Geoge Kordahi

Prime Minister Mikati: Qardahi’s words about Yemen are unacceptable and do not reflect Lebanon’s position. Regarding the Minister of Information’s words George KordahiWhich is being circulated, and which is part of an interview I conducted with him several weeks before he took up his ministerial position, it is unacceptable and does not express the government’s position at all, especially with regard to the Yemeni issue and Lebanon’s relations with its Arab brothers, specifically the brothers in Kingdom Saudi Arabia resources Gulf Cooperation Council countries“.

by arabnews.com -- DUBAI: Once again, Lebanon’s information minister has triggered social media frenzy when a video of him wishing for a ‘temporary military coup’ to emanate and restructure the country’s political life, surfaced on Tuesday. “I wish that a military coup happens in Lebanon, yet a temporary military coup that comes to organize and reorganize the political life in Lebanon,” the current Lebanese information minister George Kordahi was heard telling a TV host in the short video. An independent online media platform, Megaphone posted on Twitter the two and a half minute video that has so far been viewed by nearly 6000 users. According to Lebanese news portal, Annahar online, the video was part of an interview conducted by a media platform called Barlamanasha3b [People’s Parliament] and the interview was carried out on August 5.

At the time, Kordahi had not yet been named as information minister in Prime Minister Najib Mekati’s cabinet that was formed during September. When the host opposed him by saying ‘there is nothing called temporary military coup’, Kordahi maintained saying: “Yes there is a temporary military coup for at least five years [in my opinion] then they reappoint the political regime.” When the TV host of Barlamanasha3b asked him about his position on what is happening in Yemen, Kordahi said ‘they’ [referring to Houthis] are defending themselves’. He questioned in a exclamatory tone, ‘Them! Are they assaulting anyone?’. “In my opinion, this Yemeni war is absurd and should stop,” he said.

by Najia Houssari -- arabnews.con -- BEIRUT: A Lebanese judge has charged 68 people following the Oct. 14 deadly clash in the Tayouneh neighborhood of Beirut that left seven people dead and dozens wounded. Eighteen are in detention while the remaining 50 continue to evade the authorities. The clash south of Beirut broke out during a Hezbollah-organized protest against Judge Tarek Bitar leading the investigation into last year’s massive Beirut port blast. Judge Fadi Akiki, the state commissioner to the military court, charged the 68 people with crimes including murder, attempted murder, inciting sectarian strife, having unlicensed weapons and sabotage. The five-hour long battle was fought between supporters of Hezbollah and Amal, plus gunmen believed to be supporters of the Lebanese Forces party. It took place on the border between Beirut’s Chyah and Ain Al-Rummaneh neighborhoods. Also on Monday, Lebanon’s military intelligence agency summoned the head of the Lebanese Forces, Samir Geagea, to give testimony regarding the deadly clashes. He was asked to appear before military investigators on Wednesday.

A security source confirmed to Arab News that the Directorate of Intelligence of the Lebanese Army summoned Geagea to the investigation branch in the Ministry of Defense. Members of the Internal Security Forces pasted the summons on the door of Geagea’s headquarters in Maarab. The source told Arab News that “the directorate of intelligence moved at the request of Judge Akiki, who asked army intelligence to listen to Geagea as a witness.” The source added that “information is still being collected in these incidents, and there are detainees whose status must be decided upon.” A judicial source indicated that a search warrant might be issued and an investigation launched against Geagea if he failed to attend the hearing.

BEIRUT (Reuters) -Lebanese Christian politician Samir Geagea was on Monday summoned for a hearing by Army Intelligence over the fatal clashes in Beirut this month, a source close to the party said. The Oct. 14 clashes left seven people - followers of the Lebanon’s Shiite Iran-backed Hezbollah group and its ally, the Amal Movement - dead in the worst street violence in Beirut in over a decade. Geagea has denied allegations by both parties that gunmen loyal to his Lebanese Forces party Responding to reports he would be summoned for interrogation, Geagea, in the same interview, had said he would go “on the condition that Nasrallah is heard before me,” in reference to Hezbollah leader Sayyed Hasan Nasrallah targeted demonstrators with sniper fire, saying residents of the Christian-majority area where the violence took place acted in self defence. The demonstrators had gathered to demand the removal of the judge investigating last year’s port blast that killed more than 200 people, Tarek Bitar.

Hezbollah, Amal and the Christian Marada Movement have accused Bitar of politicising the probe after he sought to question former ministers affiliated with the latter two parties. Geagea’s hearing has been set for 9 a.m. on Wednesday at the Defence Ministry in Yarze, south of Beirut, where the former militia leader was imprisoned for more than 11 years after the end of Lebanon’s 1975-90 Civil War, the source told Reuters. It was not immediately clear whether Geagea would attend or whether other politicians had been asked to appear. A security source confirmed the time of the hearing when asked by Reuters. “All political forces (involved) should be summoned like Geagea, but it’s clear that there is a big targeting of the Lebanese Forces and its chief,” for their support of the investigation into the blast, the source said.

Responding to reports he would be summoned for a hearing, Geagea, said in an interview aired on local television last week he would go “on the condition that Nasrallah is heard before me”, in reference to Hezbollah leader Sayyed Hasan Nasrallah. MP Sethrida Geagea, Samir Geagea’s wife, said in a statement that pressure was being exerted on the judiciary to target the Lebanese Forces. “It is illogical to summon the aggressed while the aggressor is spared even being heard,” she said. A Lebanese judge on Monday separately charged 68 people including 18 detainees with murder and incitement to sectarian strife over the clashes. Their political affiliations, if any, remain unclear.

" اكرم كمال سريوي "

لقد أظهرت الأحداث الأخيرة التي عصفت بلبنان، أننا نعيش في قلب حرب غير معلنة بين الأطراف والأحزاب السياسية، كادت أن تنفجر الأسبوع الفائت، وتُفجّر معها ما تبقّى من مظاهر وحدة في هذا الوطن.

حرب في الإعلام، وشحن مذهبي وطائفي، وحرب في القضاء وعليه، وحرب في الاقتصاد والدولار والتهريب والصفقات والسمسرات التي أنهكت البلاد والعباد، وحرب في الدستور والصلاحيات والاجتهاد والقانون والمراسيم والتعاميم، عطّلت كل الأنظمة والقوانين وإدارات الدولة.

حرب استراتيجيات وتبعيات، نستحضر عبرها إلى شوارع بيروت، حروب الشرق والغرب وانقساماته ورهاناته، من فلسطين إلى سوريا والعراق واليمن، وصولاً إلى ليبيا وفنزويلا وأرمينيا وأفغانستان، وكل يُغنّي على ليلاه، فيما وحدَة الشعب وهوية الوطن تُذبح