Special to WorldTribune.com NICOSIA — For the first time in years, Hizbullah strongholds have been attacked in Lebanon. Sunni gunners fired two BM-21 Grad rockets toward Hizbullah strongholds in Beirut on May 26. Officials said the rockets fell near a church in the southern suburbs of the Lebanese capital. “This is an act of sabotage,” […]
Special to WorldTribune.com NICOSIA — The Iranian-sponsored Hizbullah has poured in hundreds of troops in heavy fighting in southern Syria. Opposition sources said Hizbullah has sent up to 1,000 fighters to join the Syrian Army in its offensive in southern Syria. They said Hizbullah played a major role in blocking access to Sunni rebel strongholds […]
Special to WorldTribune.com ABU DHABI — Iran has pressed its main proxy for full combat troop deployment in Syria, a newspaper said. Kuwait’s Al Rai Al Aam reported that Iranian supreme leader Ali Khamenei convened an urgent meeting with Hizbullah secretary-general Hassan Nasrallah in Teheran. Al Rai said Khamenei pressed Nasrallah in April to be […]
Special to WorldTribune.com LONDON — The European Union has been mulling a withdrawal from the United Nations peacekeeping force in Lebanon. Western diplomatic sources said several EU states have been negotiating with Lebanon to bolster security for their contingents in the UN Interim Force in Lebanon. The sources said the European contingents have been alarmed […]
Special to WorldTribune.com NICOSIA — The Israel Air Force has conducted another attack on a shipment of advanced missiles to Syria. Western diplomatic sources said Israel sent nearly a dozen F-15 and F-16 fighter-jets to destroy Iranian-origin missiles that arrived in Damascus. The sources said the attack took place on May 3 when warplanes fired […]
Special to WorldTribune.com By Norman Bailey Egypt, Syria and Iran get the attention, but there are plenty of other places in the region where trouble is brewing. In the increasingly chaotic Middle East, certain crises get most of the attention: the Egyptian economic meltdown; the anarchy in the Sinai Peninsula; the Iranian nuclear threat, and […]
Special to WorldTribune.com NICOSIA — Lebanon has selected 46 energy companies for its first offshore exploration project that could clash with neighboring Israel. Lebanese Energy Minister Gebrane Bassil said 46 companies were qualified to bid for licenses for exploration in the eastern Mediterranean. Bassil said 12 of the applicants qualified to bid as operators for […]
Special to WorldTribune.com JERUSALEM — Israel has determined that the United Nations stopped monitoring the flow of weapons to the Iranian-sponsored Hizbullah in southern Lebanon. Officials said the UN Interim Force in Lebanon has suspended most operations designed to track and intercept heavy weapons to Hizbullah and other militias south of Lebanon’s Litani River. The […]
Special to WorldTribune.com NICOSIA — Syria has renewed air strikes in neighboring Lebanon. Lebanon’s official National News Agency said a Syrian Air Force fighter-jet and attack helicopter bombed the Lebanese town of Arsal on April 3. The agency said the fighter-jet, believed to be a MiG-21, fired an air-to-ground missile toward a suspected Sunni rebel […]
Special to WorldTribune.com MOSCOW — The Russian Navy sent three vessels to the port of Beirut in 2013 on invitation of the Lebanese military and government. “This visit was on invitation of the Lebanese side,” the Russian Defense Ministry said. The Russian Navy port call to Beirut took place amid an intensification of the Sunni […]