiyeh to Bkirki as a "meeting between father and son."
Yesterday afternoon something destructive was discovered. The Lebanese Army found and defused eight Katyusha rockets deployed in the southern Naqoura region prior to launching towards Israel. They were set to be launched between 10:00 and 10:30 PM. The Lebanese army and the UNIFIL forces immediately surrounded the area and were looking for people involved with these rockets.
Speaking to LBC on Friday, March 14 General Coordinator Fares Soueid said that it seemed as if there was a convergence of interests from many factions to undermine UNSCR 1701, as “Israel kidnaps citizens and some parties in Lebanon continue violating UNSCR 1701 by trying to launch rockets from the South.”
“Discovering the rockets is dangerous and it demands the cabinet and the president attentively reveal to both the Arab and international public what is happening" he added.
He said that the rockets could be intended to send a message to Israel:" Hezbollah may be sending a message that it is not pleased with the negotiations between Israel and Syria and that Iran too disapproves these negotiations "
Talking about Syria...something good also happened yesterday...the Syrian flag was raised on the first ever Syrian embassy in Beirut
Friday
23:02 Future TV: Lebanese and Syrians clash in the Iskandarani district of Sidon . Six were wounded from gunfire including a Lebanese army soldier
22:51 MP Houri told Future TV: Raising the Syrian flag over the Syrian embassy is the first ever recognition of Lebanese independence by the Syrians
22:39 MP Zahra told Future TV: Assad's talk about Hezbollah confirms toall those betting on a Hezbollah mini state that they were betting on the wrong person
Coverage
22:15 : Tourism Minister Elie Maroni told Future TV: The global financial crisis is beginning to hit us. We have news that some Lebanese citizens employed in the Arabian gulf would begin to return to Lebanon within two months and will have to help. He added: " We need to make security our first priority , otherwise none of the tourists will remain here ."
20:20 MP Boutros Harb: I am for a consensus agreement on the appointment of the remaining members of the constitutional council . If the ministers disagree and the cabinet decides against a vote then we will be faced with a problem
19:30 : The Syrian embassy will not be inaugurated today nor Monday. The Lebanese Ministry of Foreign affairs will issue a statement in this regard when the embassy will be ready for official opening
19:00 Shawki el Shammat, First Secretary of the Syrian embassy visited composer Mansour el Rahbani who is being treated at the Hotel Dieu Hospital to relay the greetings of Syrian president Bashar el Assad . Shammatt told reporters that the visit reflects Assad's love for the Lebanese people and his appreciation of art and artists
15:30 $100 million was transferred from the income of the ministry of communication to the treasury
14:55 Aridi : There is electoral Tar and we hope the upcoming elections will not be tar too
14:42 Informed sources: The owner of the orchard in which the 8 rockets was discovered was the one who first found them and informed the army about them . The army then informed the UNIFIL and together they dismantled them
14:40 pm Higher Relief Committee: There are no postdated Kuwaiti checks and aid is being paid promptly
12:35 Sfeir questions criticism of his Christmas letter particularly his description of the cabinet as a carriage pulled by two horses in opposite directions. He said that a nation in which citizens do not cooperate would have a dark future.
11:45 March 14 General Secretariat Coordinator Fares Soeid told LBC: "There is an intersection of interests among various sides to bring down Resolution 1701... the discovery of Katyushas in south Lebanon is dangerous ." He called for government condemnation
11:30 Hezbollah official Ghaleb Abou Zainab told ANB: The meeting held between Marada chief Franjiyeh and Patriarch Sfeir is a positive sign and brings things back to normal.
10:00 MP Salim Salhab told Future TV: FPM leader Michel Aoun will visit Bkirki to congratulate Patriarch Nasrallah Sfeir on the occasion of Christmas and there is no need for interference.
9:00 MP Antoine Zahra told VOL: A meeting between Lebanese Forces leader Samir Geagea and Marada leader Suleiman Franjyieh should have been held. But Franjiyeh backed down and no progress was made in inter-Christian reconciliation. Franjieh’s visit to Bkirki did not live up to expectations
8:15a Minister Wael Abou Faour told VOL: There are no practical steps for the moment to hold a meeting between HezbOllah and the Progressive Socialist Party. No indication when Constitutional Council membership issue will be resolved
Thursday
20:40 Hashem Safi Eddine the head of the executive committee of Hezbollah: "The person responsible for compensating the people whose homes were damaged during the war should provide clear answers . We need to know how the compensation will be paid . " Hashem according to Lebanese observer Ahmad Yasseen "should ask Hassan Nasrallah , since he is the one who should be responsible because he promised to pay with Iranian money immediately after the war between Hezbollah and Israel started). According to Yasseen , Nasrallah also declared during a speech on January 22, 2007 that the estimated cost of the damages resulting from the war is 3 to 4 billion US Dollars and that he is personally ready to accept the responsibility for securing the funds and "if I fail to do so take me to Jail " Nasrallah said
20:25 Some residents of the Dahiyah (a Hezbollah stronghold that was destroyed during the war with Israel in 2006) are claiming that they have not received as of yet the first payment for the rebuilding their home . Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah assured the Lebanese immediately after the war started that Iran will rebuild all the destroyed homes ( with Halal money) , but since the money from Iran never came Hezbollah now wants the Lebanese government to pay for the damages
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19:58 The Syrian flag was raised for the first time at the Syrian embassy in Hamra. Hezbollah's Al-Manar TV showed footage of Syrian workers raising the Syrian flag above the Syrian embassy in Beirut after putting the final touches on the building. Tomorrow ( Friday) will be inauguration day of the embassy.
19:51 Patriarch Sfeir is meeting Lebanese defense minister Elias el Murr and has received Christmas congratulation calls from PM Siniora, former speaker Husseini and the army chief Kahwaji
19:30 Voice of Lebanon: The number of Katyusha rockets that were found and defused by the army is eight and were set to be launched between 10:00 and 10:30 PM. The army and the UNIFIL forces are surrounding the area and looking for people involved with these rockets
17:30 Christmas masses and Celebrations are taking place throughout Lebanon and the priests are calling for love, reconciliation and coexistence
17:25 Israeli military court sentenced Ahmad al Saadat , Secretary General of the Popular Front for the liberation of Palestine for 30 years in jail . Saadat was arrested in Mid March 2006 and accused of plotting to assassinate Israeli minister of Tourism Rahbaham Zaaify
17:20 PLO Rep Abbas Zaki: Every minute there is a positive development taking place with regards to the stability of Ain el Helweh Palestinian refugee camp
16:37 MP Huballah is for holding the elections on time and stated that it is not in anybody's interest to delay the elections
16:00 Future TV: The army is trying to defuse seven Katyusha rockets that were found in Nakoura in south Lebanon and pointed towards Israel
Top and front photo: A Lebanese soldier inspects one of eight rockets found in a field in Naqoura village, near the port-city of Tyre, December 25, 2008. Lebanese troops on Thursday found and dismantled eight rockets set up for launch at northern Israel, Lebanese security sources said. The Katyusha rockets were found near a village just north of the border with Israel, Lebanese security sources said.
