By Najia Houssari -- arabnews.com -- BEIRUT: “Lebanon always needs Arab sponsorship, and (I hope) all the Gulf countries, in particular, will restore ties with Lebanon, which needs its Arab environment to embrace it,” Lebanese Prime Minister Najib Mikati said during his visit to the Doha Forum on Saturday. Mikati met Qatari Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al-Thani at the forum’s headquarters. His media office said he discussed ties between Lebanon and the Gulf Cooperation Council countries. Mikati also met his Qatari counterpart, Sheikh Khalid bin Khalifa bin Abdulaziz Al-Thani. In a press conference following the two meetings, Mikati said: “What is meant to be shall be, and Lebanon is meant to always have excellent relations with the Arab countries and the Gulf states. Lebanon is one of the founders of the Arab League and we strongly believe in such ties.” Lebanon is meant to always have excellent relations with the Arab countries and the Gulf states. Lebanon is one of the founders of the Arab League and we strongly believe in such ties.

Speaking about Lebanon’s diplomatic crisis with Saudi Arabia and other Gulf states, Mikati stressed: “It was a summer cloud that passed. God willing, it will entirely fade out with the visits that I will make to the Arab countries, and with the restoration of diplomatic ties between Lebanon and the Gulf states. We need these ties, especially with Saudi Arabia.” Mikati said that the Emir promised that the Qatari foreign minister would visit Beirut in the coming weeks to personally check Lebanon’s needs. He talked about the Lebanese government’s efforts to resolve the country’s economic crisis, saying: “The current economic situation is an accumulation of over 30 years’ worth of problems. It cannot be resolved overnight. The government is striving to achieve economic recovery. God willing, we’ll soon get there.” Mikati said: “The IMF delegation will arrive in Beirut next Tuesday to resume negotiations. The delegation is headed by the IMF chairperson and the next round of negotiations will run for two weeks, after which a preliminary agreement would be signed. “We have no choice but to cooperate with the IMF to put Lebanon on the path to recovery.”

arabnews.com -- By Najia Houssari - BEIRUT: Lebanese media outlets expressed concern on Friday over creeping examples of “employing the judiciary for sectarian and electoral political goals.” It followed controversial Lebanese judge and Mount Lebanon state prosecutor Ghada Aoun’s fresh measures against the country’s embattled banking sector. Aoun issued a new decision on Thursday evening banning six banks from transferring funds abroad. The move coincided with the judiciary tightening the noose around the governor of the Banque du Liban, Riad Salameh. The first investigative judge in Mount Lebanon, Nicolas Mansour, summoned Salameh for a hearing next Thursday. The judge stressed that an arrest warrant would be issued against the central bank governor if he failed to attend the hearing.

Mansour also issued an adversarial arrest warrant against Salameh’s brother, Rajah Salameh, ordering he be kept in custody until next week based on charges of alleged illicit enrichment and money laundering. In response to Aoun’s recent decision, the Association of Banks in Lebanon said in a statement on Friday that such decisions showed a lack of knowledge of banking activity and its role in the national economy, and a complete disregard for the law. The statement said the judge’s decision could harm depositors who “will not obtain their rights once banks collapse and the country follows.” The association added: “The funds transferred by banks feed their accounts abroad, allowing them to fulfill their obligations, especially those resulting from opening credits for imports. “Preventing banks from transferring funds abroad leads to shutting down their accounts and preventing imports, directly affecting the banks’ local clients.”

By Sunniva Rose – thenationalnews.com — A Lebanese military court has charged Samir Geagea over the deadly violence in Beirut last October, …

by lb.usembassy.gov — In response to growing food security needs in Lebanon, the United States, through the U.S. Agency for International Development …