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Lebanese openly criticise Hezbollah as crisis intensifies

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FILE PHOTO: Lebanon's Hezbollah leader Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah gestures as he addresses his supporters via a screen during the religious procession to mark the Shi'ite Ashura ceremony, in Beirut, Lebanon September 10, 2019. REUTERS/Aziz Taher -/File Photo

by AP -- Driving back to base after firing rockets towards Israeli positions from a border area last month, a group of Hezbollah fighters was accosted by angry villagers who smashed their vehicles' windshields and briefly held up the convoy. It was a rare incident of defiance that suggested many in Lebanon will not tolerate provocations by the powerful group that risk triggering a new war with Israel. As Lebanon sinks deeper into poverty, many Lebanese are more openly criticising Iran-backed Hezbollah. They blame the group – with the ruling class – for the numerous, devastating crises plaguing the country, including a dramatic currency crash and severe shortages in medicine and fuel. “Hezbollah is facing its most consequential challenge in maintaining control over the Lebanese system and what is called the ‘protective environment of the resistance’ against Israel,” said Joe Macaron, a Middle East analyst in Washington. The incident along the border and other confrontations – including a deadly shooting at the funeral of a Hezbollah fighter and rare indirect criticism by the country’s top Christian religious leader – leave the group on the defensive.

The anger has spread in recent months, even in Hezbollah strongholds where many have protested against electricity cuts and fuel shortages as well as the currency crash that has plunged more than half the country's six million people into penury. In its strongholds, predominantly inhabited by Shiite Muslims, it is not uncommon now for people to speak out against the group. They note that Hezbollah is paying salaries in US dollars at a time when most Lebanese get paid in Lebanese currency, which in almost two years has lost more than 90 per cent of its value. Protests and scuffles have broken out at gas stations around Lebanon and in some Hezbollah strongholds. In rare shows of defiance, groups of protesters closed key roads in those areas south of Beirut and in southern Lebanon. In recent speeches, Hezbollah leader Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah appeared angry, blaming the shortages on what he describes as an undeclared western siege. The chaos in Lebanon, he said, is being instigated from a “black room” inside the US embassy.

President Michel Sleiman: عام ٢٠١٣ جاء من ينصحني بتعقيد عملية تشكيل حكومة سلام كي استمر في الرئاسة بسبب وجود حكومة مستقيلة تصرف الاعمال. فشكرتهم للفت نظري قائلاً : " بما اني لا اريد الاستمرار دقيقة واحدة ساعمل على تسهيل التشكيل

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القاضي بيتر جرمانوس
‏يكشف عبر الـMTV
‏أنه ساهم بانتاج دراسة قانونية
‏في عهد ميشال سليمان
‏تقول إن حكومة تصريف الاعمال
‏لا تستطيع تولي صلاحيات رئيس الجمهورية
‏بعد انتهاء ولايته
‏وعليه لا بد أن يكمل الرئيس في منصبه
‏الى حين انتخاب البديل.
لا علم لي بهذه الدراسة ولم اطلبها ولم اضطلع عليها. ولكن عام ٢٠١٣ جاء من ينصحني بتعقيد عملية تشكيل حكومة سلام كي استمر في الرئاسة بسبب وجود حكومة مستقيلة تصرف الاعمال.
فشكرتهم للفت نظري قائلاً : " بما اني لا اريد الاستمرار دقيقة واحدة ساعمل على تسهيل التشكيل، ولو على حسابي، رغم عدم اقتناعي بهذه الفتوى لانها غير دستورية.

Lebanese Ministerial Delegation to Visit Syria

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by english.aawsat.com -- A Lebanese ministerial delegation is expected to carry out an official visit to Damascus this week for the first time since 2011. The visit aims to discuss an agreement to import natural gas from Egypt through Syria and Jordan to the Deir Ammar power plant in north Lebanon. President Michel Aoun and caretaker Prime Minister Hassan Diab signed an extraordinary decree tasking deputy Prime Minister and caretaker Defense and Foreign Minister Zeina Akar to head the delegation, which should also include Finance Minister Ghazi Wazni, Energy Minister Raymond Ghajar and Abbas Ibrahim, who heads Lebanon's General Security Directorate. “The ministers were surprised by the assignment and said they learned about the visit from the media,” ministerial sources told Asharq Al-Awsat on Sunday.

The sources said the date of the visit has not been set yet, but they confirmed that Ibrahim is coordinating with Damascus on the visit. “Talks in Damascus should reactivate an agreement to import Egyptian gas through the Jordan-Syria line to Lebanon,” the sources added. They also confirmed that Egypt was willing to export gas to Lebanon, while the US and Jordan have both facilitated the matter. Lebanon relies on Egyptian natural gas to increase the production of power, as the country struggles with crippling fuel shortages.

Nayla Tueni: لبنان خارج الحياد وخارج المنظومة

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Nayla Tueni (@naylatueni) | Twitter

نايلة تويني
لبنان خارج الحياد وخارج المنظومة

قد لا يحلو لكثيرين تذكيرهم بـ"#إعلان بعبدا" الذي جهد لتحييد #لبنان عن الاصطفاف الحاد حيال الحرب السورية. مع النظام السوري وراعيه الايراني وجيشه "حزب الله" والحرس الثوري، أم مع المنظومة الدولية والعربية معاً التي سعت الى إضعاف النظام، بل ربما لإسقاطه في مرحلة معيّنة
اعلان بعبدا" الذي تنصّلت منه الاطراف السياسية التي وقّعت عليه، و"لحست" توقيعها بسحر ساحر، لان من شأنه حرمانها القتال الى جانب النظام الأسدي، والتحول طرفاً في حرب خارج الحدود اللبنانية، كان الملاذ لتحييد لبنان، وإبعاده عن ذلك الانقسام، ولو أن #الحياد لم يكن ليرضي الدول العربية والمجتمع الدولي، لكنه كان أفضل الخيارات لبلد منقسم على ذاته.
https://www.annahar.com/arabic/authors/29082021091106639

.Lebanese army confirms arrests of Syrians visiting embassy in Beirut

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By Kareem Chehayeb, Harun al-Aswad -- middleeasteye.net -- The Lebanese Army, following days of contradictory reports, announced on Saturday in a statement that it had arrested six Syrian nationals for allegedly entering the country illegally. Two of those arrested were transferred to Lebanon's General Security, the army said, without providing details on the locations of the other four. The border agency initially denied holding any of the missing Syrian nationals prior to confirmation from the army's press office. Five of the six men have been identified as Tawfik al-Haj, Mohammad Abdelillah al-Waked, Mohammad Saeed al-Waked, Ahmad Ziad al-Eid and Ibrahim Majed al-Shammari. It has been reported that several of those arrested had been affiliated with the Syrian opposition movement. The army's announcement came days after news surfaced that five men from Daraa province went missing at the Syrian embassy near the Lebanese capital. The detentions allegedly took place after embassy staff told the men to come pick up their Syrian passports. Middle East Eye obtained the number of one of the missing men and tried to contact him on WhatsApp, but there was no reply.

'Arrested inside the embassy'?

A relative of one of the missing men told MEE that they had received a call from a private number, introducing themselves as Lebanese intelligence and telling them that their family member had been detained for entering the country on 18 August illegally. "They do not have personal identification papers so they cannot enter Lebanon legally," one of the relatives said. "They went to the Syrian embassy to try to get a passport processed the day after they arrived." Embassy staff originally told them their passports would be processed on 25 August, but when they went back to the embassy that day, they were asked to return two days later, the relative told MEE. It is still unclear whether those detained were arrested at the Syrian embassy or nearby, and the Lebanese Army's statement does not specify where exactly they were apprehended. One relative of the missing told MEE that they are adamant that the men were arrested at the embassy. "The embassy told them to come in on Friday at 9am. They went. But we lost contact with them at noon," the family member said. "I was with many of our other relatives in direct contact with them. They went missing inside the Syrian embassy in Lebanon."

لماذا يُحظّر على بيروت ما يُتاح لبغداد؟

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الرئيس المصري عبدالفتا السيسي ورئيس الوزراء العراقي مصطفى الكاظمي والرئيس الفرنسي إيمانويل ماكرون.أف ب

فارس خشان -- annahar.com لم تحرّر حكومة مصطفى الكاظمي العراق من "سطوة" الميليشيات المرتبطة بإيران. كلّ ما فعلته أنّها أثبتت، بالأقوال، استقلاليتها عنها، وبيّنت، بالممكن من الأفعال، نيتها مواجهة انحرافاتها.

ولكنّ النتائج الضحلة التي حققتها هذه الحكومة العراقية، كانت كافية، بفعل ثبوت "حسن النيات"، ليلتف المجتمعان العربي والدولي حولها، في محاولة لتوفير ما يلزمها من إمكانيات.

ولا يشذ عن هذا المسار نجاح مؤتمر "قمة دول جوار العراق" المتصارعة و"المتمحوِرة"، الذي انعقد، عشية الانتخابات النيابية المقررة في تشرين الأوّل ( اكتوبر) المقبل، بعدما كان قد جرى تبكير مواعيدها، نزولاً عند مطالب "الحراك الشعبي"، صاحب الفضل الأوّل في تشكيل حكومة الكاظمي وفرض الخط السيادي في برنامج عملها.

ولكن، لماذا يُحظّر على بيروت ما يُتاح لبغداد؟

الجواب عن هذا السؤال بسيط، من دون ان يقع في التبسيط: العراق يقدّم أدلّة على نهجه "التحرّري"، بينما يُمعن لبنان في سقوطه،يوماً بعد يوم، ومنذ وصول العماد ميشال عون الى رئاسة الجمهورية، في قبضة "حزب الله".

Clock ticking for Lebanese cancer patients as shortages bite

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Lebanese demonstrate in front of the UN headquarters in Beirut as shortages of cancer medications spread. (Reuters)

by reuters -- BEIRUT: Christine Tohme had already been diagnosed with ovarian cancer when Lebanon’s financial system began to unravel in 2019. She never expected that two years later her country’s economic meltdown would pose a direct threat to her life. The 50-year-old was later diagnosed with third stage colon cancer in February. Having undergone surgery earlier this year, she was then prescribed six sessions of chemotherapy. But with shortages of basic goods plaguing every aspect of Lebanese life, Tohme was told there was no guarantee she would complete her treatment as hospitals run out of vital drugs. So far she has only undergone three sessions. Her cancer has metastasized to her lymph nodes and she fears if she cannot complete her treatment she will only have months to live. Having knocked on every door to try to secure her medication at any cost, Tohme took to the streets on Thursday, despite her ailing health, to join a sit-in protest with other cancer patients, doctors and nongovernmental organizations. “I’m hoping that God gives me strength, as I don’t have that much, to stand on my two feet and take part so that maybe people will see us and sympathize with us and send us treatment,” Tohme told Reuters two days before the event. “I have kids, I want to be happy with them and see them get married and become a grandmother.”

Lebanese healthcare workers have warned for months of declining stocks of vital medical supplies. Many pharmacy shelves are empty as the country’s foreign reserves are depleted on the back of a subsidy scheme used to finance fuel, wheat and medicine that cost the state around $6 billion a year. This month the central bank declared it could no longer finance fuel imports at subsidized exchange rates because its dollar reserves had been so badly depleted. Tohme’s case is not unique. Dr. Joseph Makdessi, who heads the hematology and oncology department at the Saint George Hospital University Medical Center, estimates around 10 percent of cancer patients have been unable to source their treatment in the past couple of months. “We need an immediate solution,” Makdessi said. “I can’t tell my patients this is a crisis and ask them to wait till it eases because this disease has no patience.”