Qifa Nabki
Hariri investigation
Hariri Painted Into a Corner by the STL?
The most significant piece of information that was announced last night during Hizbullah secretary-general Sayyid Hasan Nasrallah’s press conference was not the fact that members of his party would soon be indicted by the Special Tribunal for Lebanon. That much we’ve known (or, at least, been told) for several months. Rather, the most noteworthy thing … Continue reading
Damocles’s Armory
I know several foreigners who are traveling to Lebanon this summer, and so I’m routinely asked about the chances of “something happening” while they are there. I usually adopt a thoughtful expression, pause for a moment, and tell them not to worry. This seems to work. Sometimes, if I am feeling mischievous, I adopt a … Continue reading
Nasrallah To Discuss Hariri Tribunal Tonight
Hizbullah secretary-general Sayyid Hasan Nasrallah will be interviewed this evening on al-Manar at 21:30 PM Beirut time (14:30 PM EST, 18:30 GMT). I expect it to be an important exchange, and the choice of an interview format (rather than a formal address) may suggest that Nasrallah is aiming to defuse tensions resulting from all the … Continue reading
Defense Strategy, STL, Democracy
A few notes: 1. Defense strategy: Mara Karlin, the former Pentagon Levant director, has an interesting piece about U.S. military assistance to Lebanon, in The Daily Star: “One year ago, my first effort after leaving the US Defense Department was to publish a piece in a major Israeli newspaper explaining why Israel should support a … Continue reading
Secret Witnesses in the Hariri Investigation?
Check out this story by Jean Aziz in al-Akhbar. What I’m wondering is where the TV station got the information about the route that the “secret informant” traveled after the interview with the STL investigators, among other things. I’ve posted an English translation of part of the article below, courtesy of Mideastwire. (I’ll fill in … Continue reading
Qifa Nabki 
And the people say…