April 13th, 20182Is voting for Hezbollah candidates considered material support?
DEARBORN – Some Lebanese Americans who are seeking to vote in Lebanon’s May 6 parliamentary elections for the first time are concerned that casting their ballots will label them as supporters of terrorism and lead to their facing persecution and extra...
March 30th, 20180BRUSSELS/PARIS — France, Britain and Germany are struggling to persuade their E.U. partners to back new sanctions on Iran to preserve its nuclear deal, diplomats said, with Italy doubting whether the measures can stop the United States from pulling out in May.
At a closed-door meeting of E.U. ambassadors in Brussels on Wednesday,...
March 23rd, 20180BEIRUT/DAMASCUS — Syrian rebels withdrew in busloads from a town in eastern Ghouta on Thursday and handed it over to the Syrian army, the first such surrender since one of the fiercest campaigns of the seven-year war began more than a month ago.
The Ahrar al-Sham group's decision to accept the army's terms and abandon the town of...
March 21st, 20180BEIRUT — The leader of Lebanon’s powerful Hezbollah group, Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah, said on Wednesday that the deeply indebted country faced disaster if it continued on the same financial path.
Iran-backed Hezbollah is part of Lebanon’s coalition government and wields extensive influence in Lebanese politics. Nasrallah was...
March 16th, 20180BEIRUT — Lebanon's powerful Hezbollah does not expect its arch foe Israel to launch a war for now in Lebanon but is prepared for one, the deputy leader of the group told Reuters in an interview on Thursday.
As the war in Syria enters its eighth year, Sheikh Naim Qassem also said there was no end in sight to the conflict which would...
March 16th, 20180ROME — Lebanon plans to increase its military presence along its southern border with Israel, Prime Minister Saad al-Hariri said on Thursday at a meeting in Rome, where he is seeking financial support for the armed forces.
Some 40 countries participated in the meeting, along with United Nations Secretary General Antonio...
March 9th, 20180NAQOURA, LEBANON — Lebanon and Israel have been holding talks nearly every day over a border dispute that has raised tensions between the two enemy states, according to the U.N. peacekeeping force on the frontier that is mediating their discussions.
"There is a full engagement from all the sides and there have been meetings almost...
February 16th, 20180BEIRUT — Secretary of State Rex Tillerson warned Lebanon on Thursday that Hezbollah's growing arsenal and involvement in regional conflicts threatened Lebanon's security.
Speaking alongside Lebanese Prime Minister Saad al-Hariri in a Beirut news conference, Tillerson also said the United States was engaging with Lebanon and Israel...
February 13th, 20180DAMASCUS - Israel will face “more surprises” should it again attack Syrian territory, Damascus said on Tuesday, after Syria’s air defenses shot down an advanced Israeli warplane during the fiercest flare-up between the old foes in 36 years.
The F-16 jet was hit over northern Israel on Saturday as it returned from a raid on a...
February 9th, 20180BEIRUT — A U.S. envoy has assured Lebanon that Israel does not seek an escalation between the countries following a surge in hostile rhetoric, Lebanese and Israeli officials said on Thursday.
Lebanon and Israel have exchanged threats and condemnation over a border wall being built by Israel, a tender issued by Beirut for oil and gas...
February 2nd, 20180BEIRUT — President Michel Aoun said on Thursday that Lebanon was using diplomatic means to counter Israel's stance regarding an offshore energy block in disputed territory on their maritime border.
On Wednesday Israel described as "very provocative" Lebanon's first offshore oil and gas exploration tender and said it would be a...
February 2nd, 20180BEIRUT — On Tuesday, President Michel Aoun called for forgiveness and stability in Lebanon after a political row involving his son-in-law triggered street protests and deepened a rift with Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri.
Foreign Minister Gebran Bassil called Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri a "thug" in a closed meeting.
Berri...
February 2nd, 20180In the last decisive moments, Lebanon avoided the edge of a cliff and perhaps saved fragile peaceful coexistence among its people, which for the past few days has been hovering over that fine edge.
A telephone call from President Michel Aoun to Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri was enough to defuse a potential civil war that would have...
January 31st, 20180BEIRUT — The United States pledged continued support for Lebanon’s military on Wednesday, calling it a potential counterweight to Iranian-backed Hezbollah, even as Israel said the two forces were indistinguishable and fair game in any future war.
Such a public difference of opinion between the allies was remarkable enough, but...
January 12th, 20180BEIRUT — Fighting raged in Idlib, where the Syrian government forces offensive has gathered pace in the last two weeks, according to rebels and a military media unit run by Lebanon's Hezbollah, which is fighting on the Syrian government side.
Idlib province is the biggest chunk of Syria still held by rebels fighting the Syrian army,...
January 3rd, 20180BEIRUT — The leader of Lebanon’s Iran-backed Hezbollah group on Wednesday played down protests in Iran as economic discontent, saying they were not rooted in the political issues which spurred huge numbers to demonstrate in 2009 and were expected to end soon.
“In Iran there is nothing to worry about and the issue is being taken...
December 28th, 20170BEIRUT - 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 satellite channel during a long interview on Tuesday, had...
December 8th, 20170On Wednesday, Arabs and Muslims across the Middle East condemned the U.S. recognition of Jerusalem as Israel's capital as an incendiary move in a volatile region and Palestinians said Washington was abandoning its leading role as a peace mediator.
The European Union and United Nations also voiced alarm at President Trump's decision to...
December 2nd, 20170GENEVA — The Syrian government delegation arrived in Geneva on Wednesday to participate in another round of U.N.-sponsored peace talks to bring an end to the Syrian Civil War, now in its seventh year.
All the previous rounds of U.N.-backed peace talks have failed to reach a peace deal, and have often been seriously hindered by the...
November 28th, 20170PARIS — Lebanese Prime Minister Saad al-Hariri said on Monday that the political and militant group Hezbollah must stop interfering in regional conflicts and accept a neutral policy to bring an end to Lebanon’s political crisis.
The Iranian-backed Hezbollah, which forms part of the Lebanese government, is fighting alongside Syrian...
November 24th, 20170DUBAI- Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince called the Supreme Leader of Iran “the new Hitler of the Middle East” in an interview with the New York Times published on Thursday, sharply escalating the war of words between the arch-rivals.
The Sunni Muslim kingdom of Saudi Arabia and Shi‘ite Iran back rival sides in wars and political...
November 20th, 20170BEIRUT — Saad al-Hariri, who announced his resignation as Lebanese prime minister in a televised broadcast from Saudi Arabia on Nov. 4, will visit Egypt on Tuesday to meet Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, Hariri’s office said on Sunday.
Hariri has since Saturday been in Paris, where he met French President Emmanuel Macron,...
November 17th, 20170By Patrick J. Buchanan
If the crown prince of Saudi Arabia has in mind a war with Iran, President Trump should disabuse his royal highness of any notion that America would be doing his fighting for him.
Mohammed bin Salman, or MBS, the 32-year-old son of the aging and ailing King Salman, is making too many enemies for his own good,...
November 14th, 20171By Farah Harb
The Arab American News – intern
LEBANON - As speculations continue to surface in the wake of Lebanese Prime Minister Saad Al-Hariri's resignation on Nov. 4, there is still no answer to the questions, what's next for Lebanon and who are the potential parties involved in the equation?
From Riyadh, Hariri said he's...
November 4th, 20170BEIRUT ― Lebanon’s prime minister Saad al-Hariri resigned on Saturday, saying he believed there was an assassination plot against him and accusing Iran and its Lebanese ally Hezbollah of sowing strife in the Arab world.
His resignation thrusts Lebanon back into the frontline of Saudi-Iranian regional rivalry and seems likely to...
November 3rd, 20170HAMAT, Lebanon ― The United States delivered two A-29 Super Tucano light attack aircraft to Lebanon’s army on Tuesday, a sign of continued U.S. support despite Israeli accusations that the Lebanese military is controlled by Hezbollah.
The planes will be used as armed observation aircraft, a security source in Lebanon said, and...
November 1st, 20170BEIRUT - An Israeli airstrike targeted a factory south of the Syrian city of Homs on Wednesday and the Syrian army responded by firing a surface-to-air missile at the aircraft, a commander in a military alliance fighting in support of Damascus said.
The commander told Reuters the airstrike had hit a copper factory in the industrial...
September 13th, 20170BEIRUT/MOSCOW — The Lebanese group Hezbollah has declared victory in the Syrian war while Russia said government forces had driven militants from much of the country where President Bashar al-Assad’s rule seemed in danger two years ago.
The comments from two Syrian government allies mark the most confident assessments yet of...
