Facts, News, Trends, Analysis
December 4th, Syria refused to engage Israel in peace talks until it feels it has received sufficient answers to the six specific questions it has regarding the Golan Heights. This report comes after Turkey asked both sides to layout six questions on security and the border integrity pertaining to both countries. Syria has reportedly presented [...]
December 5th, as President Bush prepares to leave office he will undoubtedly be forced to reflect on his handling of many issues and countries during his presidency. In his speech today, he accused both Syria and Iran of supporting terrorism and voiced his displeasure with how long it has taken for democratic principles to be [...]
December 4th, Syria agreed to cooperate with Cyprus in a bilateral deal for offshore oil-and-gas exploration, bypassing the objections of Turkey. Both sides expressed their willingness to sign agreements as soon as next week to define the undersea exploration. Turkey disagreed because it believes that it has claims to that area, and that Cyprus is [...]
December 5th, the Lebanese pro-Syrian Shiite group Hezbollah voiced its approval of Christian opposition Leader Michel Aoun’s trip to Syria. Hezbollah’s parliamentarians expressed their excitement as from their perspective Aoun engaged Syria and approached it with the right outlook instead of repeating some of the mistakes of the past. This was a historic trip because [...]
The Carter Center has announced that former US President Jimmy Carter will be visiting the Middle East this month, and will be focusing on issues of particular concern to Lebanon and Syria. As part of his visit, Carter will lead an assessment mission in Lebanon to prepare for the upcoming 2009 elections and to consider [...]
Lebanon’s Free Patriotic Movement leader Michel Aoun criticized the UN’s handling of Israel in relation to other Middle Eastern nations. He did this not at home, in Lebanon, but at Damascus University during his visit to Syria. Aoun, who is in Syria to meet with top officials, including President Bashar Assad, in order to revisit [...]
In this age of a shift in power in the United States, our President-elect has made the worrisome—and perhaps wise decision–to appoint many familiar names and faces to his new administration. In doing so however, he must be careful not to make the same mistakes of his predecessors. In respect of the Middle East, he [...]
Hezbollah’s statements that they plan to take over the Lebanese government in the upcoming election, includes talk about how they will govern the country under a national unity government and work closely with Sunni-led coalitions as well. They think they will be able to grab the majority in the Legislature in the 2009 elections and [...]
Hezbollah has declared its confidence that it will be victorious in Lebanese elections next year. Currently, the militant group is a minority only by a slim margin, and Hezbollah senior officer Nawaf al Mussawi has asserted that victory in next year’s elections is well within sight. A major point of tension is the relationship between [...]
German Chancellor Angela Merkel announced pilot plans to improve security along the Lebanese-Syrian border on Wednesday. The announcement was made following Lebanese President Michel Suleiman’s visit to Berlin this week. The objective of the plan is to improve economic prosperity for the Lebanese in the border region. Also during their meeting, Merkel and Suleiman discussed [...]
