Shaheen slams ‘illegal’ detention of Dover Lebanese-American

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By Kyle Stucker -- .seacoastonline.com -- WASHINGTON -- Sen. Jeanne Shaheen, D-N.H., decried Lebanon’s ongoing detention of Dover restaurant owner Amer Fakhoury Wednesday, calling the three-month detention both “illegal” and suggesting his treatment could constitute a human rights violation. Shaheen made the comments during a U.S. Senate Committee on Foreign Relations hearing that involved Lebanon and Iraq. “I think this is a very serious situation that has not been taken seriously by officials of the Lebanese government and they need to be on notice that we are looking very carefully and very closely at what they are doing,” said Shaheen. Going further, Shaheen outlined her office is working with government departments to do “everything we can” to ensure the Lebanese-American is returned home safely.

Lebanese newspaper Al Akhbar and other Middle Eastern outlets have described Fakhoury, 57, the owner of Little Lebanon To Go in downtown Dover, as the “butcher of Khiam.” The reports have alleged Fakhoury tortured inmates and committed other human rights violations while working as a senior warden at Khiam Prison in southern Lebanon in the 1980s and ’90s. Fakhoury’s family and his attorney, Celine Atallah, have denied the claims. Lebanese officials detained Fakhoury, on Sept. 12, eight days after he and his wife, Michelle, arrived in Lebanon for a vacation and to visit family there for the first time in nearly two decades. Amer and Michelle Fakhoury planned a temporary closure of Little Lebanon To Go while they visited Lebanon and other countries on their vacation. The restaurant remains closed. Shaheen said Wednesday that Fakhoury is currently in “very critical” health due to mistreatment, rib fractures, various infections, a 40-pound weight loss and an aggressive form of lymphoma that has developed since he’s been detained “without charge” or due process. Shaheen entered a two-page document into the Senate record Wednesday that she said “clearly indicate(s) that (Fakhoury) is not the individual that the Lebanese and Hezbollah-linked papers allege him to be.”

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Lebanese army separates rival protests near president palace

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by AP -- Lebanon's armed forces have deployed near the presidential palace east of Beirut to prevent friction between rival Lebanese protesters as the stalemate over forming a crisis government continues. Anti-government protesters had called for a rally Sunday outside the Presidential Palace in Baabda to press President Michel Aoun to formally begin the process of forming a new government. Prime Minister Saad Hariri resigned over a month ago amid nationwide protests accusing the political elite of corruption and mismanagement of the economy. The call prompted a counter-rally by supporters of Aoun who called him a "red line." Army soldiers formed a human chain to separate the groups on a highway leading to the palace, preventing clashes. Meanwhile, hundreds of anti-government protesters marched toward central Beirut amid a deepening economic crisis. Copyright 2019 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

Lebanon Central Bank to Reduce Interest Rates to Ease Crisis

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by bloomberg.com -- Dana Khraiche -- Lebanon’s central bank plans to slash interest rates in an attempt to ease the country’s economic crisis and is considering formalizing temporary capital controls set individually by local lenders. Governor Riad Salameh told the Association of Banks in Lebanon that he will issue a circular within days to lower rates “to revive the economy” and limit the increase in “doubtful” loans, according to a document summarizing the meeting and seen by Bloomberg. The decision may buy much-needed time for Lebanon, which is reeling under its worst financial crisis in decades while authorities struggle to form a government after the resignation of Prime Minister Saad Hariri following weeks of mass protests against corruption and deteriorating living standards.

Salameh said he was considering issuing instructions that would formalize recent restrictions on capital movements imposed by commercial lenders, according to the document. The measures would be temporary until a government is formed and the financial and economic situation returns to normal, the document stipulated. The governor also said that 165 billion Lebanese pounds ($109.2 million) had been withdrawn per day from the central bank in the last two months, and that the bank is waiting for a new batch of pound banknotes to arrive on Dec. 20.

Debt Risk

President Michel Aoun convened a meeting last week that brought together Salameh, the finance minister, the economy minister and the head of the Association of Banks. They tasked the governor with taking “temporary and necessary” steps to protect the stability of the banking system. The crisis has undermined confidence in Lebanon’s ability to repay its vast public debt. The country’s debt risk, measured by credit default swaps, has surged to more than 2,500 basis points, the second-highest after Argentina, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.

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Trump administration releases $105M military aid for Lebanon after months of delay

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By Louis Casiano | Fox News -- The Trump administration has released $105 million in military assistance to Lebanon after months of delay without providing an explanation. The money for the Lebanese Armed Forces had languished in the Office of Management and Budget since September even after it won congressional approval. No reason was ever given for not releasing it, even as Lebanon descended into anti-government protests after leaders announced new taxes on calls made using social media apps like WhatsApp.

Prime Minister Saad Hariri was forced to resign last month over the mass demonstrations. The funds were released just before the Thanksgiving holiday and lawmakers were notified on Monday, The Associated Press reported. The White House has not explained the reason for the delay. The withholding of foreign aid by the White House has become a central focus of House Democrats' impeachment efforts in recent weeks. They allege that Trump withheld $400 million in military aid for Ukraine until that country's government opened an investigation into former Vice President Joe Biden, his son Hunter and Hunter's actions while on the board of natural gas company Burisma Holdings. David Hale, the No. 3 official in the State Department brought up the aid to Lebanon while testifying in an impeachment hearing last month, saying diplomats had growing concerns about the delay. Some Democratic lawmakers pressed the White House for an explanation last month for a reason for the delay.

The State Department called on Lebanon to use the money to rein in corruption and implement economic reforms. The aid is intended to counter Iran's growing influence in Lebanon, which is home to Hezbollah, a Shiite militant and political party aligned with Iran. The U.S. has designated the group as a foreign terrorist organization. The national security community believes the aid will be used to purchase U.S.-made military equipment for the Lebanese army.

The Great Lebanese Ponzi Scheme

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By Lina Mounzer -- nytimes.com --  BEIRUT, Lebanon — After a nearly two-hour wait at his bank, in early November, Fadi Aziz, a freelance web designer in Beirut, asked the teller to withdraw $1,000 from his account. The teller was courteous but firm: “You can’t withdraw more than $300 per week.” Mr. Aziz, who was traveling out of the country, protested that he needed the money. He insisted that the $300 limitation was illegal, that there had been no official circulars to decree it. He was ushered in to see the branch manager. This branch manager is notorious for the way she deals with customers — through the cold, inhuman logic of capital. Once, years ago, I called from abroad because I was having a problem with my debit card. She snidely inquired whether it was even worth fixing the problem considering how little money I seemed to be earning. She was no different with Mr. Aziz. “On accounts like yours, sir,” she said, with her usual sneer, “we’ve capped the withdrawal limit at $300.” More important customers would, of course, be able to withdraw more cash. Agree to disagree, or disagree better? We'll help you understand the sharpest arguments on the most pressing issues of the week, from new and familiar voices.

The branch manager’s attitude not only reflects the Lebanese banking system’s brazen disregard for customers, it also represents the manner in which the system has been dealing with our money. Lebanese banks have been promising — and paying out — exorbitant interest rates to big depositors from the interest earned on the money they have lent out to the state. The economy is effectively a giant Ponzi scheme. The setup, whereby individual enrichment is achieved through increased public debt, is unsustainable. In Lebanon’s service-based economy, which is heavily reliant on imports and where capital is not invested in improving economic productivity but only in providing a stable dollar peg for the Lebanese lira, it almost guarantees economic collapse. The massive countrywide protests that have entered a second month — and show no sign of letting up — have only somewhat hastened that economic collapse. Set off by a proposed tax on WhatsApp phone calls announced on Oct. 17, the protests are fundamentally about decades of corruption and economic mismanagement. From the outset, protesters have been calling not only for the resignation of the government led by Prime Minister Saad Hariri (which did indeed resign on Oct. 29) but also for an end to the sectarian political system that has served as the perfect environment for corruption.

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Lebanon’s total economic collapse creeping ever closer

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by arabnews.com -- RANDA TAKIEDDINE  -- A gathering of Lebanese anti-government protesters getting haircuts in front of the central bank building in Beirut last week attracted many jokes and much amusement. The protesters were expressing their rejection of a potential move by banks to take a proportion of their depositors’ money — known as a “haircut” — as a result of the country’s ongoing financial crisis. The demonstrators were having fun and enjoying this original way of protesting despite their fears over the uncertainty of the outcome of their popular uprising against corruption and the failures of the political classes. Salim Sfeir, the head of the Association of Banks in Lebanon, said in an interview with Reuters that a haircut would not solve the problem and, on the contrary, would scare off customers. The Lebanese diaspora has plenty of money overseas and this money would never come back if there was a haircut, Sfeir said. The Lebanese economy is experiencing its worst crisis since the civil war began in 1975. Government debt amounts to $88.4 billion — 150 percent of Lebanon’s gross domestic product. However, despite the liquidity crisis that is endangering the country, Lebanon last week settled a maturing $1.5 billion Eurobond, signaling to the market that, despite the political and economic crisis, it has not defaulted.

But the political stalemate — with the political class denying the people’s demands for a new government of honest, independent people — is aggravating the financial situation. The banks were shut at the beginning of the protest for two weeks. They reopened last week but limited weekly withdrawals to $1,000 and restricted transfers abroad. Added to that, depositors can only withdraw money in Lebanese pounds, which they can change for US dollars with an exchange agent. As a result of this unofficial market, the dollar rate reached as high as 2,000 Lebanese pounds, even though the currency is officially pegged to the dollar at 1,500. These measures have created panic among the people. A growing fear surfaced about the possibility of banks failing to give money to their depositors. The confidence of nonresident depositors has been lost. Banks have been targeted by many protesters, some shouting at central bank governor Riad Salame to “give us back the stolen money.” Rumors have spread in the cities, with crowds rushing to the banks to withdraw money. The central bank said last week that it was allowing banks to borrow dollars without limits at 20 percent interest to secure depositors’ needs, but stressed that the funds should not be sent abroad. The Institute of International Finance said that deposits had dropped by more than $10 billion dollars since the end of August. An important part of this money was sent abroad, while more than $4 billion of it is being kept in people’s homes.

Hezbollah and its allies are dragging their feet with no concern for the demands of the people. Randa Takieddine

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