Lebanon

BEIRUT (AP) — From a tent in the rebel-held pocket of Syria, Ahmad Rakan has closely followed news of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. More than two years ago, a Russian airstrike destroyed his house in a nearby village during a months-long Syrian government offensive backed by Moscow’s firepower that drove him and tens of thousands of others from their homes.

“We more than anyone else feel their pain,” he said of Ukrainian civilians currently under Russian bombardment.

28 Feb 2022; MEMO: Lebanese President Michel Aoun said isolating Hezbollah will lead to civil war in Lebanon.

In an interview with Asas news site, Aoun said: "Isolating Hezbollah means a civil war."

Regarding Hezbollah's handling of the indirect talks with Israel regarding maritime demarcation, Aoun explained that the group "was logical, leaving the government to deal with this file."

A senior Hamas delegation on Friday met with Hezbollah's official in charge of Palestinian relations, Hassan Hoballah, and his assistant Atallah Hammoud in Beirut.

In a statement, Hamas said that the delegation included Hamas's Head of Arab and Islamic Relations Khalil Al-Hayya, Hamas's representative in Lebanon Ahmed Abdel Hadi, member of the Bureau on Arab and Islamic Relations Osama Hamdan and Hamas leader's media advisor, Taher Al-Nono.

BEIRUT (AP) — Canadian officials are working with Syrian Kurdish authorities and international organizations to gather information and help Canadian citizens being detained in Syria, a Canadian government spokesman said Thursday.

Sabrina Williams, spokesperson for Canada’s Ministry of Global Affairs, cautioned that her government’s ability to provide consular assistance in Syria is “extremely limited.”

BEIRUT, Feb 21 (Reuters) - Lebanon's parliament on Monday extended a law that lifts banking secrecy regulations to facilitate a forensic audit of the country's central bank, a key condition for foreign aid that has hit a roadblock, MPs said after the session.

20 Feb 2022; MEMO: Lebanon's Hezbollah movement says it has flown a reconnaissance drone over northern Israel on Friday, adding that the UAV returned intact after completing the mission.

A statement said that the group launched the "Hassan" drone into "the occupied Palestinian territories" on a reconnaissance mission lasting 40 minutes, which extended along 70 kilometres.

19 Feb 2022; MEMO: Lebanese security agencies thwarted the smuggling of 700,000 Captagon pills to Saudi Arabia, Anadolu Agency reported Lebanese Interior Minister Bassam Mawlawi disclosing on Friday.

Captagon is a type of amphetamine-style stimulant fenethylline manufactured for illegal recreational use, mostly in Lebanon and Syria.

18 Feb 2022; MEMO: France's container transportation and shipping company CMA-CGM was awarded a contract to manage, operate and maintain the container terminal in Lebanon's Beirut Port for ten years yesterday.

The Lebanese Public Works and Transport Minister, Ali Hamieh, told reporters that the contract included "rebuilding and expanding the port's infrastructure, which was damaged in a massive chemical explosion in 2020."

17 Feb 2022; MEMO: The leader of Lebanon's Iran-backed Hezbollah group said, for the first time on Wednesday, that it has the ability within Lebanon to convert thousands of rockets into precision missiles and to produce drones, Reuters reports.

"We have been producing drones in Lebanon for a long time, and whoever wants to buy them, submit an order," Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah said in a televised speech to followers.

BEIRUT, February 16. /TASS/: A working visit by Russian Defense Minister Sergey Shoigu to Damascus was linked with the tensions in the relations between the West and Russia around Ukraine and it came as a surprise for the United States and NATO, Lebanese expert on military strategy, General Charles Abi Nader told TASS on Wednesday.