Free Republic

WEDNESDAY AFTERNOON, Saad al-Hariri's Mostaqbal party agreed to a constitutional amendment that would allow Lebanese Armed Forces Commander Michel Suleiman to be elected president. Up until now, Hariri and his March 14 allies (the date of the 2005 Cedar Revolution) had resisted Suleiman's candidacy; Lebanese democrats are generally loath to have military men serve as President of the Republic, especially after the last nine years of former commander Emile Lahoud's presidency. But more importantly, Suleiman is Damascus's number one choice to fill the now vacant spot. So why have Hariri and his colleagues, including Druze chieftain Walid Jumblatt and leader...

Former FBI, CIA Employee Pleads Guilty to Computer Crime Grant Gross, IDG News Service Nov 13, 2007 A former employee of the U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation and Central Intelligence Agency has pleaded guilty to charges of fraudulently obtaining U.S. citizenship and accessing a U.S. government computer system to unlawfully find information about her relatives and the Islamic organization Hizballah. Nada Nadim Prouty, 37, originally from Lebanon, also pleaded guilty Tuesday in U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan to conspiracy to defraud the U.S. government. She was accused of using her fraudulently obtained U.S. citizenship to gain...

A 37-year-old woman who previously worked as an FBI agent and a CIA analyst, pleaded guilty Tuesday to charges involving improper access of information, CBS News has learned. Sources say Nada Nadim Prouty, a Lebanese national and resident of Virginia, entered the United States on a student visa and earned citizenship through a sham marriage.

11/2/07 The Arab Hala Gorani introduces us to a western-type Arab singer ‘Caramel’ as if that's a 'normal Arab today'. http://edition.cnn.com/CNN/anchors_reporters/gorani.hala.html The Arab Hala Gorani has a long history on CNN to 'glorify Middle east cultures' on her show 'Inside the Middle east', she's a master on picking & selecting the rare and never on the mainstream. In other words, not showing reality bit being a propaganda tool for the Arab world, when no one speaks [really] for the west in that wild jungle hatred empire. In this age of “multiculturalism” that is nothing but a tool by Islamists, it’s...

BEIRUT, Lebanon - A suspected senior commander of the Fatah Islam militant group was captured by Palestinian refugees and turned over to the Lebanese military Monday after he spent weeks in hiding, an official said. Nasser Ismail was among a number of militant leaders who fled the Palestinian refugee camp of Nahr el-Bared before Lebanese troops overran it earlier this month, ending a fierce three-month battle with Fatah Islam fighters barricaded inside. Ismail appeared to be suffering from exhaustion from weeks of hiding in nearby forests when he was overpowered by Palestinian refugees as he tried to sneak into the...

BEIRUT, Lebanon - Thousands of Lebanese on Tuesday lined roads and cheered troops triumphant after crushing al-Qaida-inspired Islamic militants in a three-month-long battle that became the country's worst internal fighting since the 1975-90 civil war. But military leaders warned that the war on terror is not yet over and asked the international community to help arm the country's military. The army started withdrawing units Tuesday from the area of the Palestinian refugee camp of Nahr el-Bared, close to the port city of Tripoli in northern Lebanon, two days after crushing Fatah Islam fighters in a final battle that left more...

A Lebanese girl holds the national flag and flashes the victory sign to celebrate the end of fighting in the Nahr el-Bared Palestinian refugee camp...

For the United States, the primary issue in the Middle East has been and remains effective control of its unparalleled energy resources. Access is a secondary matter. Once the oil is on the seas it goes anywhere. Control is understood to be an instrument of global dominance. Iranian influence in the "crescent" challenges U.S. control. By an accident of geography, the world's major oil resources are in largely Shiite areas of the Middle East: southern Iraq, adjacent regions of Saudi Arabia and Iran, with some of the major reserves of natural gas as well. Washington's worst nightmare would be a...

One of the people responsible for a controversial billboard depicting Hezbollah's leader said he did it to honour freedom fighting families back home -- and it's their Canadian right to do so. "In Canada we want peace," said Hussein Dabaja, a Lebanese-born Hezbollah supporter. "We're not trying offend anybody. We have freedom of speech. It's a free country. We can do anything. Every Lebanese in Canada has somebody that died in Lebanon, the freedom fighters. Who is Hezbollah? Our brothers, our family, our parents, our friends. We came to Canada and they stayed there to fight."The billboard went up Friday...

WASHINGTON - The Bush administration has blacklisted as a "foreign terrorist organization" a Lebanese Islamist group blamed for major fighting at a refugee camp, the Associated Press has learned. The State Department is expected to announce the designation against al-Qaida-inspired Fatah al-Islam, which is suspected of having links with Syria, on Monday. The designation imposes financial and travel restrictions on the group and its members, officials said Saturday, speaking on condition of anonymity because the designation is not yet public. The officials said Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice signed off on the decision to place the radical group on the...

NAHR AL-BARED, Lebanon (Reuters) - Al Qaeda-inspired militants killed six Lebanese soldiers on Thursday in fierce battles at a Palestinian refugee camp in north Lebanon, security sources said. They said 22 soldiers were wounded, three seriously, in fighting at the Nahr al-Bared camp which began in the early morning after Fatah al-Islam snipers shot dead two soldiers, prompting Lebanese troops to unleash artillery barrages. The army and Fatah al-Islam militants have been fighting at the coastal camp for nearly eight weeks. At least 212 people have been killed, making it Lebanon's worst internal violence since the 1975-1990 civil war. Security...

BEIRUT, Lebanon - At least 150 Palestinians fled a northern refugee camp Wednesday in anticipation of an assault by the Lebanese army battling Islamic militants holed up inside. Most of the refugees left with the help of the Palestinian Red Crescent, said Samar Kadi, an International Committee of the Red Cross communications officer. Those fleeing arrived on foot at the southern entrance of the Nahr el-Bared camp. They were searched by soldiers at a Lebanese army checkpoint and then climbed into vehicles sent by the Palestinian Red Crescent. The Lebanese army held many of them for interrogation, Kadi said. Witnesses...

AITA AL-SHAAB, Lebanon (Reuters) - He passed all his school exams, helped out in his father's sandwich bar, ran a bicycle shop and still found time to train with local Hezbollah guerrillas in this village on Lebanon's border with Israel. Shadi Saad's parents mourn their 19-year-old son, killed in last year's 34-day war against Israel, but say they are proud of what he did and are ready to let his younger brother join the "Islamic resistance" once he has completed high school. "I just want him to finish his exams first," said Hani Saad, fingering blue worry beads at his...

BEIRUT, Lebanon - Lebanese troops raided an Islamic militant hideout in a hillside cave and killed six fighters Thursday as violence spread from a Palestinian refugee camp where the military has been battling an al-Qaida-inspired group. The dawn gunbattle — a 20-minute drive from the Nahr el-Bared Palestinian camp by the northern port city of Tripoli — showed the Fatah Islam militants may have found allies among some of the region's Sunnis, ready to provide or point out hiding places. The fighting at Nahr el-Bared has become the worst internal violence since Lebanon's 1975-90 civil war, and is believed to...

Consumer advocate and 2000/2004 presidential candidate Ralph Nader has not ruled out another run in 2008, telling CNN’s Wolf Blitzer Thursday it’s too early for him to make a decision. The man who many blame as spoiling the election for Al Gore in 2000 also said a potential third party candidacy by New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg would not affect his decision to run. Earlier this week, Bloomberg, a lifelong Democrat until he ran for mayor in 2001, dropped his affiliation with the GOP — a move that increased speculation he is considering an independent presidential bid. Nader also...

BEIRUT, Lebanon - Lebanese troops inched toward Islamic militant strongholds in a north Lebanon Palestinian refugee camp Tuesday as mediators hinted at a possible cease-fire deal that includes the disarmament of the al-Qaida-inspired militants. Two Lebanese soldiers became the latest victims of the battle around the Nahr el-Bared refugee camp near the northern city of Tripoli that began on May 20, security officials said. As the battle with the Fatah Islam group continued, mediators gave indications that a cease-fire deal with the militants was a possibility. According to a Palestinian Muslim cleric who has been acting as mediator, the deal...

TRIPOLI, Lebanon - Lebanon's army stepped up its assault on Islamic militants hiding inside a Palestinian refugee settlement on Saturday, launching artillery barrages and sending in armored carriers and special forces. Witnesses in the Nahr el-Bared camp reported some of the heaviest army shelling since June 1, when the Lebanese army — using tanks and artillery — launched an offensive to drive out the Fatah Islam militants. Security officials said five soldiers were killed Saturday and 15 wounded, some seriously. The officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not allowed to give official statements. Local and Arab television...

TRIPOLI, Lebanon - A missile-firing helicopter joined the Lebanese army offensive against al-Qaida-inspired militants on Saturday, the second day of a push against Islamic fighters vowing a fight to the death inside a Palestinian refugee camp. Army tanks shelled militant hideouts in the Nahr el-Bared camp by this northern port city, blasting upper floors of buildings where the militants placed snipers. A Lebanese air force helicopter fired two missiles and strafed militant positions in the first use of airpower since fighting began with the Fatah Islam group on May 20. The air attack was an apparent attempt to block an...

TRIPOLI, Lebanon - Under the cover of artillery, the Lebanese army on Friday moved against Islamic militants barricaded inside a Palestinian refugee camp, claiming tanks and armored carriers had "tightened the ring" around the group and urging surrender. Artillery barrages began in the morning, targeting the Nahr el-Bared camp where Fatah Islam militants have holed up for 13 days among narrow, winding streets and apartment buildings. The army later called on the militants to surrender and urged Palestinians not to provide them a safe haven. The statement said the army had "tightened the ring" around the group in fighting Friday;...

Zambian Hopeful Takes a Swing at ChinaPresidential Challenger Stirs Resentment at Asian Power’s Growing Influence in AfricaBy Joseph J. SchatzSpecial to The Washington PostMonday, September 25, 2006; A16LUSAKA, Zambia — Making a living is never easy in Kamwala, the cramped, grimy but bustling marketplace in downtown Lusaka, where Nally, a middle-aged mother of five, has been selling clothes out of a small wooden stall for the past 15 years.But things took a turn for the worse, she said, when the Chinese moved in down the block a few years ago.Chinese retailers operating in Kamwala have undercut her prices and lured...