TRIPOLI, Lebanon — The black-and-white flags of al-Qaeda’s wing in Syria still flutter over this impoverished city in northern Lebanon. And the anger that fueled a major clash last month involving Sunni extremists still simmers underneath a shaky calm. The Lebanese military now controls Tripoli. But the militants who fought street-by-street battles with soldiers represent a growing challenge to the stability of this already deeply divided country.The militants are Lebanese citizens who went to fight in Syria’s civil war, assisted by money and weapons from Sunni politicians here, according to religious leaders, politicians and military officials.

The Sunnis sympathize with the rebellion led by Syria’s majority Sunnis against a government dominated by Alawites, whose faith is an offshoot of Shiite Islam.

In Syria, the young militants became radicalized by such groups as the Islamic State and Jabhat al-Nusra, al-Qaeda’s Syrian affiliate, religious leaders and politicians say. Now, back in Lebanon, they are increasingly clashing with the military.

 

  SIDON, Lebanon: The Lebanese Army held Palestinian factions in the port city of Sidon responsible for hiding Islamist fugitives at Lebanon’s biggest Ain al-Hilweh refugee camp. The reproach was made by head of Lebanese Army Intelligence in south Lebanon, Brig. Gen. Ali Shahrour, at a meeting at Sidon’s Army Barracks with officials from the […]

  BEIRUT: The Constitutional Council’s subcommittee agreed Wednesday on a mechanism for deciding the fate of the challenge filed by Free Patriotic Movement’s Change and Reform bloc contesting Parliament’s decision to extend its mandate for more than two and a half years. Media reports said the subcommittee approved the guidelines that it would follow in […]

  Famed Lebanese singer and actress Sabah whose seven-decade career made her one of the Arab world’s best-known entertainers passed away at dawn on Wednesday aged 87. Born Jeanette Gergis al-Feghali, known as Sabah, the diva was famous across the Arab world for her powerful voice, musical talent and joyful brazenness and is considered among […]

 

XWH11. Beirut (Lebanon), 30/11/2014.- Family members and friends attend a funeral procession for Lebanese singer Sabah, as her coffin draped with the national flag is placed at the Saint George Church in downtown Beirut, Lebanon, 30 November 2014. According to media reports Sabah, whose real name is Jeanette Gergis al-Feghali died on 26 November 2014 at the age of 87. She launched her singing and acting career in the early 50s, quickly becoming a household name in much of the Arab world. (Líbano) EFE/EPA/WAEL HAMZEH

 

 

Friends and relatives of Lebanese singer and actress Sabah, gather around her coffin during her funeral procession, at St. George Cathedral in downtown Beirut, Lebanon, Sunday Nov. 30, 2014. The daylong proceedings took on a festive air the crowds celebrated the taboo-breaking six-decade career of Sabah, who died Wednesday at the age of 87. A military brass band played in the street outside St. George Cathedral, where fans clapped and sang their favorite Sabah songs. (AP Photo/Hussein Malla)

 

 

XNM01. Beirut (Lebanon), 30/11/2014.- Lebanese patriarch Bchara Rai (C-back) prays next to the coffin of Lebanese artist and actress Sabah during her funeral in saint Georges church in down town Beirut, Lebanon, 30 November 2014. According to media reports Sabah, whose real name is Jeanette Gergis al-Feghali died on 26 November 2014 at the age of 87. She launched her singing and acting career in the early 50s, quickly becoming a household name in much of the Arab world. (Líbano) EFE/EPA/NABIL MOUNZER

 

 

Friends and relatives of Lebanese singer and actress Sabah, carry her coffin during her funeral procession, at St. George Cathedral in downtown Beirut, Lebanon, Sunday Nov. 30, 2014. The daylong proceedings took on a festive air the crowds celebrated the taboo-breaking six-decade career of Sabah, who died Wednesday at the age of 87. A military brass band played in the street outside St. George Cathedral, where fans clapped and sang their favorite Sabah songs. (AP Photo/Hussein Malla)

 

Maronite Patriarch Bechara Rai, background center, leads prayers during the funeral procession of Lebanese singer and actress Sabah, at the St. George Cathedral in downtown Beirut, Lebanon, Sunday Nov. 30, 2014. The daylong proceedings took on a festive air the crowds celebrated the taboo-breaking six-decade career of Sabah, who died Wednesday at the age of 87. A military brass band played in the street outside St. George Cathedral, where fans clapped and sang their favorite Sabah songs. (AP Photo/Hussein Malla)

 

Lebanese army musicians perform songs of singer and actress Sabah, an icon of Arab music, during her funeral procession, outside the St. George Cathedral in downtown Beirut, Lebanon, Sunday, Nov. 30, 2014. The daylong proceedings took on a festive air the crowds celebrated the taboo-breaking six-decade career of Sabah, who died Wednesday at the age of 87. A military brass band played in the street outside St. George Cathedral, where fans clapped and sang their favorite Sabah songs. Sabah died Wednesday at the age of 87. (AP Photo/Hussein Malla)

 

 

 

Friends and relatives of Lebanese singer and actress Sabah, an icon of Arab music, carry her coffin wrapped with the Lebanese flag, as other applaud during her funeral procession, at the St. George Cathedral in downtown Beirut, Lebanon, Sunday Nov. 30, 2014. The daylong proceedings have taken on a festive air as friends, relatives and fans celebrate Sabah’s storied and taboo-breaking six-decade career. Earlier in the day, traditional dancers performed to the singer’s songs played from loudspeakers. (AP Photo/Hussein Malla)

 

 

 

Sabah posing in the 1960s on the set of a film in the Mediterranean port city of Alexandria

 

Sabah acted several times with Egyptian heart-throb Ahmad Ramzi

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

BEIRUT (AP) — Hundreds of friends, family and fans packed into a Beirut church Sunday to say farewell to the famed Lebanese singer, actress and entertainer Sabah. The daylong proceedings took on a festive air as the crowds celebrated the taboo-breaking six-decade career of Sabah, who died Wednesday at the age of 87. A military brass band played in the street outside St. George Cathedral in downtown Beirut, where fans clapped and sang their favorite Sabah songs. Earlier, a troupe of dancers in traditional dress performed to the diva’s music played from loudspeakers. "I will call it celebration not a funeral," said Lebanese actress Ward El-Khal. "We feel today that we came here to share her feelings and to remember her. We will miss her."

 

Daily Star – Nizar Hassan 

 Song and dance shattered the usual Sunday quiet in Downtown Beirut, with citizens, musicians, public figures, former colleagues of the diva and her relatives celebrating the life of figure whose impact transcended borders. The mood inside Saint George Church where her funeral mass was more toned down, with a sermon by Maronite Patriarch Beshara Rai. Sabah’s coffin arrived in a white hearse covered with white flowers, which led a convoy of five black hearses carrying the wreaths that had the names of nearly all of Lebanon’s most known figures. Among the names were those of former prime minister Saad Hariri, Speaker Nabih Berri, Free Patriotic leader Michel Aoun, Lebanese Forces leader Samir Geagea, and Army Commander Gen. Jean Kahwagi. Perhaps the most touching of all tags was the one written by the other legendary icon of Lebanese art, Fairouz. “Your sun never sets,” she wrote. Prime Minister Tammam Salam also carried a wreath for her at the funeral, after many of his Cabinet ministers arrived to pay their respects. “It is just normal that a person, who filled the hearts of all the Lebanese with joy and life, is remembered by all these people in her final day,” MP Elie Keyrouz, observing the huge line of wreaths and reading their tags, told The Daily Star. “But it’s unfortunate that Lebanon is incomplete at this moment. It’s sad that there is no president to tell her goodbye.” Trying to fight back tears with smiles, Alia, a 70-year-old long-time fan of the artist, nicknamed Sabbouha, found it difficult to find words to express her emotions. “More than anyone in the whole world, Sabah brought happiness to the hearts of every single person who heard her songs,” she said. “I, and millions like me, would have not enjoyed our youth so much if not for her.” But not only those who had the chance to grow up in Sabah’s golden years were influenced by her. Many youths rushed down with their parents to Downtown Beirut, sang her songs and threw flowers on her convoy. The glory of the moment eclipsed its sadness, which left space for each to manifest it in their own way. Dabke dancers jolted with the sound of her music; singers recited parts of her most notable songs for TV reporters, while the Army brought its orchestra to play the her music in remarkable precedent. Dressed in black from head to toe and wearing shoes with wooden heels, a woman surprised the crowd when she started performing a flamenco dance in harmonious rhythm. Sabbouha’s coffin, draped with a Lebanese flag and covered with white flowers, was carried into the hall of the Saint George Church, where the Patriarch Rai prepared to lead mass. The church was packed with hundreds of admirers, some of whom watched from the high balconies. Sabah’s portraits showing her charming smile occupied every corner of the church, from its gates, to the walls of its outdoor hall, to the pins so proudly displayed by her fans. “She should be remembered every day, in every home, and by everyone who appreciates what she gave us,” Darine Hadchiti, a Lebanese celebrity and singer, told The Daily Star.

For Hadchiti, Lebanon’s modern singers and actresses have a very important lesson to learn from Shahroura, another nickname, meaning singing bird in Arabic. “It’s all about modesty,” she said. “If Sabah’s character was not so extraordinarily modest, you wouldn’t have seen all these people coming here just to express how much respect they have for her.” The funeral convoy carrying Sabah’s coffin had departed around noon from her residence in the Comfort Hotel in Hazmieh, where hundreds of her neighbors flooded the streets to say their goodbyes. Born Jeanette Feghali in Bdadoun, a town in Aley, the star who passed away at the age 87 was the first Arab singer to perform at Olympia in Paris, Carnegie Hall in New York, Piccadilly Theater in London and the Sydney Opera House in Australia. She has starred in 83 films (Lebanese and Egyptian) and 27 Lebanese plays. Sabah also has over 3,000 Lebanese and Egyptian songs. She received many awards during her lengthy career, including one from The Dubai International Film Festival and another by former Lebanese President Michel Sleiman at the Beiteddine Art Festival. She was also honored by the Egyptian Cinema in Cairo in Beirut with a statue. She is survived by her son, Dr. Sabah Shammas, from her first marriage to Najib Shammas, and her daughter Howeida, from her marriage to Egyptian violinist Anwar Mansi.
 

BEIRUT (Reuters) – Lebanese singer Sabah, one of the leading Arab performers of her generation, has died at the age of 87, her family said on Wednesday.

Born Jeanette Feghali and known to her fans as the "singing bird", Sabah recorded at least 4,000 songs in her lifetime, experts on her career say.

In the mid-1970s, she became the second Arab singer after Egypt’s Oum Kalthoum to perform at L’Olympia in Paris. She also performed at London’s Royal Albert Hall and the Sydney Opera House. Known affectionately across the Arab world as "Sabouha", a diminutive of Sabah, she began her singing and acting career in the 1940s in Egypt, the center of Arab cinema and entertainment. She acted in 83 movies that played to audiences across the Arabic-speaking world and in 27 Lebanese plays.

Sabah married formally seven times. Her husbands included a politician and some of the Arab world’s famous actors and musicians.

 

Kukil Bora, International Business Times,

The Islamic State group, which is said to be the world’s wealthiest terrorist organization with diversified sources of funding, received up to $45 million in ransom in the past year, according to a United Nations expert.

Yotsna Lalji, who monitors sanctions against al Qaeda, said in a meeting of the U.N. Security Council’s Counter-Terrorism Committee that as much as $120 million in ransom was estimated to have been paid to terrorist groups between 2004 and 2012, and ISIS collected between $35 million and $45 million in 2013 alone, The Associated Press (AP) reported.

According to Lalji, al Qaeda and its affiliates have made kidnapping “the core al-Qaida tactic for generating revenue,” in recent years. She also pointed to a 2012 video recording in which al Qaeda leader Ayman al-Zawahri provoked militants worldwide to abduct Westerners.

Lalji said that al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula, operating from Yemen, received $20 million in ransom between 2011 and 2013. On the other hand, al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb, operating in North Africa, got $75 million over the past four years, AP reported.

Michael B Kelley – Business Insider

The US and Turkey are headed for a showdown over Syria, as evidence mounts that Ankara is enabling groups that Washington is actively bombing.

Discord between the two allies is now more public than ever following a new report by Dr. Jonathan Schanzer and Merve Tahiroglu of the Foundation for Defense of Democracies.

"Bordering on Terrorism: Turkey’s Syria Policy and the Rise of the Islamic State" details Turkey’s apparent willingness to allow extremists — including militants from the Islamic State (aka IS, ISIS, or ISIL) — and their enablers to thrive on the 565-mile border with Syria in an attempt to secure the downfall of Syrian dictator Bashar Assad.

"The IS crisis has put Turkey and the US on a collision course," the report says. "Turkey refuses to allow the coalition to launch military strikes from its soil. Its military also merely looked on while IS besieged the Kurdish town of Kobani, just across its border. Turkey negotiated directly with IS in the summer of 2013 to release 49 Turks held by the terrorist group. In return, Ankara reportedly secured the release of 180 IS fighters, many of whom returned to the battlefield. 

"Meanwhile, the border continues to serve as a transit point for the illegal sale of oil, the transfer of weapons, and the flow of foreign fighters. Inside Turkey, IS has also established cells for recruiting militants and other logistical operations. All of this has raised questions about Turkey’s value as an American ally, and its place in the NATO alliance."

  BEIRUT: Inspection conducted by Lebanon’s National Social Security Fund in 2013 indicated that 3,311 employees eligible for social security insurance were not disclosed by their employers and that 414 files belonged to fictitious employees, stripping the fund of LL 57 billion ($37 million). In a statement released Tuesday, head of the NSSF Mohammad Karaki […]

  Former president Michel Suleiman on Monday called on the Maronite political parties to put aside “personal interests” and put an end to the drawn-out presidential vacuum. “I reiterate my call for all Maronite parties to put aside personal interests and elect a new president immediately,” Suleiman said during a ceremony at the Vatican, where […]