Qifa Nabki
Lebanon
Parsing a Mea Culpa
The big news in Lebanese politics these days is Prime Minister Saad al-Hariri’s exoneration of Syria in the matter of his father’s assassination. Here’s the relevant section of last week’s interview in Al-Sharq al-Awsat: وقال الحريري: «فتحت صفحة جديدة في العلاقة مع سورية منذ تأليف الحكومة». وتابع: «يجب على المرء أن يكون واقعيا في هذه … Continue reading
On Hiatus
We’re going to take a short break here at QN, seeing as how not much is happening in Lebanon these days besides the odd clash between Ahbash and Hizbullah gunmen, a pending indictment by the U.N. Special Tribunal for Lebanon, prospects of severed Congressional funding for the Lebanese Army, and a handful of other inconsequential … Continue reading
An Interview with Michael Young
Last month, I reviewed The Ghosts of Martyrs Square, Michael Young’s new book, for The Nation. Shortly after the review appeared, I got in touch with Mr. Young and invited him to expand upon certain themes from his book in the form of a QN interview. Very much looking forward to the discussion that follows. … Continue reading
An Interview with the Special Tribunal for Lebanon
Last week, I interviewed Dr. Fatima el Issawi, spokesperson of the Special Tribunal for Lebanon. The full interview is available at Foreign Policy’s Mideast Channel, but I’ve pasted the first exchange below. Much of the responses are of a general “statements of principles” nature, but I think that there are some things to be gleaned … Continue reading
Hariri’s Next Move
Saad al-Hariri has yet to issue a statement about last night’s press conference, since he is apparently out of the country (where he always seems to be whenever Nasrallah issues one of his earth-shaking statements about the tribunal.) Until he returns and provides some indication as to how his government is going to respond to … Continue reading
Qifa Nabki 
And the people say…