New Blood for Kataeb In Beirut earlier this week, the Kataeb Party (also known as the Phalange Party) elected 16 new members to its top office, five to the honorary board and four to the treasury. This came after a three day conference where there were also votes on various amendments of its bylaws. Ballots…
Category Archives: Lebanon
Israel and Lebanon File Protests at UN Over Border Confrontation
Diplomats representing Lebanon and Israel at the United Nations formally submitted protests concerning the violent border clashes that took place between Israel, Lebanon and Syria on May 15, Nakba Day, this past Sunday. Nakba is Day of Catastrophe May 15th is the day the Arab world calls Nakba, the Arabic word for ‘catastrophe.’ The day…
Hezbollah Candidate Wins Backing for PM
68 members of Lebanon’s 128-seat parliament chose Najib Mikati as a replacement for acting Prime Minister Saad Hariri. Mr. Mikati has already served as prime minister of Lebanon in 2005. The change is significant as it cements Hezbollah’s rise to leadership of the small fragmented country. In a show of defiance and rage at what…
The Lebanese Government’s Fall Will Affect Investors
The Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) predicted that Lebanese economic growth will slow to approximately 5 percent in 2011. This is a drop from the average growth rate of 8 percent last year. RBS said that the tourism, financial services, construction and housing sectors have been the growth leaders. However, due to political developments the…
Lebanese Banks get Bad Credit Rating Due To Government Collapse
Last Week, the Lebanese government fell after 11 ministers with Hezbollah leanings, resigned. Lebanon’s banks receive negative credit since Lebanon’s economic forecast for 2011 will fall with the Hariri government’s fall. Whether or not violence erupts, the joint factors of less economic growth together with market uncertainties would negatively affect Lebanese banks. Lebanese banks would…
Beirut: The Most Expensive Small Apartments In The Arab World
Small luxury residences in Beirut are the most expensive in the Arab World, according to the Global Property Guide. In addition, the property prices have risen rapidly during the last two years. Beirut ranked 33rd out of 92 real estate markets around the world in 2010. It ranked 52nd in 2009 and was the number…
Ziad Hayek , Secretary General Of The Higher Council For Privatization, Regarding Lebanon Privatization
Lebanon is currently putting in major efforts to privatize the telecom and electricity industries. There are two projects in the telecom industry which are headed for privatization. The first is to privatize the mobile networks. The second is to incorporate a company to serve as a provider of fixed line and broadband services. There are…
International Efforts To Solve Lebanon Crisis
Lebanese Prime Minister Sa’d Al-Hariri yesterday arrived in Saudi Arabia for an unplanned visit after his visit to France. Then he will probably fly to the U.S. where he will hold meetings and visit Saudi King Abdallah who is there for medical treatment. French Foreign Minister Michelle Alliot-Marie is expected to visit Lebanon. Members of…
Sa’d Al-Hariri Doesn’t Blame Hizbullah For Father’s Death
Lebanese Prime Minister Sa’d Ah-Hariri told IRNA (the Iranian News Agency) as he was set to leave for talks with Iran that he did not blame Hizbullah for his father’s death, and expressed his hope that Lebanon’s relations with Iran would be based on mutual respect for each country’s sovereignty, and on their shared economic,…
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Independent Middle East News
- Ankara Fears Increased Kurdish Resistance February 18, 2012by Mahmoud Abu Ghosh According to an intelligence report released Friday, Turkey’s military fears Kurdish resistance will increase in 2012, following months of the Turkish Arned Forces (TSK) brutally suppressing Kurdish rebels and their supporters. According to the report, the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) announced it will start conducting raids from the a […]
- Kurds Mark 13 Years Since Öcalan’s Capture February 16, 2012by Mahmoud Abu Ghosh People throughout Turkish-occupied northern Kurdistan marked 13 years since the imprisonment of Abdullah Öcalan, founding leader of the outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK). The anniversary was observed Wednesday with protests and business closures. Some PKK sympathizers in the Kurdish city of Hakkari were also reported to have thrown […]
- Turkish Jets Pound Kurdish Region February 12, 2012by Mahmoud Abu Ghosh Turkish warplanes have bombed several targets in the semi-autonomous Kurdish region in northern Iraq, Ankara’s military revealed Sunday.In the second cross-border airstrike in just over a week, the jets hit caves and other suspected rebel shelters in the Zap and Hakurk regions in an operation that began late Saturday, an army […]
- Turkey Kills 13 Kurds in Overnight Clashes February 9, 2012by Mahmoud Abu Ghosh Turkish forces killed 13 Kurdish rebels in occupied northern Kurdistan overnight, marking an escalation in violence at a time when winter weather generally limits clashes. Resistance fighters from the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) attacked some 10 different Turkish military targets at roughly 2:30am in Hakkari province, Turkish sources […]
- Egypt Defies US Demands February 8, 2012by Naama Ben-Yaakov Cairo announced Wednesday that it would not be swayed by American threats to cut off the aid Egypt receives from the United States when investigating foreign-funded organizations promoting Western interests, a case that has prompted Washington to warn that US military support worth an annual $1.3 billion may be in jeopardy. The US wants [ […]
- Ankara Fears Increased Kurdish Resistance February 18, 2012