Stressing on refusing to settle the Palestinian refugees in Lebanon and confirming the right of return, Lebanese President Michel Sleiman told his US counterpart President Barack Obama that Lebanon has the right to defend its territories and regain it from the occupation.

After a meeting with Obama at the White House, President Sleiman said said he had complained about “Israeli threats” against his country and urged Obama to press Israel to withdraw its forces from areas such as occupied Shebaa Farms. “We also discussed the Israeli threats against Lebanon which are taking place and place obstacles to the economic growth of the country,” Sleiman said.

“We asked President Obama and the US to exert further pressure on Israel to implement Resolution 1701.”

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu last week denounced the resolution, saying it had proven to be a failure.

Sleiman praised Obama’s landmark speech to the Muslim world in Cairo in June and the award of the Nobel Peace Prize to the US leader last week.

He also called on the United States to push for the resumption of the stalled Middle East peace process, which has so far defied Obama’s attempts to forge sweeping progress.

For his part, the US President told reporters that Lebanon was a “critical country, in a critical region,” and praised Sleiman for managing the swift-moving political currents threatening stability in his country. “We want to do everything we can to encourage a strong, independent and democratic Lebanon,” Obama said, noting that Washington was especially keen to strengthen Lebanese armed forces.

Despite vowing support for Lebanese democracy, Obama said there were some issues on which he and Sleiman would not agree, and noted they discussed the implementation of the UN resolution 1701 and Hezbollah’s arms. “President Sleiman and I are not going to agree on every issue with respect to… Israel, Lebanon, the Palestinians and Syria. What we do agree on is we can resolve these issues through dialogue and negotiations, rather than through violence.”

Lebanon has complained of Israeli surveillance overflights, but Israel claims such violations are needed to monitor what they called “the rearming of Hezbollah” and the movements of its resistance fighters.

Obama pressed Lebanon to crack down on arms smuggling into the country, saying the weapons posed a potential threat to Israeli security. “President Suleiman emphasized his concerns with respect to Israel. I emphasized our concerns about the extensive arms that are smuggled into Lebanon that potentially serve as a threat to Israel,” Obama told reporters. “It is in the interest of all parties concerned that enforcement is exerted with respect to such smuggling.”

Sleiman, who earlier met House of Representatives speaker Nancy Pelosi, also held in depth talks with Vice President Joe Biden.

Biden “stressed that our efforts to achieve our goals in the Middle East will not come at Lebanon’s expense,” his office said in a statement.

At least 70 villagers have been killed in a Saudi air raid on a Yemeni village near the border with Saudi Arabia, Houthi fighters said.

A spokesman for Yemen’s army, Askar Zuail, confirmed the air raids in the region but claimed they were carried out by Yemeni planes.

An Internet fighters’ statement said the attack was carried out Sunday morning against the village of Bani Maan in Razeh region of northern Sadaa province.

“Saudi aircraft committed a massacre … against the innocent residents of Bani Maan,” the statement said.

According to a preliminary count, it added, the raid killed at least 70 people and wounded more than 100.

It said that Saudi planes had carried out “more than 50 raids” during the course of Sunday.

Zuail confirmed deadly air raids on Sunday, but gave little other detail.

There was no immediate reaction by the Saudi authorities to the crime.

Yemeni government forces launched an all-out offensive against Shiite Muslims on August 11 in an attempt to end a five-year combat, cornering them near the border with Saudi Arabia.

Riyadh’s forces have been fighting the fighters since November 3.

Between December 17 and 26 this year, Syria’s Shia community will mark Ashura, the anniversary of the passing of the Prophet’s grandson Hussein Ibn Ali (pbuh) who martyred during the Battle of Kerbala in 680 AD.

Between December 17 and 26 this year, Syria’s Shia community will mark Ashura, the anniversary of the passing of the Prophet’s grandson Hussein Ibn Ali (pbuh) who martyred during the Battle of Kerbala in 680 AD.

Ashura – which literally means “the tenth” – is celebrated during the first 10 days of Muharram, the first month of the Muslim calendar.

Sayyed Abdul Rasoul al-Musawi al-Kazemi, a history teacher and Islamic scholar at the Zaynabia Hawza in Saida Zeinab, explains that it is a period of immense grief and sadness for all Shias.

“Believers around the world express their sorrow through similar rituals,” Kazemi said. “They raise black flags and wear black clothes during the whole month.”

Kazemi, who is originally from Iraq and moved to Damascus 30 years ago, explained that the rituals and traditions associated with Ashura express not just sorrow at the death of Hussein, but also symbolise humility and express solidarity with the oppressed.

During special processions, known as Husseini processions, believers file through the streets to the tune of beating drums and the rhythmic chanting of ‘Ya Hussein’. Believers break down in tears as they remember the passing of Hussein and his family (pbut). Kazemi said that it is in fact a religious duty to cry during Ashura.

“Like slapping oneself, crying is an expression of the highest degree of human grief,” he said.

“These rituals must be carried out with the heart and the mind,” Kazemi explained. “They must balance reason and emotion, faith and sense.”

Other rituals during the month of Muharram include the performance of passion plays in which the life and death of Hussein (pbuh) are enacted. Believers also carry out ta’ziya, in which they pay their condolences to other believers marking the death of Hussein (pbuh).

“During the ta’ziya, which is held for the first 10 days of Muharram, believers gather to listen to poets eulogise Hussein (pbuh) , his family and their lives,” Kazemi said.

Believers also gather at Shia religious schools, known as a hawza, to listen to preachers narrate the story of Ashura, often via song or poetry, and draw lessons from Hussein’s life (pbuh).

Special foods are served during Ashura, with many believers also donating sweets and other foods to local mosques. One popular Ashura dish is al keyema, an Iraqi recipe made with crushed chickpeas, sliced meat, onions and tomatoes and served with rice. Believers usually serve water to their guests during this period to symbolise the thirst Hussein and his family (pbut) felt during the battle.

On the tenth day of Muharram, the commemorations reach their climax.