Frustrated Hizbullah More Dangerous in Wake of Election Defeat - Ron Ben-Yishai: The statements made by Hizbullah leaders, who said they will accept the voters' decision, do not delude anyone. It is reasonable to assume that Hizbullah will try to prove to Lebanon's citizens that they made a mistake when they prevented it from sinking its teeth into a bigger share of the government pie. (Ynet News)

U.S. Weighs Lebanon Aid if Hizbullah Wins Vote - Arshad Mohammed (Reuters): A victory by Hizbullah, viewed as a "terrorist organization" by Washington, in Sunday's election in Lebanon could lead to a reduction in what has been burgeoning U.S. assistance to the Lebanese armed forces in recent years. The U.S. has given the Lebanese armed forces more than $500 million since 2005. Pollsters expect the "March 8" alliance that includes Iranian- and Syrian-backed Hizbullah to gain a slight edge in the election and to erase the governing Western-backed, anti-Syrian "March 14" coalition's slender majority. The outcome could be a national unity government, albeit one in which Hizbullah has a stronger hand. Given Washington's ban on! funding groups that it deems "terrorist," a victory by Hizbullah would present the Obama administration with a judgment call on whether any government Hizbullah helped to form could keep getting U.S. funds.

New Evidence Points to Hizbullah in Hariri Murder - Erich Follath: The UN special tribunal investigating the murder of former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik al-Hariri now believes Hizbullah was behind the murder. At the time of the 2005 attack, it was known that Hariri had had a falling out with Syrian President Bashar Assad after demanding the withdrawal of Syrian occupation forces from Lebanon. As a result, the prime suspects in the murder were Syria and its Lebanese henchmen. However, intensive investigations in Lebanon are all pointing to a new conclusion: that it was not the Syrians but Hizbullah that planned and executed the attack. A special unit of the Lebanese security forces, headed by intelligence expert Captain Wissam Eid, has identified a network of mobile phones used by the hit team that carried out the attack, togethe! r with a second network of phones that were in proximity to the first network noticeably often. All of the numbers involved in the second network belong to the "operational arm" of Hizbullah. Hizbullah member Abd al-Majid Ghamlush, who had completed a training course in Iran, was identified as the buyer of the mobile phones. He committed the indiscretion of calling his girlfriend from one of the "hot" phones, enabling investigators to identify him. This led investigators to the man they now suspect was the mastermind of the terrorist attack: Hajj Salim, 45, considered to be the commander of the "military" wing of Hizbullah. (Der Spiegel-Germany)

UN: Hizbullah Threatens Lebanon and Beyond: UN official Terje Roed-Larsen told a meeting of the Security Council Thursday: "The most significant remaining Lebanese militia is the armed component of Hizbullah....[Its] arsenal is a direct challenge to the sovereignty of the Lebanese state and a threat to regional stability." In addition, he reported that over the last few weeks there has been a growing concern that Hizbullah has engaged in clandestine and illegal militant activities beyond Lebanese territory. (UN News Center)