Free Republic

It wasn’t a US Army sniper who killed IDF Lt.- Col. Dov Harari and seriously wounded Capt. Ezra Lakia on Tuesday. But the Lebanese Armed Forces sniper who shot them owes a great deal to the generous support the LAF has received from America. For the past five years, the LAF has been the second largest recipient of US military assistance per capita after Israel. A State Department press release from late 2008 noted that between 2006 and 2008, the LAF received 10 million rounds of ammunition, Humvees, spare parts for attack helicopters, vehicles for its Internal Security Forces “and...

It is difficult to avoid the conclusion that Hariri's resignation, the Saudi purge, and the Houthi missile fired at Riyadh are interconnected.Saturday night was a busy one for Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman. The kingdom’s 32-year old heir to the throne excelled himself. He surpassed the high levels of chaos and human misery he had already achieved as the defence minister who launched the air campaign on Yemen. First up was the sudden resignation of the Lebanese Prime Minister Saad Hariri after just one year in office. Hariri made his announcement from Riyadh, which is a curious place...

Lebanese Prime Minister Saad Hariri is now disclosing the nature of his resignation, and why he left Lebanon to spend time in Saudi Arabia. It appears the Saudi and regional partners provided evidence that Iran and Hezbollah were planning an assassination targeting Hariri and his family.

THE HAGUE: Lebanon takes one step closer toward closing the chapter of political violence and unaccountability with the start of the trial at the Special Tribunal for Lebanon today. The STL will hear the prosecution’s case against four Hezbollah members accused of rigging a 2,500 kg truck bomb nine years ago that killed former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri and 21 others, plunging Lebanon into political turmoil and ending Syria’s formal tutelage over the country.The opening session will be attended by a delegation of the victims and their families, whose hopes hang on the outcome of the trial. Among them is...

Former Lebanese Prime Minister Saad Hariri blamed Israel on Tuesday for the “terrorist explosion” that rocked a Hezbollah stronghold in southern Beirut, Lebanon’s Daily Star reported. ...

Friday's attack on a French contingent of UNIFIL was a message from Syria, former prime minister Saad Hariri said over the weekend. "Another #Syrian message," Hariri tweeted Saturday in response to a question seeking comment on the attack. "Another #syrian message from Bashar," he later said. Five French peacekeepers with the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon were wounded Friday when a roadside bomb ripped through their vehicle as they travelled in Bourj al-Shemali, near the southern coastal city of Tyre. The attack was condemned by Lebanese officials, including Prime Minister Najib Mikati, President Michel Sleiman and Hezbollah. Both the...

A Jordanian website claims that the Syrian minister of foreign affairs, Walid Muallem, has rejected a lucrative offer in exchange for defecting from the Syrian regime. According to the report, Muallem was offered this tempting deal during a secret meeting with the minister of foreign affairs of a "small country in the Gulf," likely Qatar. The meeting took place in the recent meeting held by the organization of Islamic countries in the Saudi city of Jeddah. Although the site does not mention the name of the country, it's obvious to the reader that Qatar stands behind it. The website claims...

Former Lebanon Prime Minister Saad Hariri, son of Rafik Hariri, lauded the indictments handed to Hezbollah officials by the UN-backed tribunal probing Hariri's 2005 assassination, calling it a "historic moment." The handover of the indictments to Lebanese prosecutor general Saeed Mirza was made during a meeting with three judges from the Special Tribunal for Lebanon, which has given Lebanon 30 days to respond. Saad Hariri issued a statement shortly after the indictment was handed to Mirza warning the new Hezbollah-led cabinet that it must abide by Lebanon's commitments toward the international tribunal.

just on the breaking news ticker so far - 7:00pm U.S. sources to Kuwait’s Al-Rai newspaper: There are international and Arab concerns over a potential assassination attempt against PM Saad Hariri.

The prime ministers of Turkey and Lebanon on Monday lashed out at Israeli violations of Lebanese airspace and air strikes in Gaza, warning they were undermining prospects for peace in the region. "Attacks on Lebanon is terrorism itself... We have to stand shoulder by shoulder against the enemy's plans... We have to stop Israel," visiting Lebanese Prime Minister Saad Hariri told a press conference. Lebanese anti-aircraft guns opened fire on four Israeli warplanes which were violating its airspace at low altitude on Monday, the military said. Israel argues that the overflights are necessary to monitor what it says is massive...

BEIRUT (AFP) – Saad Hariri, son of slain billionaire ex-premier Rafiq Hariri, pledged to form a cabinet that would unite rival political camps after he was named Lebanon's new prime minister on Saturday. "We will begin consultations with all parliamentary blocs based on our commitment to a national unity government in which all main blocs are represented and which is harmonious, functional, and free of obstruction and paralysis," Hariri said. Under the current unity government, headed by Fuad Siniora, militant group Hezbollah and its allies have veto power over major decisions. The government was formed in May 2008, ending a...

The Talk Shows Sunday, July 24th, 2005 Guests to be interviewed today on major television talk shows: FOX NEWS SUNDAY (Fox Network): > U.S. Attorney General Alberto Gonzales; Sens. Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., and John Cornyn, R-Texas.MEET THE PRESS (NBC): Former Sen. Fred Thompson, R-Tenn., adviser to Supreme Court nominee John Roberts; Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Ill. FACE THE NATION (CBS): Attorney General Alberto Gonzales; Sen. Joseph Biden, D-Del. THIS WEEK (ABC): Sens. John McCain, R-Ariz., and Patrick Leahy, D-Vt.; former Army Capt. Stefanie Pelkey.LATE EDITION (CNN) : Sens. Pat Roberts, R-Kan., and Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif.; Prince Turki Al-Faisal, Saudi ambassador-designate to...

Lebanon's main opposition anti-Syrian alliance has claimed victory in the final round of the country's four-round parliamentary elections. The bloc led by Saad Hariri, son of the late Rafik Hariri, faced ex-Gen Michel Aoun's group in the fight for the last 28 seats at stake in northern Lebanon. Mr Hariri's group says the incomplete results set them on track for a majority in the new parliament. It was Lebanon's first vote since the Syrian troop withdrawal this year. Damascus ended its 30-year deployment in Lebanon in response to street protests and international pressure triggered by the assassination of Rafik Hariri,...

Lebanese voters went to the polls yesterday at the start of the first parliamentary election in 30 years that has not been marred by civil war or heavy-handed Syrian meddling. The campaign, led by Saad Hariri, 35, the son of Rafik Hariri, the former prime minister who was assassinated in February, was celebrating victory after incomplete results showed it had swept Beirut's 19 parliamentary seats. The official results are not due until today, and voting in the rest of the country is still to come. But a government official, speaking on condition of anonymity, confirmed to the Associated Press that...