December 16th, 2009 by Zack

Lebanese Justice Minister Ibrahim Najjar met with his French counterpart to discuss a bilateral judicial cooperation agreement that Najjar hopes will be signed soon.  The Lebanese judiciary has requested the immediate release of an Iraqi refugee who was deemed to have been held in prison arbitrarily for more than six months.  The court that made the decision reportedly based its decision on an international agreement signed by Lebanon stipulating that foreigners cannot be deported if they face danger in their home country.

The Daily Star reports that Palestinian Fatah representatives in Lebanon affirmed that refugee camps will not become independent from the Lebanese state and that reports of sleeper cells are overblown, despite claims by Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine-General Command (PFLP-GC) leader Ahmad Jibril’s that the group will not surrender its weapons to the Lebanese government.  Jibril also urged Lebanon to adopt laws “similar to the one in Syria” dealing with the political situation, as well as the living and social conditions, of Palestinian refugees.

Finally, Michael Allen relays an article by Rafid Fadhil Ali that argues Hezbollah has downplayed its “radical Shiite rhetoric” but, at the same time, “the group’s regional and international strategy have changed little.”

Posted in Diplomacy, Hezbollah, Judiciary, Lebanon, Reform |