New Lebanese Agriculture Minister Vows To Restore Ties With Syria, Boost Export

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BEIJING, (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point New) :The newly-appointed Lebanese agriculture minister said on Friday that his first priority is to restore good ties with Syria in a bid to facilitate the export of Lebanese products to other Arab countries. "After the government gets a vote of confidence, I will be visiting Syria to build good ties with the neighboring country and facilitate the export of our produce to the rest of the Arab countries while asking the Syrian government to reduce fees for exporting through its territories," Abbas Mortada was quoted as saying by Elnashra, an online independent newspaper. He also vowed to take steps that aim at helping Lebanese farmers improve and export their produce while opening new markets to increase job opportunities. In the past few years, the Lebanese agriculture sector has been suffering from the war in neighboring Syria that disrupted the land export route through the country for Lebanese farmers who have to pay much higher fees to export their produce by sea. The Lebanese sector has also suffered from neglect by the government which failed to offer the needed support for farmers.

Lebanon looks to combat capital flight

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thearabweekly.com -- LONDON - Lebanon has moved to combat “capital flight” after it emerged that $1 billion has already been transferred out of the country despite restrictions on withdrawals. According to local reports, Lebanon’s central bank informed local lenders to settle debt securities and Certificates of Deposit in client accounts, part of emergency measures to put a lid on capital flight from the protest hit country which is facing increasing liquidity problems. In an internal circular issued on January 30 and effective for six months, banks in Lebanon are ordered to settle the value and interest of debts, Bloomberg reported. The move comes as part of a broader move to ensure sufficient financial liquidity in Lebanon. Banking restrictions already ban most transfers abroad and limit dollar and local-currency withdrawals.

Despite such measures, Lebanon Central Bank governor Riad Salameh revealed that significant capital had been transferred out of the country over the past few months. "Of the $1.6 billion that was withdrawn (from the Lebanese banking sector) between October 17 and the end of the year... one billion dollars were transferred abroad by Lebanese," Salameh said on January 30 in an interview with France 24. The remaining $600,000 that was withdrawn from Lebanese banks during this period were capital deposits held by foreign banks, Salameh added. Salameh announced an investigation into how so much money was transferred, but acknowledged that results would “take some time” He also acknowledged there had been reports that “politicians, senior civil servants and bank owners” were involved in capital flight but called on observers to wait for the investigation’s report. Questions about who was transferring money abroad and how are being raised after a report by the Carnegie think tank in November revealed that nearly $800 million left Lebanon between October 15 and November 7. During this period, the vast majority of Lebanese could not access their funds because banks were closed due to anti-corruption protests.

US Middle East plan could lead to 'more bloodshed', bishops warn

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by catholicherald.co.uk -- The proposed Israeli-Palestinian peace plan announced this week is “no solution,” Catholic bishops of the Holy Land said on Wednesday. “This plan will bring no solution but rather will create more tensions and probably more violence and bloodshed,” read a statement on Wednesday from the Assembly of Catholic Ordinaries of the Holy Land, which represents Christians from Latin, Melkite, Maronite, Syrian, Armenian, and Chaldean churches in communion with Rome. The ordinaries said that the plan was one-sided in favor of Israel’s traditional demands for a two-state solution and was a “unilateral initiative” that did not involve the agreement of the Palestinians, nor respected their “equal rights and dignity.” “It is to be considered a unilateral initiative, since it endorses almost all the demands of one side, the Israeli one, and its political agenda,” the statement read. “On the other hand, this plan does not really take into considerations the just demands of the Palestinian people for their homeland, their rights and dignified life.”

The proposed “Peace-to-Prosperity” plan, announced on Wednesday by U.S. President Donald Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, outlined a path to statehood for Palestine as part of a “two-state solution.” Tuesday’s proposal is open to acceptance by Palestinian leaders for a four-year term. It would set up borders for a new Palestinian state with its capital of “al-Quds,” the Arabic name for Jerusalem, encompassing parts of East Jerusalem. However, the rest of the city—including the Old City—would remain part of Israel. Israel would also keep around a third of the West Bank, including existing settlements and the Jordan Valley. There would be a four-year halt to an expansion of Israeli settlements into the proposed Palestinian territory, but there is no freeze on settlements within Israel’s proposed future boundary in the West Bank. Appearing with President Trump on Tuesday at the White House, Netanyahu said that Israel would not wait to “apply its laws” to areas that would fall under its control in the proposed boundaries, including the Jordan Valley and Jewish communities in Judea and Samaria.

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Lebanon’s Government Tries to Curb USD Exchange Rate by Pursuing Money Changers

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by aawsat.com -- The Lebanese state is seeking to control the rise in the value of the US dollar against the local currency by clamping down on money changers who have failed to adhere to the limits set by the central bank and the Lebanese Money Changers Association. Last week, the Association said it had agreed with the central bank on “an exchange rate for the US dollar capped at 2,000 Lebanese pounds,” which was not respected by all. The Lebanese pound is officially maintained at a rate of 1,517 to the dollar, but the country’s worsening economic situation has sent the currency into a sharp decline in foreign exchange offices.

But as the central bank has refrained from pumping the dollar into the Lebanese market, and the banks imposed severe measures on the depositors, the Lebanese people resorted to the black market as an alternative solution, selling the dollar to the money changers at a value of LBP2,150, or buying it at LBP2,300. In a recent move, Financial Prosecutor Ali Ibrahim pressed charges against six money changers for violating the law and working without permits from the central bank. Those were referred to the competent judicial authorities for trial. A banking source told Asharq Al-Awsat that banks “don’t know the source of the dollars that are available at the money exchange offices.” “There is no doubt that an important part of these dollars is purchased by exchange offices from the citizens who are buying the local currency, but not all exchanged money is from such transactions,” according to the source.

Lebanese vow to reject any Palestinian resettlement linked to Trump peace plan

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by arabnews.com -- NAJIA HOUSSARIBEIRUT: In response to the unveiling of US President Donald Trump’s Middle East peace plan on Tuesday, politicians and activists in Lebanon reiterated their support for the right of Palestinians to return to their homeland, and said they would reject any attempt to permanently resettle refugees on its soil. Trump’s plan includes billions of dollars of investment in the Palestinian territories and neighboring countries, including Lebanon, which is grappling with an unprecedented economic crisis. Some are worried that the investment might be an inducement to accept the permanent settlement of Palestinian refugees, sparking renewed fears of a shift in the country’s Christian-Muslim balance. Lebanon hosts 12 refugee camps for Palestinians. A day of protest about the Trump plan was due to take place in the camps on Wednesday, including a general strike, marches and rallies.

Figures from the Lebanese Ministry of Interior reveal that the country hosted almost 600,000 Palestinian refugees between 1948 and 2016. The number registered with The United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA) is 459,292. A census carried out in 2017 by Lebanon’s Central Statistics Department and the Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics in 2017 found that 174,422 refugees lives in the camps. “Lebanon does not currently have any strategy on how to face this difficult moment,” said Hassan Mneimneh, head of the Lebanese–Palestinian Dialogue Committee (LPDC), an inter-ministerial government body. “The Ministry of Foreign Affairs has not prepared any strategy on how to deal with any attempt to impose resettlement as a fait accompli. We, as Lebanese, must strive to confront this long path because resettlement will not happen overnight, and Lebanon must refuse any trade off between its faltering economic situation and the resettlement issue. There should be no compromise on this matter at all. “The solutions to the economic crisis must be far removed from the temptations that might be offered to Lebanon in exchange for resettlement.”

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Lebanese student shuns evacuation from Wuhan

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(MENAFN - Asia Times) Lebanese student Adham al-Sayed was completing the last four months of his PhD in Wuhan, China this week, when instead of a quiet Lunar New Year of thesis work, he found himself at the epicenter of the coronavirus outbreak, cordoned off in a province on lockdown. Chinese authorities on January 22 ordered a "sanitary cordon" of Hubei province, shutting down transportation routes and effectively sealing off more than 50 million people, including thousands of foreign students studying in the capital city Wuhan. "The first day was crazy. Everyone was going to the shops to stock up on supplies. We were afraid that the next day, there wouldn't be water," Sayed told Asia Times via Whatsapp call from his international students' dormitory.

Wednesday, Sayed says, was the first time he dared to leave his small apartment since the start of the province-wide quarantine, aimed at halting the spread of the epidemic, which has killed more than 100 people and infected thousands of others in China and beyond. With a black protective mask on his face and hood over his head, the 32-year-old, one of thousands of foreign students in the city, filmed his venture into the streets of Wuhan on Facebook live. While the streets appear mostly deserted, vegetable markets and pharmacies, he shows, are open and operating on normal business hours to serve the handful of people venturing out to re-stock. Pointing to a four pack of 2-liter water bottles he has just purchased, he explains they are still being sold at their pre-epidemic price of ￥10 ($1.44). "I wanted to kiss him, but I can't," he laughs, speaking of the mini-market owner through a protective mask.

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