Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki.
The Iraqi government is expected to hand the freed Iranians to the Iranian embassy in Baghdad.
In about 1 year the US will be out of Iraq
Yesterday The United States denied that it has reached a compromise that would allow Israel to complete construction of settlements that has already begun. The purported deal reported by the Israeli newspaper Ma'ariv said Israel could finish the 700 buildings containing some 2,500 settlement apartments.
The ongoing reconciliation talks between Saudi Arabia and Syria are reportedly progressing very well and have reflected positively on the internal situation in Lebanon
Prime Minister designate MP Saad Hariri has reportedly said: Sooner or later I will meet Syrian President Bashar al-Assad
The outspoken progressive socialist party leader MP walid Jumblatt said yesterday: Time to open a new page with Syria
The fathers of Jumblatt and Hariri were both assassinated and in both cases fingers were pointed at Syria for being behind their murders.
At Ya Libnan we would like to be optimistic and we think the region may witness some positive changes ...We are also realistic and we know that signals can also change directions.
We are counting on US president Barack Obama to lead in making these changes, and we wish him success
Friday
09:30pm Mild earthquake shakes South Lebanon, felt in Sour and Arqoub regions
09:15pm Al-Arabiya: Iranian authorities detain American researcher of Iranian origin
07:00pm UN chief Ban Ki-moon had appointed David Tolbert, 53 a seasoned US prosecutor as registrar for the Special Tribunal for Lebanon effective August 26, to try the suspected killers of Lebanese ex-prime minister Rafiq Hariri, the tribunal announced Friday.
6:45pm French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner met Speaker Nabih Berri.
6:40 pm After meeting speaker Berri and a Hezbollah member Kouchner said : “This is Lebanon,” ... “It is a model and a laboratory, and it plays an important role in the region. It has to advance toward democracy and not toward a dead end.”
06:06pm Army chief Kahwaji: the army is always prepared to address the threats of Israeli enemy and its spies wherever they are
06:00 pm BBC: G8 leaders are "seriously concerned" about the "appalling events" after Iran's elections, US President Barack Obama said as the summit closed. He added" the global leaders were "deeply troubled" by Iran's nuclear program. Iran denies claims it is trying to build a nuclear bomb.
05:55 pm BBC French President Nicolas Sarkozy warned Thursday that a unilateral Israeli military strike on Iran's nuclear facilities would be an "absolute catastrophe".
05:54pm Two youths suspected of deliberately starting the fires in Akkar were arrested
5:45pm Gen. Jean Qahwaji met a British delegation headed by MP Andy Love. Talks covered the general situation in Lebanon.
05:40 pm CNN: A massive fire engulfed the four-story offices of a major film company in central London on Friday, sending clouds of white smoke over the city skyline, the London fire department said.
05:20 pm Dow Jones: Leaders from the Group of Eight leading economies Friday pledged $20 billion over three years to finance agriculture projects in poor countries and help fight hunger and food price volatility.
04:36pm Army: one Frenchman ( Mathieu Fever) was beaten in the Sami Solh street for refusing to facilitate the passage of a military vehicles that was carrying a dangerous detainee
O4:00 pm The new building for the McDonough School of Business of Georgetown University has been named after former slain Lebanese Prime Minister . it will be called Rafik B. Hariri Building. A $20 million naming gift through the Hariri Foundation was made possible by PM designate Saad Hariri
03:59pm FPM's MP Kanaan in response to former President Gemayel's statement : characterization of the proportional representation in the government as a novelty , is a novelty and contradicts the constitutional and administrative reality in Lebanon. Kanaan did not specify where in the constitution the minority is entitled to proportional representation in the government
03:45pm Obama at the end of Eight summit: we have made a good offer to Iran and we expect a positive response
03:34 Shams al-Din: to unite so that our concept of partnership in which the participation of the Government to produce accurate work in which all
03:25 to set the dates for registration in the Lebanese University, the university next year's details
03:00 pm PM-designate Saad Hariri said only unity will allow him to govern because veto power in the cabinet means continuation of divisions among Lebanese.
2:15pm President Suleiman granted amnesty to Palestinian prisoner Youssef Shaaban, who has been in prison since 1994 on charges of murdering a Jordanian diplomat whose true assailants were later apprehended in Jordan.
2:00pm Kouchner after meeting Hariri: There are still problems between Lebanon and Syria, but they have to solve them and France would be glad to help if asked for mediation. I don’t think that the Syrians have to facilitate formation of a cabinet. This is an internal mission that Hariri has to carry out
1:01pm MP Riad Rahhal told OTV: A key Mustaqbal Movement demand is formation of a free-of-obstruction government. Rahhal, however, accused the Opposition of making “unfeasible demands.”
1:00pm Kouchner left the Grand Serail without making any statement and headed to Qureitem for talks with PM-designate Saad Hariri.
12:30pm Kouchner is meeting with caretaker PM Fouad Siniora.
12:11pm The health ministry announced that swine flu case rose to 60 in Lebanon. It said 42 people carrying the virus came from Australia, the U.S. and Canada while 12 locals got infected from visitors to Lebanon.
11:24 Kouchner: I don’t believe that Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu’s threats are serious and I am not worried at this moment. President Sarkozy was clear with Netanyahu with our demand for a Palestinian state.
11:15 Kouchner: There are issues that are moving and making progress in the region, except for the Palestinian-Israeli track. France has a role to play and we have great hope in making progress in the Middle East peace process.
11:13 Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner following his meeting with President Suleiman: France will never interfere in the formation of the Lebanese government. Don’t accuse Lebanon’s friends of not doing anything when things are going well.
10:00 Security forces thwarted an attempt to steal a car by chasing the thieves on a road that leads to the Bekaa from Akoura. Abbas Hassan Saifeddine was killed and Ali Hassan Allaw was injured during the chase. While the third thief escaped.
10:00 Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak is blaming Israel for the failure of the talks aimed at securing the release of Israeli Defense Forces soldier Gilad Shalit, who was abducted by Hamas in 2006.
8:40 Minister Ibrahim Najjar told VOL: We should be optimistic despite some obstacles. Hariri is getting fully ready to announce formation of the cabinet as soon as there is regional agreement.
8:30 MP Simon Abi Ramia told VOL: PM-designate Saad Hariri didn’t inform us about his rejection of proportional representation. The issue could be negotiated as long as no one said anything negative about our proposal.
07: 25 Habib told "Voice of Lebanon": The Lebanese Forces will be represented by 2 ministers in the government. There has not been any discussion over which ministries
7:20 Jumblat: PM-designate Saad Hariri has agreed to visit Syria after the cabinet formation. I will deal with my issue with the Syrians in my own way after Hariri’s visit to Damascus.
07:20 Jumblatt told the "Voice of Lebanon": Time to open a new page with Syria
6:00 Hassan Yacoub: The election contest file submitted by our bloc to the Constitutional Council contains irregularities that are unprecedented in the history of the Republic of Lebanon. Over 15918 voters added to the voter registration listing
05:55 Hariri: sooner or later I will meet Syrian President Bashar al-Assad
05:39 Hariri: I am the Prime Minister of all Lebanon and all Lebanese, and if my father sacrificed his life for the sake of Lebanon for Lebanon, I can also make sacrifices for my country
05:37 "An-Nahar:" Berri will resume the "Wednesday parliament meetings " starting next Wednesday
05:30 The son of a UN security officer was attacked in Badaro area in Beirut
05:29 Hariri: For me, participation does not necessarily mean that the opposition in Lebanon will be allocated the obstructive third
Thursday
10:22 OTV : Damascus frees Helmi Moussa, a Palestinian journalist working for As-Safir newspaper. He was arrested earlier today
10:10 pm Palestinain News Agency : Helmi Moussa was arrested by the Syrian police , because he was suspected of dealing with one of the Lebanese accused of spying for Israel.
08: 10 pm Hariri sources: The visit of the prime minister designate to Syria is not currently on the agenda
07:33 Hussein Khalil told al Manar: the Nasrallah-Hariri put the dialogue on the right track and more such meetings will follow
07:30pm Al Manar: president Suleiman advised minister Fneish his rejection of the media reports claiming his share are the delaying factor in forming the government
07:26pm Kouchner arrives in Beirut, says he will meet all leaders and Hezbollah representatives during his visit
04:30 pm Iranian police fired tear-gas on Thursday as hundreds of demonstrators defied warnings staged a march to commemorate the anniversary of bloody student unrest in 1999, witnesses said.
03:10pm The US government denied on Wednesday that it agreed to allow Israel to build about 2,500 housing units already under construction in settlements in the West Bank. "The report circulated in Israeli media is inaccurate," State Department spokesperson Ian Kelly said
03:02pm Syrian security services arrested Helmi Moussa, a Palestinian journalist working for As-Safir newspaper, on Sunday during a political conference he was attending in Syria, according to a statement by SKEYES, Samir Kassir foundation for the defense of media and cultural freedoms in the Arab world.
