Beirut  - The head of Lebanon's ruling, anti-Syrian majority, parliamentarian Saad Hariri, late Thursday condemned the Mumbai terrorist attacks and said that such crimes are rejected by all the wor

Cairo  - Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak and Lebanese Mustaqbal Movement leader Saad al-Hariri, who met in Cairo on Thursday, called for holding Lebanese parliamentary elections in the spring of 2009 as scheduled.

"We back up holding elections in time regardless of what happens and even if I was the victim of an attack aimed at blocking the balloting," Hariri told reporters.

Hariri, who heads the western-backed ruling coalition, has accused Syria of trying to block the parliamentary elections because they fear the anti-Syria ruling majority will win.

"There could be intimidation by some of Syria's allies in Lebanon. They are capable of forming armed factions to carry out what they pledge," Hariri added.

Beirut  - Lebansese President Michel Suleiman has asked Iran for medium-sized weapons for the army, in a move aimed at shifting Iran's assistance from the country's militant Hezbollah movement to the state, a Lebanese government official said Wednesday.

The official, who requested anonymity, said Suleiman had made clear during a two-day visit to Tehran earlier this week that he was not seeking to obtain long-range missiles or jet fighters, but rather modern medium arms that would help the Lebanese army combat terrorism and maintain national security.

Beirut - Lebanon's pro-Iranian Hezbollah movement dismissed the possibility of any Israeli military incursions into Lebanon or the wider region, but added that the movement is more prepared than before to confront any possible attack.

"The Israelis, unlike what is being said, are not ready for any field battle," Hezbollah's international relations official Nawaf Moussawi was quoted as saying by Hezbollah's al Nour radio station on Tuesday.

"The resistance in Lebanon is more ready than the Israeli army to engage in a military battle," Moussawi added.

Tehran - Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei on Tuesday told visiting Lebanese President Michel Suleiman that to stand against Israel, Lebanon needed to maintain unity among various groups.

"Iran believes that the strength of all Lebanese groups lies in national unity for effectively confronting the Zionist regime (Israel)," the ayatollah said in his meeting with Suleiman.

Suleiman arrived in Tehran on Monday for a two-day state visit. He is the third Lebanese president to visit Tehran since the 1979 Islamic revolution.

Tehran  - Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad on Monday promised his visiting Lebanese counterpart Michel Suleiman that Iran would always stand by Lebanon.

"Lebanon has finally found its track after many stormy years and now enjoys tranquillity and security," Ahmadinejad said in his meeting with Suleiman.

According to ISNA news agency, Ahmadinejad further said Lebanese resistance against Israel had turned Lebanon into a symbol of courage in the region.

ISNA quoted Suleiman as saying his country was grateful to Iran for its constant support and hoped the Tehran-Beirut summit would lead to strengthening bilateral ties.