Beirut - The fourth round of the national dialogue between rival Lebanese leaders ended Monday with no major decisions and a postponement of the next round to March 2, 2009.

President Michel Suleiman who chaired the session, began the meeting with a briefing of local, regional and international developments, especially the Israeli military onslaught in the Gaza Strip and its impact on Lebanon.

The president also underlined the need for a political truce as Lebanon's parliamentary elections approached. Lebanon is due to hold its parliamentary elections in May.

Beirut (Lebanon), Jan. 23 : A former Guantanamo Bay detainee freed by the United States, has become the deputy leader of Al Qaeda's Yemeni branch.

Saudi militant, Said Ali al-Shihri, is suspected of involvement in a deadly bombing of the United States Embassy in Yemen's capital, Sana, in September. He was released to Saudi Arabia in 2007 and passed through a Saudi rehabilitation program for former jihadists before resurfacing with Al Qaeda in Yemen.

Beirut - The Lebanese press on Wednesday reflected hope after the inauguration speech of US president Barack Obama.

The daily An Nahar in a front page editorial said, "Tuesday was a turning point in the world," while the daily As Safir said, "Barak Hussein Obama president ... to reconcile America with itself and the world."

"Finally (George W) Bush has left the White House and will enter history books for carrying out four wars and leaving four Muslim Arab countries hanging between life and death," analyst Sateh Noureddine wrote in As Safir.

Beirut - The head of the Lebanese majority, Member of Parliament Saad Hariri, on Monday

Beirut  - Angry Lebanese and Palestinian demonstrators protesting Israel's attacks on the Gaza Strip clashed with Lebanese security forces near the US embassy north of Beirut on Sunday, as the Palestinian group Hamas confirmed a one-week truce in Gaza.

The Lebanese police used tear gas and water cannons when the demonstrators broke through barbed wire placed just a few meters from the US embassy located in Awkar, 15 kilometres north of Beirut.

At least six demonstrators were wounded in the clashes.

The police initially managed to disperse the crowd, but the demonstrators regrouped and continued their protest near the embassy.

Beirut - Visiting UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon expressed concerns over the firing of Katyusha rockets from Lebanon into Israel.

"I am concerned for the situation in the south, any additional aggression threatens the stability of UNSCR 1701. I call on everyone in Lebanon and Israel to control themselves to maintain stability," Ban, who arrived in Beirut late Friday, told the Lebanese parliament

Last week, the tension in southern heightened after unidentified militants fired several rockets into the northern Israeli settlement prompting Israel to fire back at areas where the rockets where launched from.