News on Lebanon: Stun Grenade explodes in Beirut following Hariri tribunal

Beirut – An explosion struck Beirut’s
Shiyyah district within minutes of Wednesday’s UN vote on the Hariri
tribunal, causing no casualties or damage.

Security
sources said a concussion grenade went off near St. Michael’s Church,
near the boundary of Shiyyah and Mar Mikael – both formerly Maronite
neighborhoods now populated mostly by Shiites driven from the South
during the Israeli occupation. The church was the site of the February
2006 pact that brought MP Michel Aoun’s Free Patriotic Movement into
partnership with Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah’s Hizbullah to form an
opposition alliance.

Six attacks have taken place since May 20, when fighting broke out
between the army and militants at the Nahr al-Bared refugee camp.
Previous incidents have struck the Beirut district of Achrafieh, Verdun
and Barbir, as well the Mt. Lebanon resort of Aley and the Bekaa Valley
town of Zahleh. One person has been killed and dozens wounded.

Sources: Herald Sun, DS

Lebanon: UN Security Council OKs Lebanon tribunal to try Hariri killers

New York – A deeply divided U.N. Security
Council approved a resolution Wednesday to unilaterally establish an
international tribunal to prosecute suspects in the assassination of
Lebanon’s former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri.

The vote was 10-0 with five abstentions — Russia, China, South Africa, Indonesia and Qatar. Nine votes were needed for passage.

Current Lebanese Prime Minister Fouad Siniora asked the council
earlier this month to establish the tribunal. He cited the refusal of
opposition-aligned Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri to convene a session
to ratify the statutes to create the tribunal, which have already been
approved by his government and the United Nations.

Beyond Rhetoric and Conspiracy Theories: Who is really behind Fatah Al-Islam?

Written by Michael Azar

The
recent clashes between the Lebanese Army and the little known and
relatively new militant group, Fatah Al-Islam, has brought with it a
resurgence of the all too familiar political rhetoric from the
different political camps. And in the usual Arab tradition, the use of
conspiracy theories to bring some semblance of order to an otherwise
chaotic and confusing situation is ubiquitous.

Read the Rest

Lebanon charges 20 members of Fatah al-Islam with terrorism

Beirut – Lebanon charged 20 members of
Fatah al-Islam with terrorism on Wednesday and Lebanese troops battled
militants from the militant group at a Palestinian refugee camp in the
north for an 11th day.

Judiciary sources said the charges against the 19 Lebanese and one
Syrian, all in custody, carried the death penalty and were linked to
fighting around the Nahr al-Bared camp that has killed 79 people — 34
soldiers, 27 militants and 18 civilians.

The Lebanese authorities blame the group for starting the
confrontations by attacking army positions at the camp and near the
northern city of Tripoli on May 20.

Beirut’s retail and services sectors brace for another slow summer

BEIRUT: Beirut’s retail and service sectors are bracing for another slow summer, as customers steer clear of the capital’s once-bustling district in the face of looming security threats. Consumers trickled back to ABC mall in Achrafieh last weekend following the nearby explosion on May 20, but business is far below expected levels. Merchants inside one of Lebanon’s most popular malls are optimistic that people will return after a sustained period of calm, but at the moment retailers are suffering from a sharp drop in customer traffic at what should be the commercial high season.