Beirut  - A Belgian peacekeeper with the United Nations Interim Forces in Lebanon (UNIFIL) died Wednesday while dismantling an unexploded bomb, Lebanese security sources said.

Another Belgian was injured in the incident near Aitaroun in southern Lebanon, the sources said.

UNIFIL spokeswoman Yasmina Bouziane confirmed the incident but refused to give the nationality of the peacekeeper until his family has been informed.

"An investigation is under way," she said.

There are 370 Belgians in the 15,000-strong UNIFIL force, which was set up in 1978 to help the Lebanese army patrol a border zone in the south under a UN Security Council mandate.

Beirut - Most of Lebanon's Sunni and Shiite Muslims were united in common religious observance on Monday, the first day of the fasting month of Ramadan. On the political front, however, disunity still rules.

"At least we agreed to start fasting on the same day," said a Sunni resident of the neighbourhood of Tarek Jedidah, which witnessed clashes between the two sects in May.

Beirut - Lebanese President Michel Suleiman travelled to Qatar on Monday for talks with Qatari Emir Sheikh Hamad Bin Khalifa al-Thani.

During his two-day visit to Doha, the Lebanese president is expected to thank Qatar for its "constant support" for Lebanon, according to Foreign Minister Fawzi Salloukh.

Suleiman's visit comes two days after Saudi King Abdullah and the Qatari emir discussed the situation in Lebanon and the latest developments in the region.

Beirut - An army helicopter hit by gunfire in south Lebanon was targeted Hezbollah fighters who "thought it was an Israeli aircraft," Lebanese security sources said on Friday

The helicopter was forced to make an emergency landing in Iqlim al Tuffah, an area controlled by the Shiite Hezbollah movement east of the southern port of Sidon, the sources said.

"Army investigators are almost certain the guns used to shoot at the helicopter were the same as those used by Hezbollah," the sources said.

Beirut - Visiting US Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for Asia and the Near East, David Hale, said Thursday his country will keep on supporting Lebanon's independence and sovereignty.

"The United States will continue supporting Lebanon as a sovereign and independent state, as well as its government. We also want to strengthen our support to Lebanon and its institutions," Hale said after meeting Premier Fouad Seniora.

He stressed that the US will continue to provide training and equipment to the army to enable it to improve the security situation in Lebanon.

Hale cautiously welcomed the decision of Lebanon and Syria to establish diplomatic relations and stressed the needed for such ties to be maintained under mututal respect.

Beirut - Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas arrived Thursday in Beirut for talks with Lebanese officials on issues related to the situation in the region and Palestinians living in Lebanon.