Municipal by-elections were held yesterday in 39 villages and towns across Lebanon's various governorates. President Emil Lahhoud and Prime Minister Salim Al-Hoss were constantly updated by Interior Minister Michel Al-Murr on the atmosphere of the electoral process.
For his part, the Interior Minister told a press conference the authorities did not intervene in any way in those local polls. He stressed that the elections were carried out "in an atmosphere of fairness, freedom and democracy".
Final results are expected to be issued later today. Accordingly, the municipal framework in the country will be completed with the exception of areas in the South and the Western Bekaa under Israeli occupation.
Around 708 public employees took part in the electoral process in addition to hundreds of Lebanese army and internal security forces who implemented strict security measures in the villages where local polls were held yesterday.
A special committee delegated with the task of guarding and protecting courthouses in Lebanon started its work today. The committee inspected entrances to the Beirut Courthouse and decided most of them will be closed.
The few remaining entrances will be heavily guarded and entering cars will be thoroughly inspected.
The committee also decided that all entrances to the Baabda Courthouse would be closed except the main entrance. Other courthouses in Lebanon will soon be examined and similar measures will be taken.
House Speaker Nabih Berri is expected to return to Beirut today coming from Tehran where he took part in the founding conference for the Union of Islamic Parliaments.
The speaker yesterday met the Iranian Islamic Republic's Spiritual Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. Khamenei later warned against weakening the Lebanese Resistance under various claims such as the resumption of peace negotiations with Israel. The Iranian Spiritual Leader described resistance men as heroes that Iran has the duty to back.
An Israeli air-to-ground missile late yesterday hit the village of Qabreekha in southern Lebanon injuring five Lebanese civilians: Moussa Mohammed, Hamad Hammoud, Lamia Qmeis and her six-year old daughter.
In retaliation to the attacks on Lebanese civilian areas, the Lebanese resistance fired mortar rounds across the border into western Galilee. No casualties or damage were reported.
Earlier Last night, an Israeli military source revealed that the Israeli army called on residents of northern Israeli settlements close to the border with Lebanon to spend the night in shelters in anticipation of resistance retaliation.
Following their summit meeting in Germany, G8 countries issued a call for all parties involved in the conflict in southern Lebanon to abide to the letter by the terms of the 1996 April Understanding.
A statement of recommendations issued after the meeting tackled the recent developments in the Balkans, Mideast peace and the situation in southern Lebanon. The meeting called for a quick resumption of negotiations between Israel, Syria and Lebanon to reach peace agreements.
Former US Secretary of State James Baker last night arrived in Beirut coming from Damascus for a private visit in response to an invitation by Deputy Issam Faris.
Baker told reporters at Beirut's International Airport there is a good opportunity now for making progress on the Lebanese-Syrian tracks in the Mideast peace process.
During his visit to Lebanon, Baker is expected to hold talks with President Emil Lahhoud, House Speaker Nabih Berri and Prime Minister Salim Al-Hoss. The US official will also visit a number of archeological sites in the country.
Light trembling was felt yesterday in areas in Mount Lebanon and the central Bekaa in what was determined by the Bhannes Seismograph Observatory Center as a mild earthquake. No damages or material losses were reported.
Sources at Bhannes Station said the earthquake, which struck the country at 1:44 p.m. yesterday, measured 3.5 on the Richter Scale and was located in an area some 30 kilometers north of the station above the capital.
Deputy Central Bank Governor Harotian Samuelian today asserted at a news conference held at the bank's headquarters the bank's readiness to cope with the Y2K problem.
Samuelian said the bank now has a 99% workable plan that includes a comprehensive survey of all programs and an emergency manual plan in case of a failure in the system. Samuelian also pointed out that the Y2K problem should be seriously and firmly handled as the year 2000 is now quite close.
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