Lebanon bids farewell to ex-PM Karami

TRIPOLI, Lebanon: Thousands of mourners marched in Tripoli’s streets to bid farewell to Omar Karami Friday, one day after Lebanon lost its two-time prime minister who had fought a long battle with cancer.

Undeterred by the stormy weather, residents of Tripoli flocked to the Abdel-Hamid Karami Square, named after Karami’s late father, in the early morning hours to receive the coffin of the late prime minister.

Karami, 80, passed away Thursday at the American University of Beirut Medical Center.

Shops in Tripoli closed and black banners expressing grief for the death of Karami, better known by locals as the “afandi,” fluttered across the city and other parts of the north.

Coming from Beirut, the procession made its first stop in the town of Batroun, where locals held the casket, draped in Lebanon’s flag, and fired in the air. The second stop was in Qalamoun.

Once the procession reached Tripoli, mourners carried the coffin to Karami’s residence in Karm al-Qilleh neighborhood, shouting slogans such as “Allahu Akbar,” and “farewell Omar,” as scout bands played music amid tight security measures by the Army and the ISF.

The coffin was placed in a cannon wagon that was taken to the Grand Mansouri Mosque, where a funeral service was held.

Some chose to watch the crowds from their windows and balconies as women showered the procession with rice and flowers.

Born in Tripoli on March 17, 1935, Karami headed two of Lebanon’s governments following the 1989 Taif Accord that ended the country’s 15-year Civil War.

But he resigned from both governments under popular pressure in light of dramatic events.

In May 1992, Karami stepped down following nationwide union protests against a sharp depreciation in Lebanese currency.

He resigned again from the premiership in February 2005, two weeks after the assassination of former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri after the opposition held his government responsible for the crime.

Deep political rivalries plaguing the country were suspended inside the Grand Mansouri Mosque, with former Prime Minister Najib Mikati sitting between former premiers Fouad Siniora and Tammam Salam.

Also present at the mosque were Tripoli MPs and a host of other officials and locals.

Delivering Friday’s sermon prior to funeral prayers, Grand Mufti Sheikh Abdel-Latif Derian expressed sorrow that his first visit to Tripoli after being elected to his post last summer was on such a sad occasion.

“My brothers, I was wishing to visit Tripoli, but not on this sad day when we lost a patriotic pillar and one of the great men of the nation and this struggling city,” Derian said. “But I submit to God’s will.”

Following the funeral prayers, Karami was laid to rest at his family’s cemetery in Bab al-Raml.

Salam declared Friday, Saturday and Sunday national mourning days, during which flags at the headquarters of official institutions will be at half staff. In a statement, he described Karami as a political leader who always sought to protect Lebanon and its coexistence. “Karami recognized the meaning of Lebanon and the importance of preserving coexistence. He has always held the flag of moderation,” he said.

Ex-Prime Minister Saad Hariri said Karami was a symbol of moderation and a respected rival in politics.

“If politics in Lebanon sometimes do not value the importance of differences in opinions, and consider them a factor of division, we always found that our differences with premier Karami were an additional source of mutual respect,” he said.

Hezbollah said Lebanon has lost a wise man who backed the resistance and the Arab identity of Lebanon.

Taking part in the funeral were former President Michel Sleiman, MP Ali Bazzi representing Speaker Nabih Berri, Foreign Minister Gebran Bassil, Education Minister Elias Bou Saab and Social Affairs Minister Rashid Derbas.

Also present was a delegation of Druze sheikhs; Taymur Jumblatt, the son of MP Walid Jumblatt; Health Minister Wael Abu Faour and Agriculture Minister Akram Chehayeb.

General Security chief Maj. Gen. Abbas Ibrahim and other security officials were also on hand.

Lebanon bids farewell to ex-PM Karami

TRIPOLI, Lebanon: Thousands of mourners marched in Tripoli’s streets to bid farewell to Omar Karami Friday, one day after Lebanon lost its two-time prime minister who had fought a long battle with cancer.

Undeterred by the stormy weather, residents of Tripoli flocked to the Abdel-Hamid Karami Square, named after Karami’s late father, in the early morning hours to receive the coffin of the late prime minister.

Karami, 80, passed away Thursday at the American University of Beirut Medical Center.

Shops in Tripoli closed and black banners expressing grief for the death of Karami, better known by locals as the “afandi,” fluttered across the city and other parts of the north.

Coming from Beirut, the procession made its first stop in the town of Batroun, where locals held the casket, draped in Lebanon’s flag, and fired in the air. The second stop was in Qalamoun.

Once the procession reached Tripoli, mourners carried the coffin to Karami’s residence in Karm al-Qilleh neighborhood, shouting slogans such as “Allahu Akbar,” and “farewell Omar,” as scout bands played music amid tight security measures by the Army and the ISF.

The coffin was placed in a cannon wagon that was taken to the Grand Mansouri Mosque, where a funeral service was held.

Some chose to watch the crowds from their windows and balconies as women showered the procession with rice and flowers.

Born in Tripoli on March 17, 1935, Karami headed two of Lebanon’s governments following the 1989 Taif Accord that ended the country’s 15-year Civil War.

But he resigned from both governments under popular pressure in light of dramatic events.

In May 1992, Karami stepped down following nationwide union protests against a sharp depreciation in Lebanese currency.

He resigned again from the premiership in February 2005, two weeks after the assassination of former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri after the opposition held his government responsible for the crime.

Deep political rivalries plaguing the country were suspended inside the Grand Mansouri Mosque, with former Prime Minister Najib Mikati sitting between former premiers Fouad Siniora and Tammam Salam.

Also present at the mosque were Tripoli MPs and a host of other officials and locals.

Delivering Friday’s sermon prior to funeral prayers, Grand Mufti Sheikh Abdel-Latif Derian expressed sorrow that his first visit to Tripoli after being elected to his post last summer was on such a sad occasion.

“My brothers, I was wishing to visit Tripoli, but not on this sad day when we lost a patriotic pillar and one of the great men of the nation and this struggling city,” Derian said. “But I submit to God’s will.”

Following the funeral prayers, Karami was laid to rest at his family’s cemetery in Bab al-Raml.

Salam declared Friday, Saturday and Sunday national mourning days, during which flags at the headquarters of official institutions will be at half staff. In a statement, he described Karami as a political leader who always sought to protect Lebanon and its coexistence. “Karami recognized the meaning of Lebanon and the importance of preserving coexistence. He has always held the flag of moderation,” he said.

Ex-Prime Minister Saad Hariri said Karami was a symbol of moderation and a respected rival in politics.

“If politics in Lebanon sometimes do not value the importance of differences in opinions, and consider them a factor of division, we always found that our differences with premier Karami were an additional source of mutual respect,” he said.

Hezbollah said Lebanon has lost a wise man who backed the resistance and the Arab identity of Lebanon.

Taking part in the funeral were former President Michel Sleiman, MP Ali Bazzi representing Speaker Nabih Berri, Foreign Minister Gebran Bassil, Education Minister Elias Bou Saab and Social Affairs Minister Rashid Derbas.

Also present was a delegation of Druze sheikhs; Taymur Jumblatt, the son of MP Walid Jumblatt; Health Minister Wael Abu Faour and Agriculture Minister Akram Chehayeb.

General Security chief Maj. Gen. Abbas Ibrahim and other security officials were also on hand.

Rai: Aoun-Geagea meeting important step to end vacuum

BEIRUT: Maronite Patriarch Beshara Rai has lent support for the planned dialogue between the country’s two rival Christian leaders, describing it as an “important step” toward ending the deadlock that has left Lebanon without a president for more than seven months, Bkirki officials said Friday.

“Patriarch Rai has given his blessing to the [upcoming] meeting between Lebanese Forces chief Samir Geagea and MP Michel Aoun and considers it to be an important step toward breaking the presidential impasse,” Hares Chehab, secretary-general of the Islamic-Christian National Dialogue Committee, told The Daily Star.

Chehab, who represents the Maronite patriarch on the Dialogue Committee, said talks between Aoun, the head of the Free Patriotic Movement, and Geagea was “also important because it involves two major factions who represent the biggest segment in the Maronite community, which is essentially concerned with the presidential election.”

“Filling the vacant presidency post represents the Christian party’s participation in running the country’s public affairs. Unless this post is filled, there can be no real participation [in power-sharing between Muslims and Christians] and no coexistence,” he added.

The influential Catholic Maronite Church, which had played a key role in the past in supporting candidates to the country’s top post customarily held by a Maronite, has voiced concerns over Parliament’s repeated failures since April due to a lack of quorum to choose a successor to former President Michel Sleiman, whose six-year mandate ended on May 25.

Speaker Nabih Berri has called for a new Parliament session to elect a president on Jan. 7 amid signs that the session was doomed to fail like the previous 17 abortive attempts as the rival March 8 and March 14 parties remain split over a consensus candidate to break the deadlock.

Earlier Friday, MP Ibrahim Kanaan from Aoun’s bloc said a meeting between the FPM and LF leaders was imminent.

“No final date has been set yet for the meeting, but it is not far off,” Kanaan told the Voice of Lebanon radio station. “Agreement has been reached on the broad lines of the [dialogue] agenda and fine tuning is being done to some issues.”

Kanaan stressed the need to organize relations between rival Christian parties in order to adopt “a unified vision regarding state institutions and the political system.”

“We hope this move [dialogue] would bring the Christians closer to adopting a common ground that would make them stronger and more effective in politics,” he said. “The presidential election is a gateway to all solutions.”

In a move seen as facilitating the launch of dialogue between Aoun and Geagea, both of whom are vying for the presidency seat, the FPM and LF have announced that all lawsuits over libel and slander filed against each other’s media outlets and journalists would be dropped.

Rai said the Maronite Church encouraged all dialogue initiatives that aim to search for solutions to the country’s myriad political and security woes.

“We bless and encourage all dialogue initiatives among various political parties in Lebanon to end the stagnation and defuse tensions and begin mutual steps to find solutions for our political, economic and security problems,” Rai said during a New Year’s Day sermon Thursday.

U.N. renews Hariri special tribunal mandate for three years

As Hezbollah grows, corruption takes root

The revelation that yet another spy working for Israel has been exposed inside the ranks of Hezbollah raises serious...

As Hezbollah grows, corruption takes root

BEIRUT: The revelation that yet another spy working for Israel has been exposed inside the ranks of Hezbollah raises serious questions about the integrity of the organization at a time when it faces allegations of corruption and mismanagement.

Hezbollah once had an enviable reputation for financial probity in a country where sleaze and nepotism is endemic. Yet Hezbollah’s enormous expansion in manpower, military assets and cash generation since 2006 has perhaps inevitably led to a weakening of the party’s internal control mechanisms, making it susceptible to the lure of corruption and penetration by Israeli intelligence agencies.

In the years ahead, the phenomenon of corruption will pose an even graver threat to Hezbollah than Israel’s military might.

The alleged arrest of Mohammad Shawraba, variously described as a former top official in Hezbollah’s external operations unit and Sayyed Hasan Nasrallah’s personal security chief, is said to have been the most serious infiltration yet of the party by Israel’s Mossad intelligence agency. Shawraba reportedly offered Israel information that allowed it to thwart a number of attacks that were intended to serve as revenge of the 2008 assassination of Imad Mughniyeh, Hezbollah’s former military commander.

If the allegations are confirmed – and Hezbollah has not yet denied the reports – Shawraba would be only the latest of several Hezbollah members or Shiite figures trusted by the party to have been caught spying for Israel in the past eight years. Others include Mohammad “Abu Abed” Slim, one of the original members of Hezbollah who reportedly served in the party’s counter-intelligence apparatus and was financial chief for external operations. He defected to Israel in 2011, apparently by jumping on board the bucket of an Israeli poclain excavator which lifted him over the border fence near Rmeish. Hezbollah subsequently said Slim had never been a member of the party.

In 2009, Hezbollah arrested Marwan Faqih, a car dealer from Nabatiyah who was sufficiently well trusted by the party to supply the cadres with vehicles. Hezbollah discovered that Faqih’s cars were fitted with GPS transmitting devices that tracked the movements of the vehicles. The recorded GPS tracks presumably allowed the Israelis to build up a map of secret Hezbollah facilities across Lebanon.

Then in 2012, Hussein Fahs, reportedly a top financial officer and head of Hezbollah’s communications network, was said to have fled to Israel, taking with him $5 million along with sensitive maps and documents, after Hezbollah discovered that he was involved in a massive fraud operation involving the party’s fiber-optic communications network. Fahs was an embezzler rather than an Israeli spy prior to his departure for Israel, although the distinction would have made little difference to Hezbollah, which had to assess and contain the damage caused by his defection.

Twenty years ago, however, allegations of corruption and Israel’s recruiting of Hezbollah officials were unheard of. That may in part be explained by the fact that it is only in the past decade or so that Hezbollah has fielded an effective counter-intelligence unit to track down spies within its ranks.

But then again, Hezbollah was a much smaller organization in the 1990s with tighter discipline and internal controls and a deeper sense of personal security among the cadres. At the time, Hezbollah was focused on confronting Israel’s occupation of south Lebanon which won it a swath of admirers across the sectarian divide. Politically, Hezbollah had an effective parliamentary presence and was steadily building up its support base and challenging the Amal Movement’s then leadership of the Shiite community.

Israel had few covert successes against Hezbollah in the 1990s due to the air-tight security in which the party operated. It assassinated then Hezbollah chief Sayyed Abbas Mussawi in 1992, although that operation backfired as Israel lost an embassy in Buenos Aires a month later and Mussawi was replaced by the even more effective Nasrallah. Israel was able to recruit some non-Shiite Lebanese agents in the 1990s.

Perhaps the most damaging for Hezbollah was Mahmoud Rafeh, a retired policeman from Hasbaya who, following his arrest in 2006, admitted responsibility for the 1999 road-side bomb assassination of Ali “Abu Hasan” Deeb, the head of Hezbollah’s special operations unit in south Lebanon, and the 2006 car bomb killing of Nidal and Mahmoud Majzoub, two top Islamic Jihad commanders.

Since the 2006 war, Hezbollah has grown immensely in political and martial power and its army of fighters is perhaps five times larger than before 2006, representing a genuine challenge for Israel in any future war. Yet, paradoxically, its rapid expansion has also made it more vulnerable internally. In some respects, Hezbollah has become a victim of its own success, turning from the relatively small streamlined resistance group of two decades ago into a sprawling bureaucracy with looser internal controls which is dissolving its previously impermeable wall of security. Even within Shiite circles, among Hezbollah’s general support base, there is talk of how the party has lost its aura of integrity compared to before 2006.

It is telling that the resignation last week of Ghaleb Abu Zeinab from his post as Hezbollah’s liaison with the Christian community was accompanied by allegations that he was dismissed over charges of corruption. No evidence has emerged to suggest there is any truth to the claims, but the fact that the allegations were raised in the first place illustrates, perhaps, how closely the words “Hezbollah” and “corruption” have become associated in the minds of some people.

Nasrallah is believed to have worked hard to clamp down on graft and pilfering within his organization, but corruption, once it takes root, is hard to remove.

Uri Lubrani, Israel’s veteran Lebanon coordinator during the occupation years, once said Hezbollah would only be defeated when it caught the disease of the Palestine Liberation Organization in Lebanon, in other words become lazy, bourgeois and corrupt. Hezbollah’s leaders have watched both the PLO in Lebanon and the Amal Movement succumb to the cancer of corruption over the decades and now face a challenge to reverse the party’s descent along the same insidious path.

Karami, two-time premier ousted by tumultuous events

BEIRUT: Omar Karami, who died Thursday at the age of 80, headed two of Lebanon’s governments and resigned from borth under popular pressure amid dramatic developments which hit the country.

A scion of a prominent Tripoli political family, Karami was born on March 17, 1935.

His father, the late Abdel Hamid Karami, played a major role in achieving the country’s independence in 1943, and served as a prime minister, a minister and an MP at different periods during the tenure of Beshara al-Khoury, the first president after independence.

Omar Karami studied at the American University of Beirut and then moved to Cairo, where he obtained a law degree in 1956. He founded his own law firm the same year.

He first entered the political arena after the June 1987 assassination of his elder brother Rashid, who served as prime minister eight times between 1955 and 1987.

With the signing of the 1989 Taif Agreement ending Lebanon’s 1975-1990 Civil War, Omar Karami was appointed the education minister in the government of Prime Minister Salim al-Hoss. In December 1990, Karami became prime minister.

Karami’s government took bold steps to erase the traces of the Civil War, dismantling and disarming all militias that took part in the 15-year conflict.

Under his leadership, the government introduced a general amnesty law in March 1991.

The Lebanese lira sharply depreciated during the last days of Karami’s first tenure as prime minister, sparking nationwide union protests, that ultimately forced him to step down in May 1992.

Months later, Karami ran in the first parliamentary elections held since the end of the Civil War, and became a lawmaker in his home region of Tripoli.

He was re-elected consecutively in the parliamentary polls of 1996 and 2000.

Karami was a staunch critic of the policies of late Prime Minister Rafik Hariri.

After Hariri’s resignation following the controversial three-year extension of President Emile Lahoud’s term, Karami was once again nominated as prime minister.

He formed a government in October 2004, holding the post of prime minister on Feb. 14, 2005 when Hariri was assassinated.

The opposition held his government responsible for the assassination, organizing mass rallies in Downtown Beirut.

Karami subsequently stepped down on Feb. 28 after Sidon MP Bahia Hariri, the sister of the assassinated prime minister, delivered a fiery speech in which she called on him to resign.

He was nominated to form a new government days later, but was not successful.

With the Syrian army’s withdrawal from Lebanon in April 2005, Karami aligned with the Hezbollah-led March 8 coalition.

He ran for parliamentary polls in 2009 but did not succeed.

However, his son Faisal was appointed in June 2011 as the minister of youth and sports in the government of Najib Mikati.

Karami is survived by his wife Maryam Qoubtan, sons Faisal, and Khaled, and daughters Youmn and Zeina.

Congress Could Find Energy Compromise With Hydropower

Audio for this story from All Things Considered will be available at approximately 7:00 p.m. ET.

With the Republicans in the majority in both the House and Senate in Washington, there will be changes in energy policy in the next few years. Republicans are pledging to approve the Keystone XL pipeline and to delay or derail the Obama administration's clean air proposals.

Copyright © 2015 NPR. For personal, noncommercial use only. See Terms of Use. For other uses, prior permission required.

Copyright © 2015 NPR. All rights reserved. No quotes from the materials contained herein may be used in any media without attribution to NPR. This transcript is provided for personal, noncommercial use only, pursuant to our Terms of Use. Any other use requires NPR's prior permission. Visit our permissions page for further information.

NPR transcripts are created on a rush deadline by a contractor for NPR, and accuracy and availability may vary. This text may not be in its final form and may be updated or revised in the future. Please be aware that the authoritative record of NPR's programming is the audio.

Week In Politics: Jeb Bush, Remembering Mario Cuomo

Audio for this story from All Things Considered will be available at approximately 7:00 p.m. ET.

Robert Siegel talks to regular political commentators E.J. Dionne of the Washington Post and Brookings Institution and Ramesh Ponnuru, senior editor for The National Review.

Copyright © 2015 NPR. For personal, noncommercial use only. See Terms of Use. For other uses, prior permission required.

Copyright © 2015 NPR. All rights reserved. No quotes from the materials contained herein may be used in any media without attribution to NPR. This transcript is provided for personal, noncommercial use only, pursuant to our Terms of Use. Any other use requires NPR's prior permission. Visit our permissions page for further information.

NPR transcripts are created on a rush deadline by a contractor for NPR, and accuracy and availability may vary. This text may not be in its final form and may be updated or revised in the future. Please be aware that the authoritative record of NPR's programming is the audio.

Some Not-So-Conventional Wisdom About The Next Congress

i i

Former lawmaker Ben Franklin keeps his eye out for Congress' newest class, due to start work on Capitol Hill Monday. Alex Brandon/AP hide caption

itoggle caption Alex Brandon/AP

Former lawmaker Ben Franklin keeps his eye out for Congress' newest class, due to start work on Capitol Hill Monday.

Alex Brandon/AP

In politics, conventional wisdom can have a certain power. But, sometimes the obviously true thing isn't so true upon inspection.

The new Republican Congress hits Capitol Hill on Monday, but the latest round of that wisdom seems to have already been established — from how it's going to work to its relationship with President Obama. Here's a look at 2 1/2 pieces of that wisdom.

1. Republicans are going to have to show they can govern

At this point, it's been said so many times it's become an established Washington truth.

In his NPR interview late last month, President Obama said: "They are going to be in a position in which they have to show that they can responsibly govern, given that they have significant majorities in both chambers."

And Colorado Republican Sen.-elect Cory Gardner on Fox News Sunday back in November had a similar sentiment: "If Republicans don't prove that we can govern with maturity, that we can govern with competence, we'll see the same kind of results two years from now, except it will be a wave going back a different direction."

He's saying Republicans could lose their majority if they don't show they can govern. Or not.

"You're creating a test that you cannot pass," says Ramesh Ponnuru, senior editor at the conservative publication National Review, which ran an editorial titled "The Governing Trap." "That requires the support of people who have an incentive for you not to pass it."

That is, if the definition of governing is passing bills the president signs into law, then Ponnuru says congressional Republicans shouldn't make that their goal. Instead, he says, they should do the basics, keep the government open for business and outline an agenda they'd implement with a Republican president. That, Ponnuru says, is what Democrats did when they took the majority in 2006 for President Bush's final two years in office.

"They don't run in 2008 on the basis of the things they cooperated with President Bush to accomplish, and it's just I think sort of absurd to think that that's the right strategy for Republicans to employ," he says.

2. House Democrats will be totally irrelevant

They'll have fewer members than they had in the last Congress. "Make no mistake about it, Minority Leader Pelosi would much rather be Speaker Pelosi by any condition," says former GOP Congressman Tom Reynolds. "She is the steward of the minority in some real tough circumstances."

But John Lawrence, former chief of staff to Pelosi says hold on. "I always refer to it as the Rodney Dangerfield of politics. They get no respect." But in this case, he says, the House Democrats are "very salient" for two reasons.

First, when it comes to legislation where Republicans aren't united — like votes to keep the government funded — some Democratic support will inevitably be needed for passage. And second, Lawrence points to presidential vetoes. Take a bill to approve the Keystone XL pipeline. Many expect the president would veto it. Republicans don't need House Democrats to get it passed.

"But you can't override vetoes with only Republican votes and that means that Pelosi and the House Democrats have an ace up their sleeve," Lawrence says. "And then the House Democrats become highly, highly relevant in terms of upholding those vetoes."

2 1/2. The president will start wiedling the veto pen

How often will there even be vetoes to uphold? That's our final bit of conventional wisdom. President Obama has said he expects his veto pen to get a workout. But with only 54 Republican senators in the new Congress, it will be rare for a bill Obama dislikes to get the 60 votes needed to overcome procedural hurdles and make it to his desk.

Refugees in north Lebanon plead for help ahead of heavy storm

AKKAR, Lebanon: With a heavy storm underway, Syrian refugees in Akkar called Friday on the United Nations and the Lebanese government for assistance in managing the weather’s impact on their fragile shelters.

A refugee camp in Akkar nearly washed away in rainfall Friday, as muddy waters ran through tents, emptying them of furniture and goods.

Residents of the makeshift camp called on local NGOs, the Lebanese government and the U.N. to improve their living conditions, especially since harsh weather is expected to persist over the weekend and throughout next week.

According to the Meteorology Department of the Lebanese Civil Aviation Authority, snow fell at an altitude of 1,700 meters Friday.

Saturday will witness heavy rainfall and thunderstorms across the country as temperatures continue to drop. Low temperatures will also lead to heavy snowfall.

Sunday’s weather will be cloudy with rain and intermittent thunderstorms and snowfall.

Temperatures on Lebanon’s coast will range from 13 to 18 degrees Celsius. In the mountains temperatures will range between 6 and 11 degrees Celsius.

The Lebanese Agricultural Research Institute Thursday also warned of stormy weather.

In a statement, the institute said heavy rain would begin Friday and temperatures were expected to drastically drop as a result of the storm called “Manu.”

"The weather will be stormy on Jan. 6, 7, 8 and snowfall could be seen in regions with altitudes of 800 meters above sea level,” the institute said.

Heavy rain and strong winds will continue until Jan. 7.

Heavy snowfall Friday blocked the road linking Kfardebian to Baalbek.

Rainfall also caused water to accumulate both in and outside of the tunnel leading to Beirut’s international airport, the Traffic Management Center told The Daily Star that the road remained safe for motorists.

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Lebanon anounces unprecedented entry restrictions for Syrians

BEIRUT: Lebanon’s General Security approved unprecedented entry restrictions for Syrian nationals who will no longer be able to enter Lebanon without a visa, in a move aimed at curbing the entry of refugees fleeing almost four years of conflict.

A statement released by General Security on New Year’s Eve said that under the new regulations, which will take effect on Jan. 5, 2015, Syrians can apply for six types of entry visas, including tourist, business, student, transit, short stay and medical.

Tourists should provide a hotel booking, cash worth US $1,000, in addition to valid passports and identification papers in order to get a visa for the duration of their hotel reservation.

Business visitors should be able to submit additional papers proving they have business interests in Lebanon or are invited by local or Lebanon-based companies, to be granted a maximum one-month visa, the statement said.

Syrian nationals, who own properties in Lebanon, must also present supporting documents, whereas students are required to provide official admission letters proving they are enrolled in Lebanese schools and universities.

Two-day transit visas are granted to Syrian travelers through Lebanese ports and airport, and to applicants to foreign embassies who had closed down their offices in Syria and relocated in Lebanon, the statement added.

Lebanon, which hosts over 1.2 million Syrian refugees, started tightening control on the entry of Syrian refugees last year by limiting access to extreme humanitarian and medical cases.

Crowds fill Tripoli square for funeral of ex-Lebanon premier

Karami remembered as true statesman

Allies and rivals praised former Prime Minister Omar Karami, who died Thursday morning at the age of 80, as a true...

Aoun-Geagea dialogue agenda has been set: Kanaan

March 8 rejects centrist president: Frangieh

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