Lebanon

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Despite Assassination, Lebanon Will Hold Elections

Defiant government says it won't retreat

(Newser) - As the country mourns yesterday's death of anti-Syrian politician Antoine Ghanem, Lebanon's government is determined to hold presidential elections as scheduled next week, the BBC reports. "The hand of terror will not win," Prime Minister Fouad Siniora said today. "The Lebanese will … have a new president...

Car Bomb Kills Lawmaker in Lebanon
Car Bomb Kills Lawmaker in Lebanon

Car Bomb Kills Lawmaker in Lebanon

Anti-Syrian MP among victims of massive pre-election blast

(Newser) - Anti-Syrian lawmaker Antoine Ghanem was one of at least seven people killed by a car bomb in Beirut today, just days before Lebanon’s parliament is set to select a successor to pro-Syrian president Emile Lahoud. Ghanem was a member of an anti-Syrian governing coalition, which has been locked in...

Top Terror Leader Killed
Top Terror Leader Killed

Top Terror Leader Killed

Led militant fighters in refugee camp

(Newser) - Islamic militant leader Shaker al-Abssi, wanted for the murder of a US diplomat in Jordan, was killed by Lebanese troops in the bloody climax of the battle for the Nahr el-Bared refugee camp near Tripoli. Al-Abssi was one of 39 militants killed by Lebanese special forces Sunday after a three-month...

Lebanese Rout Militants in Camp
Lebanese Rout Militants in Camp

Lebanese Rout Militants in Camp

Months of fighting leaves refugee camp in ruins

(Newser) - Jubilant Lebanese celebrated with soldiers yesterday after they finally wrested control of a besieged Palestinian refugee camp from an al-Qaeda ally, Fatah al-Islam. Lebanese special forces attacked strongholds that remained inside the ruins of the Nahr al-Bared camp near Tripoli after nearly three months of fighting, reports the London Times.

France Eyes Diplomatic Role in Iraq
France Eyes Diplomatic
Role in Iraq

France Eyes Diplomatic Role in Iraq

New foreign minister may take on peace conference

(Newser) - "Everyone knows the Americans will not be able to get this country out of difficulty alone," the new French foreign minister, Bernard Kouchner, told a French radio station on his way out of Iraq yesterday. Kouchner 's 3-day visit confirmed that the French see a role for themselves...

Pro-Democracy Campaign Falters
Pro-Democracy Campaign Falters

Pro-Democracy Campaign Falters

Second-term initiative stalls, battered from within and without

(Newser) - President Bush has announced his intention to end "tyranny in our world," but promoting democracy is proving as unpopular among Republicans as Democrats. His plans have met internal opposition, even from Dick Cheney, but a more formidable roadblock is the plan's close association with the unpopular chief executive,...

US to Label Iran's Elite Force Terrorists

Move allows action to block Revolutionary Guard's assets

(Newser) - Iran's elite military branch, the Revolutionary Guard, will be officially designated a terrorist organization by the US, the Washington Post reports. The declaration will allow Washington to block assets and disrupt the operations of businesses linked to the unit worldwide. The 125,000-member Guard, a  powerful political force, is increasingly...

Lebanese Hopes Pinned to Reluctant Billionaire

Can a $2.3B fortune keep Saad Hariri alive long enough to become PM?

(Newser) - Portfolio profiles Saad Hariri, the billionaire who now leads Lebanon's pro-Western majority party and America's last, best Middle Eastern hope. Hariri, pulled into politics when his former-PM father was assassinated in 2005, spends most of his days barricaded inside his Beirut mansion, trying to avoid being murdered by Hezbollah guerrillas.

Forget the Pyramids—to the Bat Cave!

Tall monuments are great, but what about the caverns under the surface?

(Newser) - To appreciate the earth's natural beauty, sometimes you have to dig under the surface. Jaunted tips you off to the best caves in the world.
  1. Waitomo Glow Worms Caves, New Zealand: Abseil down a tiny hole, black-water raft for 3 hours, and then see a glow-worm-studded cave ceiling.

US Blames Iran for Bomb Toll
US Blames Iran for Bomb Toll

US Blames Iran for Bomb Toll

Record number of fatalitles linked to EFP attacks

(Newser) - A sophisticated bomb that the US military has tracked to Iran was used in a record number of attacks on American-led troops last month, the New York Times reports. The  bombs—called explosively formed penetrators—fire  a semi-molten copper slug that can break through the armor of a Humvee. They...

Pro-Syrian Wins Lebanon Seat
Pro-Syrian Wins Lebanon Seat

Pro-Syrian Wins Lebanon Seat

Former president defeated in race for murdered son's seat

(Newser) - The complex political crisis in Lebanon deepened yesterday when a Christian opposition candidate  defeated a  pro-government former president in a special parliamentary election—one of two held to fill seats of anti-Syrian politicians assassinated last year. Ex-president Amin Gemayel, a key player in the US backed majority coalition, was running...

Lebanese Assault on Refugee Camp Intensifies

Latest battle may be final push

(Newser) - Lebanon is denying that its latest round of strikes on a Palestinian refugee camp constitute the final showdown with militants holed up inside, the AP reports. Militants in the densely packed warren of buildings exchanged heavy fire with the army encircling them today and shot nine rockets into nearby villages,...

US Shuts Out Troublemaking Syrians
US Shuts Out Troublemaking Syrians

US Shuts Out Troublemaking Syrians

Travel ban represents vote of confidence in Lebanese government

(Newser) - President Bush moved to boost the Lebanese government today, barring officials who have acted to undermine the precarious regime from entering the US. The ban applies to some high-level Syrian officials and five former Lebanese cabinet ministers, Reuters reports. An NSC spokesman said the goal is "to demonstrate to...

Lebanon Bomb Kills Six UN Soldiers
Lebanon Bomb Kills Six UN Soldiers

Lebanon Bomb Kills Six UN Soldiers

Suicide attack piques terrorism worries; Fatah al-Islam suspected

(Newser) - A car bomb killed six members of a Spanish UN peacekeeping force in southern Lebanon  yesterday, in the first attack in a year on peacekeepers there. No one claimed responsibility for the bombing near Khiyam, but observers suspect Fatah al-Islam, the same al-Qaeda-spawned Sunni group that battled Lebanon at the...

Lebanese Claim Victory in Camp
Lebanese Claim Victory in Camp

Lebanese Claim Victory in Camp

Palestinians holding out in rubble

(Newser) - The Lebanese government has declared "mission accomplished" in its month-long battle against al-Qaeda-spawned militants in a Palestinian refugee camp. The siege left 166 dead and destroyed much of the Nahr al-Bared camp in northern Lebanon, in some of the worst fighting the country has seen since its 15-year-long civil...

Lebanon Under Seige
Lebanon Under Seige

Lebanon Under Seige

(Newser) - Economist Middle East correspondent Max Rodenbeck takes us on a painful amble through the history of modern Lebanon.   He sees Lebanon as a Manichean society where the wealthy live next to the poor, the religious coexist (sort of) with the secular, the pro-Syrian are at odds with the pro-Israeli.

Abbas Swears in New Gov't
Abbas Swears in New Gov't

Abbas Swears in New Gov't

Outlaws militant arm of Hamas

(Newser) - Mahmoud Abbas swore in his emergency government today, 3 days after Hamas took control of the Gaza Strip. Salam Fayyad, a former World Bank economist, will head the new government, composed largely of independents. Unsurprisingly, Hamas says it will not recognize Abbas's regime, and declares the original unity government still...

Lebanese Mourn MP Slain by Bomb
Lebanese Mourn MP Slain by Bomb

Lebanese Mourn MP Slain by Bomb

Unrest builds; White House condemns assassinations of anti-Syrian politicians

(Newser) - Lebanon observed a national day of mourning today as a prominent anti-Syrian MP was buried in Beirut. The assassination yesterday of Walid Eido further destabilized the shaky situation in the country. President Bush condemned the "clear pattern of assassinations" of prominent Lebanese critics of Syria; Eido was the sixth...

Lebanese Vow to Crush Militants
Lebanese
Vow to Crush Militants

Lebanese Vow to Crush Militants

Refugee camp destroyed; residents caught as army fights Fatah al-Islam

(Newser) - The Lebanese army vowed yesterday to continue its attack on Fatah al-Islam members holed up inside a Palestinian refugee camp in Beruit though the camp is now 60 percent demolished. As many as 25,000 of its 31,000 occupants have fled, the Guardian reports, and thousands remain trapped.

Army Battles Militants Near Lebanese Refugee Camp

Bombardment escalates as death toll tops 80

(Newser) - Lebanese troops continued to try to dislodge militants from a Palestinian refugee camp outside Tripoli today, extending a two-week siege that has led to the worst violence in the country since the civil war that ended in 1990. At least 84 people have died in the fighting, and more than...

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