BEIRUT, (Reuters) - A British court ruled on Friday in favour of a Lebanese bank in a case brought by a depositor barred from transferring funds abroad because of capital controls in place since Lebanon's financial system collapsed in 2019. The court ruled that BLOM Bank could be considered to have discharged its debt to the plaintiff, Bilal Khalifeh, by issuing a cheque in Lebanon. Banks have imposed tight controls on accounts, including a de facto ban on transfers abroad and local withdrawals of dollar-denominated deposits in dollars, but the controls have been challenged in Lebanese and international courts.

Banks have sought to discharge dollar-denominated funds via banker's cheques which cannot be cashed out in dollars and are instead sold on the market at a discount of about three-quarters of their value. The ruling by London's High Court of Justice, Queens Bench Division, said BLOM Bank was under no obligation to transfer some $1.4 million in Khalifeh's savings abroad and could be considered to have discharged his account via a cheque deposited with a notary. "The debt due from the Bank was payable in Lebanon and... Mr Khalifeh had no contractual right to require the Bank to transfer funds abroad," it said.

BEIRUT, (Reuters) - Lebanon's interior minister on Wednesday ordered the deportation of non-Lebanese members of Bahrain's dissolved opposition al-Wefaq group after some of them criticised the Gulf Arab kingdom at a news conference in Beirut Lebanon became enmeshed in a major diplomatic dispute with the Gulf last month after former information minister George Kordahi criticised Saudi Arabia over the Yemen war. Bahrain' interior minister, Sheikh Rashid bin Abdullah Al Khalifa, had earlier on Wednesday called his Lebanese counterpart, Bassam Mawlawi, to tell him that events such as the Wefaq news conference, or Kordahi's comments, "harm Lebanon and its people", a statement from Bahrain's interior ministry said.

The Gulf Cooperation Council, whose leaders met on Tuesday in Riyadh, condemned the news conference held by "a terrorist organization with support from the terrorist Hezbollah" and voiced support for Bahrain in "any measures it takes to protect its security and stability". At its news conference, Wefaq released a report detailing what it said were rights abuses in Bahrain from 2019 to mid 2021. Gulf monarchies have been alarmed by the rising influence of Lebanon's armed Iranian-backed Hezbollah group. Sunni Muslim Saudi Arabia and Shi'ite Iran have long battled for influence in the region, including in Lebanon, which is struggling with a deep economic crisis. Bahrain's Wefaq did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

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سجعان قزي

@AzziSejean

هل اللبنانيّون على حقٍّ في انتقادِ حزبِ الله؟ هل فَهِموا حقًّا رمزيّةَ مواقفِه وأبعادَها؟ أليس حلُّ ألغازِها أجْدى من النِزاعِ معه؟ كلَّ يومٍ يُوجِّه حزبُ الله رسائلَ إلينا، خصوصًا عبرَ مواقفِه المتطرِّفة، ونحن لا نبالي بها، بل نَروحُ نتَّهِمُه بشتّى الاتّهاماتِ ونَتغنّى بوِحدةِ "لبنانَ الكبير"، و"لبنانَ الرسالة"، ولبنان الـــــ 10452 كلم².

لا يَنفكُّ حزبُ الله يَرسُمُ الحلَّ ويَسألُنا أن نَقتديَ به ما دامَ البعضُ يطالبُ دستوريًّا بما يقوم هو به واقعيًّا، أي الفدراليّة أو الانفصال أو التقسيم. يَسألنا لماذا لا نؤسِّسُ مثلَه كانتوناتٍ ونُنشِئُ دورةً اقتصاديّةً مستقلّةً وإدارةً ذاتيّة؟ لماذا لا نَبني، نحن أيضًا، جيشًا خاصًّا من مئةِ ألفِ مقاتل؟ لماذا لا نَستعملُ حقَّ الڤيتو مثلَه ونُعطِّلُ الدولةَ المركزيّةَ وحكوماتِـها ومؤسّساتِـها؟ لماذا لا نَعقِدُ تحالفاتٍ استراتيجيّةً مع دولٍ أجنبيّةٍ على غرارِ تحالفِه العُضْويِّ مع إيران؟ لماذا لا نزايدُ في عَداءِ إسرائيل وإسباقِ اسْمِها بعبارةِ "عدّو" ونُغْنى عن محاربتِها؟

يُدرِكُ حزبُ الله أنه يَعجِزُ عن حكمِ كلِّ لبنان، ويرفُض بالمقابل أن تَحكمَه شرعيّةٌ غيرُ شريعتِه، فمَالَ إلى "الفِدراليّةِ الموسَّعة" حِفاظًا على ذاتيّتِه. ما خلا بيئتَه المباشَرة، اللبنانيّون ــــ مسيحيّين ومسلمين ودروزًا ــــ ضاقوا ذَرْعًا بحزبِ الله ويَدينون يوميًّا خِياراتِه وأداءَه ويعتبرونه، عن حقٍّ أو عن باطلٍ، مسؤولًا عن جميعِ مصائبِهم الجارية. وإذا كان حزبُ الله يَدعونا، بشكلٍ أو بآخَر، إلى إعادةِ النظرِ في وِحدةِ لبنان، فسَبقَ أن دَعوْناه وسألناه إعادةَ النظرِ في مشروعِه لكي نُنقذَ وِحدةَ لبنان. لكن، أيُّهُما أسهلُ: تغييرُ لبنانَ أم تغييرُ حزبِ الله؟ نحن عندَ هذا المنعطَف.