Daily Low Flying Israeli Jets Over Lebanon Spreading Jitters

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Beirut (AP) -- Israeli military jets carried out several low flying flights over Beirut as reconnaissance drones also buzzed overhead Sunday in what has become a daily occurrence. Israel regularly violates Lebanon airspace, often to carry out strikes in neighboring Syria. On Christmas Eve, Israeli jets flew low late into the night, terrorizing Beirut residents who are no strangers to such flights. They were followed by reported Israeli strikes in Syria. The frequency of low flying warplanes over the capital has intensified in the last two weeks, making residents jittery as tensions run high in the region on the final days of President Donald Trump's administration. “When the drone leaves, the warplanes come. When the warplanes leave, the drones return. They have seen us in our PJs, filmed us in our PJs and surveilled us in our PJs. Now what,” quipped Twitter user Areej_AAH. “Of all types of panic I experienced in life in Beirut, the panic that accompanies the Israeli warplanes flying this low in Beirut is very special,” Tweeted Rudeynah Baalbaky, who said it brought back memories of the 2006 war with Israel. Israel rarely comments on these reports.

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Secretary of State Pompeo: US Not a Banana Republic

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by Charlie McCarthy -- newsmax.com -- Suggestions the U.S. has become a banana republic are way off base, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said Thursday. Using his personal Twitter account, Pompeo criticized politicians and journalists who have compared the U.S. to countries where "mob violence determines the exercise of power," according to Pompeo per The Hill. Pompeo's remarks were posted one day after demonstrators protesting the presidential election results attacked the Capitol. As of Friday afternoon, five people had died as a result of the insurrection. "In the wake of [Wednesday's] reprehensible attack on the U.S. Capitol, many prominent people -- including journalists and politicians -- have likened the United States to a banana republic," Pompeo wrote. "The slander reveals a faulty understanding of banana republics and of democracy in America. "In a banana republic, mob violence determines the exercise of power. In the United States, law enforcement officials quash mob violence so that the people's representatives can exercise power in accordance with the rule of law and constitutional government."

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Mustaqbal Slams Bassil's 'Obstacles' and 'Sectarian Standards'

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by naharnet.com -- Al-Mustaqbal Movement said Sunday that PM-designate Saad Hariri has already presented the line-up of a reformist cabinet to President Michel Aoun, slamming what it called Free Patriotic Movement chief Jebran Bassil’s “obstacles” and “sectarian and racist standards.” “The Movement leaves it to the Lebanese people to believe or not believe (ex-)Minister Bassil, seeing as we as a Movement will not engage in political polemics that will not bring the country an anti-coronavirus vaccine nor will return the economic cycle to its right track nor will rebuild Beirut and compensate those affected by the port blast,” al-Mustaqbal said in a statement. The statement comes in response to remarks voiced by Bassil in a televised address earlier in the day. “The government is ready and (its line-up) is waiting with the President,” al-Mustaqbal said, adding that such a government “will be a mission government that undertakes the needed reforms according to the French initiative and not according to the sectarian and racist Bassilist standards.” “This is what concerns us and not anything else, no matter how much they get creative in creating obstacles and producing controversial issues,” the Movement added.

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Bassil Slams 'Lebanese Rustom Ghazaleh', Says Hariri, Others Want to Eliminate FPM

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by naharnet -- Free Patriotic Movement chief Jebran Bassil lashed out Sunday at Prime Minister-designate Saad Hariri and warned of a perceived attempt to return the country to the “pre-2005 era.” “What is the current specialty of the PM-designate?” Bassil said in a televised address, casting doubt on the possibility that the new government will be truly a so-called “government of specialists.” “The rule of specialty was not only broken in naming the premier but also the ministers! What does it mean to give a single minister two portfolios such as foreign affairs and agriculture or social affairs and environment or administrative development and youth and sport? What specialty is this?” Bassil asked. Lamenting that “there is no expertise nor standards nor rules in what is being proposed,” Bassil claimed that the objective is to “downsize the government and cling to 14 or 18 seats in order to aggrieve Druze and Greek Catholics.” He added: “We do not entrust Hariri alone with reform and to them this government is aimed at seizing control of the country and returning us to the pre-2005 era.”

Addressing the public opinion, he went on to say: “Do you believe that these people want a government for reform, forensic audit, combating corruption, recovering transferred and looted funds and lifting secrecy off the accounts of politicians and state employees? Who prevented them from abiding by CEDRE's reforms? No one, other than laziness, ignorance, reluctance to conduct reform and hunger for stealing public funds.” “There is a Lebanese Ghazi Kanaan and his electoral laws are present and there is a Lebanese Rustom Ghazaleh and his appointments are present,” Bassil added, apparently comparing the two late Syrian officers who were in charge of Lebanon’s file to rival Lebanese leaders. “We won’t allow a return to the era of marginalization and elimination,” Bassil stressed.

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Gulf reconciliation and ties with France discussed by Erdogan and Hariri in suprise meeting

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by thearabweekly.com -- ISTANBUL--Arab sources expected the surprise visit of the Lebanese Prime Minister-designate Saad Hariri to Istanbul, where he held a long meeting with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, to have raised the issues of Gulf reconciliation and Turkish-French relations on top of the crisis faced by Lebanon where no government is yet in place despite Hariri’s efforts. Sources believe Hariri sought to explore the Turkish president’s reactions regarding recent developments within the Gulf Cooperation Council countries in light of the reconciliation between Qatar and the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and the kingdom of Bahrain, in addition to Egypt, which is not a member of the Council. Erdogan, they noted, has welcomed the declaration issued by the summit of the member states of the Cooperation Council (GCC) held in the Saudi city of Al-Ula. According to the sources, the Turkish president wants to be a part of the Gulf reconciliation process, being the first supporter of Qatar in its policy at all levels.

In statements, on Friday, Erdogan welcomed the reconciliation, saying that it would “be good for the region,” and that his country would directly benefit from it. He stressed that “Turkey will strengthen its relations with the Gulf,” and that ” Turkey will return to its stature in the coming period for the sake of Turkish-Gulf cooperation.” Ankara espouses a narrative that is supportive of reconciliation and tries to appease the Saudi leadership, in particular, in order to take advantage of this reconciliation opportunity and restore the Turkish-Gulf relationship to its status of before the Qatar crisis of June 2017.

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Lebanese central bank governor on country's financial crisis: 'My conscience is clear'

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by France24 -- Marc Perelman -- In an exclusive interview with FRANCE 24, Lebanon's Central Bank Governor Riad Salameh expressed concern about the ongoing financial crisis in his country, warning the situation could "deteriorate" if a government is not formed quickly. He announced that Lebanon's central bank is ready to provide all the information necessary for the "forensic audit" required by the international community. Salameh denied being at the origin of a "Ponzi scheme", as described by French President Emmanuel Macron, saying that the central bank has instead supported a Lebanese economy on the brink of collapse. He admitted that some wealthy Lebanese were able to withdraw large sums of money and send it abroad, while his fellow citizens can only withdraw limited amounts. Salameh said he had proposed capital controls at the start of the crisis, but that this was refused.

The central bank governor also explained that the era of the fixed exchange rate system between the Lebanese pound and the American dollar is over, and that there will now be a floating exchange rate determined by the market. He also denied having used "shell companies" to manage his real estate abroad. Finally, Salameh claimed to be the victim of a "campaign" of personal attacks aimed at making him the scapegoat for the crisis and he said he currently had no plans to resign.