Lebanese PM slams Hezbollah over missing diplomats issue

October 1st, 2009 Lebanese say UAE pressed them to spy on HezbollahBEIRUT — A Lebanese businessman alleged Thursday that he and several hundred other Lebanese were expelled from the United Arab Emirates country because they refused to spy on the Shiite militant group Hezbollah and other fellow citizens. Hassan Alayan said more than 300 Lebanese — mostly Shiites — have been forced to leave the Emirates over the past three months.

September 11th, 2009 BEIRUT - Three missiles were fired Friday into northern Israel from southern Lebanon, without causing casualties, Lebanese security sources said. The missiles were fired from Qlaileh near the southern port city of Tyre, the sources said.

August 14th, 2009 Hezbollah chief: We'll hit Tel Aviv if Beirut hitBEIRUT — The leader of Lebanon's militant Hezbollah warned Israel Friday his fighters would hit Tel Aviv with rockets if Israeli forces attack Beirut or the guerrillas' stronghold in its southern suburbs. Speaking on the anniversary of the end of the 2006 Israel-Hezbollah, Sheik Hassan Nasrallah said the Shiite militants are now capable of striking any Israeli city.

August 10th, 2009 Israel says Lebanon govt accountable for HezbollahJERUSALEM —Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu says his country will hold the Lebanese government responsible for any attacks on Israeli targets by the country's Hezbollah militia. It's the latest shot in a war of words which has been escalating since a July 14 explosion at a suspected Hezbollah arms depot near the Israeli border.

August 10th, 2009 Israel says Lebanon accountable for HezbollahJERUSALEM —Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu warned Monday that his country would hold the Lebanese government responsible for any attacks on Israeli targets by the country's Hezbollah militia. It was the latest shot in a war of words that has been escalating since a July 14 explosion at a suspected Hezbollah arms depot near the Israeli border.

July 21st, 2009 Israel to Lebanon: stop border violationsUNITED NATIONS — Israel urged the Lebanese government and U.N. peacekeepers on Monday to prevent Hezbollah militants and their supporters from violating its territory and jeopardizing the fragile stability along the border.

July 18th, 2009 Lebanese stone UN peacekeepers, injure 14BEIRUT — Villagers threw stones at U.N. peacekeeping troops in southern Lebanon Saturday, lightly injuring 14 soldiers, in an attempt to prevent an investigation near the site of a recent explosion, a spokeswoman said.

July 15th, 2009 UN says south Lebanon weapons cache a violationBEIRUT — The U.N. peacekeeping force in Lebanon said Wednesday ammunition which had exploded in a southern village was a "serious violation" of the U.N.-brokered ceasefire that ended a monthlong war between Hezbollah militants and Israeli forces three years ago.

June 13th, 2009 Senior EU official holds talks with HezbollahBEIRUT — The European Union's foreign affairs chief held talks Saturday with a Hezbollah legislator in the first meeting between a senior EU diplomat and the Iranian-backed militant Shiite group. The meeting was part of an outreach by European powers to Hezbollah, which the United States and Israel consider a terrorist group.

June 8th, 2009 Obama congratulates Lebanese on voteWASHINGTON — President Barack Obama is congratulating the Lebanese people for a peaceful national election held with "courage" and a "commitment to democracy." The Sunday vote produced a clear defeat for Hezbollah, the Iranian-back Islamic militant group that the United States classifies as a terrorist organization. "Once more, the people of Lebanon have demonstrated to the world their courage and the strength of their commitment to democracy," the Obama statement said, without reference to Hezbollah.

June 6th, 2009 Q&A on Lebanon's parliamentary electionsBEIRUT — Lebanese head to the polls Sunday in crucial parliamentary elections that could determine the country's future for the next four years. Here's what to look for as voting begins: Q: Who are the major players? A: On one side, a coalition of pro-U.S.

May 13th, 2009 Israel: No decision on divided town until electionJERUSALEM — Israel is suspending discussion of a possible withdrawal from the Lebanese side of a divided border town, fearing the Hezbollah guerrilla group will take control, an Israeli official said Wednesday. The official said Israel will wait until after Lebanon's June 7 elections, which Hezbollah is contesting.

April 25th, 2009 3 men arrested for allegedly spying for IsraelBEIRUT — Lebanese authorities arrested three men early Saturday for allegedly being part of spying ring for Israel, security officials said, in the latest episode in the long-running espionage war between the two countries. Agents grabbed the three — two Lebanese and a Palestinian — from their homes in southern Lebanon during a raid early Saturday, security officials said.

February 7th, 2009 BEIRUT - Lebanese President Michel Suleiman Saturday said he will give instructions to the concerned parties to obtain more information on the missing Iranian diplomats, the National News Agency (NNA) reported. The president's remarks came after meeting with Iranian ambassador to Lebanon Mohammad Reza Shibani at the presidential palace.

February 5th, 2009 TEHRAN - Christian Lebanese Forces (LF) leader Samir Geagea has admitted that the four Iranian diplomats who went missing in Lebanon in 1982 were kidnapped at Alberiareh checkpoint and later killed, Mehr News reported Friday. However, Geagea late Wednesday refused to say how the diplomats were abducted.