Introduction to the evening news 19-05-2012

Lebanon received a triangular shock today as the UAE, Qatar and Bahrain urged their citizens not to travel to Lebanon, urging those already there to return to their country. This shock built up diplomatic blows dealt to this country; after Syria’s envoy to the U.N. submitted a report to the U.S. Secretary General saying that Lebanon has become a haven for terrorists, the decision taken by the UAE, Qatar and Bahrain today dragged the country down into semi-isolation at a time when it is stumbling with security incidents, especially in Tripoli where events entered their second week.       

Despite all attempts to restore stability, tensions have not eased and Halba joined the tension map. In fact, tomorrow, two festivals to commemorate the same memory will be held hundreds of meters away in the same town: the by Syrian Social Nationalist Party will hold a festival to commemorate what it calls “the memory of Halba massacre’s victims” as the partisans of MP Khaled Daher and the Future bloc will hold another festival to commemorate what they call “the victims of May 7”. The army filled the space between both areas and everything will depend on the course of both festivals.