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Lebanon summons US ambassador over release of 'Butcher of Khiam

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by middleeasteye.net -- Lebanon's foreign minister summoned the US ambassador on Friday to discuss how a US citizen accused of war crimes was transferred out of the country from the American embassy. Lebanese Foreign Minister Nassif Hitti sought an explanation from Ambassador Dorothy Shea on the "circumstances leading Amer Fakhoury out of the American embassy in Awkar, and out of Lebanon," the country's official news agency NNA said. Fakhoury had taken refuge in the embassy on Monday, after a military court dropped charges of killing and torturing detainees at Khiam Prison during the Israeli occupation before 2000. Before Israel's withdrawal from Lebanon in 2000, Fakhoury had served at the Israeli-backed Khiam Prison, where former detainees say he was involved in torture. He was known as the "Butcher of Khiam," but his family denies that he dealt directly with prisoners.

The notorious detention facility was run by the South Lebanon Army, a pro-Israel militia, in coordination with the Israeli military. Fakhoury fled Lebanon in 2000 and eventually settled in New Hampshire, where he became an American citizen. He was arrested in Lebanon last September after returning to visit the country. US legislators had been ramping up pressure for Fakhoury's release. Last month, senators introduced a bipartisan bill to impose sanctions on officials involved in his imprisonment. Amid the mounting pressure, Fakhoury, who suffers from cancer, was cleared of all charges because his supposed crimes occurred decades ago - beyond Lebanon's 10-year statute of limitations on torture. US President Donald Trump thanked the Lebanese government for securing his release, but many officials in Beirut insisted that there was no deal with Washington. Still, advocates of former prisoners remained hopeful, as a judge imposed a travel ban on Fakhoury.

In coronavirus lockdown, Lebanese banks turn off dollar tap

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Lebanon's central bank is seen closed, after the government declared a medical state of emergency as part of the preventive measures against the spread of coronavirus disease (COVID-19) [Mohamed Azakir/Reuters]

by reuters -- Since Lebanon was placed on lockdown to curb the spread of coronavirus, cash-strapped banks have cut access to dollars for depositors already separated from much of their savings by months of tightening controls. The health ministry has recorded 163 infections from coronavirus so far, and experts warn Lebanon's healthcare system may be ill-prepared, as dollar shortages have for months drained it of critical supplies. The outbreak has compounded Lebanon's woes, coming after it declared that it could not pay its hefty debt obligations and needs foreign currency reserves for key imports.Lebanese Prime Minister Hassan Diab earlier this month said that the country will seek to restructure its massive debt as currency reserves dwindle amid an acute financial crisis. Lebanon's economic troubles have weakened the local currency, resulting in shuttered businesses, job losses and informal capital controls from banks severely restricting foreign exchange withdrawals and transfers abroad. Lebanon's cabinet exempted banks from closing when declaring the lockdown, saying they could maintain daily operations "at a minimum level", without specifying the ground rules.

Mideast airlines lose $7B as airports shut to combat virus

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DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — Seven Middle Eastern countries have suspended all commercial flights due to a fast-spreading new virus as the aviation industry's largest trade association announced Thursday that airlines in the region have already lost more than $7 billion in revenue. The International Air Transport Association, which represents around 290 airlines worldwide, said the travel restrictions that countries have imposed to slow down the spread of the virus "have more far-reaching implications than anything we have seen before." In the Middle East alone, 16,000 passenger flights have been cancelled since the end of January. The financial losses translate into hundreds of thousands of jobs at risk, IATA said. The Middle East has some 20,000 cases of the virus, with most cases in Iran or linked to travel from Iran. The virus killed another 149 people in the past 24 hours in Iran, pushing the death toll there to 1,284 amid over 18,000 confirmed cases.

Already, major carriers like Emirates have urged pilots and cabin crew to take unpaid leave. Reports have emerged that Qatar Airways laid off several hundred employees. The airline did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Job losses in the Middle East have especially far-reaching consequences to the millions of foreign workers who send remittances back home to families in India, Pakistan, the Philippines and eastern European countries. Gulf states like Qatar and the United Arab Emirates rely heavily on foreigners to work as airport support staff, pilots, cleaners and cabin crew. "A lot of jobs are at risk, economies of the nations are being impacted and airline business in the Middle East is taking a bit hit," Muhammad Albakri, IATA's regional vice president for Africa and the Middle East, said in a phone conference with reporters. "We are suffering, we are struggling. We are bleeding," he said in his most urgent appeal yet to governments to step in and urgently help many of these state-owned airlines by cutting taxes and offering direct financial assistance. Late on Wednesday, the last commercial flights arrived in Egypt and Lebanon before a lockdown took place at midnight. They were the latest two countries in the Middle East to shut down airports and suspend all passenger flights. Saudi Arabia, Iraq, Jordan, Tunisia and Morocco had already imposed bans on flights.

Trump thanks Lebanese govt for help "freeing" Fakhoury

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by dailystar.com.lb -- BEIRUT: U.S. President Donald Trump Thursday thanked the Lebanese government for helping to return the notorious Israeli-linked former commader and prison governor Amer Fakhoury to the U.S. "Fakhoury is on his way back to the United States after being imprisoned in Lebanon since September 2019 ... We are very grateful to the Lebanese government for working with us and we are very proud of his family," Trump said. Fakhoury was aquitted Monday of charges including torture, murder, attempted murder of inmates, and kidnapping of thousands of Lebanese citizens in south Lebanon’s Khiam prison – a facility he oversaw between 1985 and 2000. At least 10 people died at the prison during Fakhoury’s tenure at Khiam.

Lebanese turn to distance learning amid coronavirus disruptions

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by executive-magazine.com -- Eva Hashem -- We are in the midst of a global pandemic. The novel coronavirus that has swept across the globe is having far reaching ramifications for our health systems and for the global economy. For Lebanese students, though among the demographic least likely to suffer severe health consequences from contracting COVID-19, the impact has been immediate and detrimental to a school year already besought with difficulties. Some institutions in Lebanon had sent students home before the Ministry of Education and Higher Education made the decision to close schools and universities on February 28 until March 9, a decision that has since been expanded into a country-wide lockdown until March 29. Lebanese students who were already in catch-up mode from the school disruptions at the height of the protests last year are now facing further disruptions, cancelled exams, and increasingly uncertain futures.

This crisis requires drastic measures. In order to slow the spread of the virus and flatten the curve (keeping cases at a manageable level so not to overwhelm healthcare systems) the Lebanese government has asked Lebanese to stay at home where possible. But these measures, while necessary, are also creating a crisis for our education system. Questions administers, teachers, students, and parents are now facing are those over the fate of this academic year, of standardized tests, and of the viability of our current education system in the long run should pandemics should as COVID-19 become more frequent occurrences. Comparatively speaking, Lebanese schools and universities have reacted quickly to this crisis and the need to ensure that students continue to learn and progress from home. The answer, at least as a short term measure to ensure continuity and stability in Lebanese education for all learners amid limited resources, was distance learning. Across Lebanon, stakeholders and school and university directors have instructed their teaching staff (supervisors, coordinators, and instructors) to swiftly activate an online learning system to connect institutions to parents and students through educational platforms.

A Rare Glimpse Into Lebanon’s $30 Billion Restructuring Plan

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A Rare Glimpse Into Lebanon’s $30 Billion Restructuring Plan

by finance.yahoo.com -- Marton Eder and Dana Khraiche --Sovereign bond restructurings are rarely smooth. Lebanon’s looks like it will be particularly rocky. The rules underpinning the nation’s looming debt overhaul may complicate efforts to gather enough support to change the terms of its bonds. At the same time, they could protect the country from some of the issues that left Argentina with lengthy court battles. So say Mark Weidemaier and Mitu Gulati, law professors at the University of North Carolina and Duke University, who published online reports about the nation’s $30 billion of international bonds after reviewing the detailed terms laid out in the Fiscal Agency Agreement. That document has only been available to bondholders at the office of Lebanon’s fiscal agent in Luxembourg. “Lebanon’s FAA explicitly allows it to do what got Argentina into trouble,” they said in a post on the Creditslips academic blog. The terms make it “more difficult for holdouts to complain when the government pays restructuring participants (and everyone else) while leaving holdouts with nothing,” they said.

Pari Passu: The so-called pari-passu clauses, used to guarantee equal treatment of creditors, may be a rare positive element for Lebanon in a revamp fraught with difficulties. More stringent terms in Argentina’s case left it battling holdouts in court for more than a decade. Markets have already priced in the difficulties. Most dollar bonds are trading below 25 cents on the dollar, indicating losses of more than 75% on the face value of notes. Lebanon’s foreign-currency credit rating was cut to restricted default by Fitch Ratings on Wednesday.

Lebanon faces coronavirus shutdown

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BEIRUT (Reuters) - Beirut's usually congested streets were largely free of cars and pedestrians stayed away from its seafront Corniche as government measures to curb the spread of coronavirus took effect with varying degrees of success on Monday. Police ordered closed several shops that were open in Beirut in violation of the shutdown order, and a group of swimmers were cleared from the beach in the southern city of Sidon, Reuters journalists said. The government declared a medical state of emergency on Sunday, announcing a shutdown that included most public institutions and private companies as it looks to rein in the virus that has infected 109 people. It also ordered the closure of borders, ports and airport from March 18-29 and said Lebanese are obliged to remain at home except for matters of "extreme necessity". Beirut traffic was unusually light on typically heavily congested roads.

A security official said compliance with the government decision was still lacking, noting that some people had no choice but to go to work. "The traffic is definitely less but there are still cars in the streets," he said "There are awareness campaigns but they are not reaching all parts of society". A security source said security forces were acting to disperse gatherings of people. Police cleared people off the Corniche, where some were walking wearing facemasks and surgical gloves. "These two weeks are the most dangerous," Health Minister Hamad Hassan said, according to Lebanese broadcaster al-Manar. Lebanon is already grappling with a financial and economic crisis. Addressing a news conference after an emergency cabinet session, Prime Minister Hassan Diab said the steps would "no doubt" impact the economy but "people's lives and health are more precious". (Reporting by Tom Perry and Ellen Francis and Issam Abdallah; Editing by Angus MacSwan)