After a meeting that lasted more than eight hours at the presidential palace in Baabda, the Minister of Finance Mohammed Chatah announced that the Lebanese government on Tuesday approved the increase in the minimum wage 200.000LL The Minister of Finance stated that this change will affect the public and private sectors. And the minimum wage […]

La Commission d’enquкte sur l’assassinat de l’ex-Premier ministre libanais Rafik Hariri et les meurtres politiques connexes commis depuis a confirmé aujourd’hui devant le Conseil de sécurité l’existence d’un réseau terroriste organisé impliqué dans plusieurs attentats. « Sur la base de preuves, la Commission est en mesure d’affirmer […] qu’un réseau d’individus a agi de concert […]

The Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) Friday called on 12 countries, including Syria, Iraq, Egypt and Lebanon, to join the 1997 Chemical Weapons Convention (CWC) as the organization prepared to hold a review conference next week. So far, 183 countries [OPCW list] have joined the treaty, which prohibits the use or undeclared […]

La nomination du Greffier reflète les progrès rapides qui sont accomplis dans la mise en place du Tribunal spécial pour le Liban », indique la déclaration transmise hier soir par la porte-parole du Secrétaire général. Robin Vincent, qui prendra ses fonctions а une date qui sera déterminée ultérieurement, a exercé les fonctions de Greffier du […]

FINUL : transfert du commandement de la Force d’intervention navale au commandement européen L’Allemagne a remis aujourd’hui le commandement de la Force d’intervention navale de la Force intérimaire des Nations Unies au Liban (FINUL) а la Force européenne maritime, actuellement dirigée par l’Italie. Le général de division Claudio Graziano a remercié le personnel de la […]

Leading legislators from Lebanon’s majority party were expected to file a petition in parliament Thursday seeking a constitutional amendment to allow Gen. Michel Suleiman to become president of Lebanon. Under the current Lebanese constitution [text, in French], the presidency cannot be held by a sitting military commander . Anti-Syrian and pro-Syrian members of Lebanon’s parliament […]

A Lebanese court handed down sentences Tuesday for two defendants convicted of attempted mass murder for their role in a 2006 plot to blow up trains in Germany. Youssef al-Haj Deeb, currently in custody in Germany, was sentenced in absentia to life in prison and Jihad Hamad was sentenced to 12 years in prison. Three […]

An emerging deal to select a new Lebanese president ran into a roadblock Friday as political factions in Lebanon’s parliament failed to agree on mechanisms for changing a problematic constitutional provision. The favored candidate to replace now ex-president Emile Lahoud is Gen. Michel Suleiman, but under the present Lebanese constitution the presidency cannot be held […]

Lebanon slid into constitutional crisis Friday as pro-Syrian President Emile Lahoud purported to declare a “state of emergency” and hand security responsibility to the army in a vaguely worded statement issued just before leaving office midnight at the end of his term without an elected successor in place. Earlier Friday, anti-Syrian and pro-Syrian factions in […]

UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said Friday that he would appoint Judge Mohamed Amin El Mahdi, Judge Erik Mose and Nicolas Michel to the selection panel that will recommend the judges and chief prosecutor for the new Special Tribunal for Lebanon ]. El Mahdi has served on the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia, Mose […]