Hariri stands firm on formation of new Lebanese government

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by NAJIA HOUSSARI -- arabnews -- BEIRUT: Lebanon’s Prime Minister-designate Saad Hariri said on Saturday that he will not form a Cabinet that simply caters to President Michel Aoun’s wishes. “I will not form a government as the team of the president wants it, or any other political faction,” Hariri told a parliamentary session. The prime minister-designate added that he “will only form the kind of government needed to stop collapse and prevent the big crash that is threatening the Lebanese.” Hariri’s remarks came in response to the president’s letter to parliament calling on MPs search for an alternative to the prime minister-designate. Parliament’s plenary session was broadcast live and lasted for about two hours. Lebanon has been without a government for seven months after Hassan Diab’s resignation as prime minister in the wake of the Beirut port blast which killed more than 200 people last August.

Hariri told parliament that “the truth of what is happening is that the president of the republic tells the deputies in his message: ‘You named a prime minister, I do not want him, and I will not allow him to form a government. Please, get rid of him.’ This is an attempt to absolve the president of the republic from the accusation of obstructing the formation of the government.” The prime minister-designate also said that Aoun sent messages to foreign capitals similar to his letter to parliament “to protect some of those around him and the political team from European sanctions.” He accused Aoun of “wanting us to amend the constitution. If we don’t, he wants to change the constitution in practice without amendment.”

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US announces $120 mln in military aid to Lebanon, looking for more ways to help army

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by Joseph Haboush, Al Arabiya English -- US and Lebanese officials held the inaugural Defense Resourcing Conference Friday and the State Department announced $120 million in military aid for the Lebanese army. “In this virtual conference, the delegations highlighted the strength of the US-LAF partnership and discussed ways to deepen security cooperation,” the State Department said. Senior Official for Arms Control and International Security C.S. Eliot Kang headed Washington’s delegation while Lebanese army commander General Joseph Aoun led Beirut’s side. The delegations discussed the deteriorating economic, political, and humanitarian conditions affecting the Lebanese people and military, the State Department said. “The US Department of State renewed its commitment to the LAF by announcing $120 million in Foreign Military Financing (FMF) assistance to Lebanon for fiscal year 2021, subject to Congressional notification procedures, representing a $15 million increase over prior-year levels.”

Discussions also took place on ways the US could provide additional aid to the Lebanese army “as it grapples with the economic crises in Lebanon.” Decades of rampant corruption and mismanagement of public funds, coupled with sectarianism and clientelism, have led to unprecedented economic and social crises in Lebanon. Nationwide anti-government protests in 2019 also rocked the country, forcing the collapse of the government. The political elite was then unable to agree on a new government after Hassan Diab stepped down following the Beirut blast in August 2020.

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Lebanese Scuffle With Syrians Voting Abroad in Support of Assad

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BEIRUT (Reuters) - Scuffles erupted on Thursday between Lebanese and Syrians, who were on their way to cast votes at their embassy in Lebanon in favour of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, as polling abroad began before next week's presidential election. The voters were driving in a convoy of cars and buses, waving Syrian flags and blasting pro-Assad songs on speakers, heading to the embassy on the outskirts of Beirut, when a group of Lebanese attacked their vehicles, witnesses said.

Lebanon's relations with neighbouring Syria have often be fraught in the past. Syrian forces were deployed to Lebanon in the 1975-1990 Lebanese civil war, ending their 29-year presence in 2005. Lebanon now hosts 1 million refugees from Syria's own civil conflict. "They can go and vote and leave but carrying the Syrian flag here, that's not right," said one Lebanese protestor who asked not to be named. "This is provocation," he said. Syrians abroad vote on Thursday before the May 26 election inside Syria, a vote Assad is all but certain to win. Assad, who took power in 2000 on the death of his father who had ruled for 30 years, has regained control of most of Syria after 10 years of fighting that has devastated the country. Syria's government says the election shows the country is functioning normally despite the war. The opposition and Western nations view it as a farce to rubber-stamp Assad's grip on power.

Lebanese central bank launches new foreign exchange system

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by middle-east-online.com -- BEIRUT - Lebanon, whose currency has collapsed amid a deep financial crisis, is launching a scheme to obtain dollars via banks at a rate similar to levels offered by unofficial dealers. President Michel Aoun said in March that banks would be allowed to handle transactions at market rates, but the central bank has only issued mechanisms in past weeks for the exchange platform. The central bank said in a statement on Thursday that Lebanese seeking dollars could register to buy the U.S. currency at a rate of 12,000 to the dollar from participating banks from May 21-25. They would receive the dollars on May 27, it said. It did not say whether customers would in future also be able to use the central bank's new Sayrafa platform to receive Lebanese pounds when selling dollars at a similar rate.

Until the economy was crushed by debt in late 2019, the Lebanese pound was freely traded at banks, shops and elsewhere at 1,500 to the dollar. Since then, the street rate has plunged, trading around 12,800 on Thursday. Banks have faced limits on the rates they use, with some deals allowed at 3,900. The crisis has plunged swathes of the nation into poverty, and the Lebanese - many of whom held savings in dollar accounts - now face restrictions on access to their foreign exchange, with limits both on withdrawals and on the bank rate offered.

لا المقاومةُ نَصَرتْه ولا أنصَفه السلامُ

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سجعان قزي وزير سابق

نحن في القرنِ الحادي والعشرين. تَغيّر مفهومُ الانتصارِ والهزيمة. ما عادت السيطرةُ تُبرِّرُ حربًا، ولا التنازلُ يُبرِّرُ سلامًا. لا قيمةَ لأيِّ نضالٍ خارجَ خيرِ الإنسانِ وأمنِه ورفاهيّتِه وتَقدُّمِه الحضاريّ، ولا قيمةَ لأيِّ انتصارٍ على حسابِ الحياةِ والأطفالِ والأخلاقِ والمبادئ. هناك انتصاراتٌ تُشبِه الهزائم، وهزائمُ تحاكي الانتصارات. هي هذه حكايةُ الصراعِ الفِلسطينيِّ/الإسرائيليّ. يَصعُبُ على الشعبِ الفِلسطينيِّ أن يحيا في الهزيمةِ، ويَتعذّرُ على الشعبِ اليهوديِّ أن يحيا في الانتصار. وحدَه الحقُّ، بل وحدَها العدالةُ الإنسانيّةُ تَضمَنُ نهايةَ الحروبِ وبدايةَ السلام بين البشر. الانفجارُ الجديدُ الذي نَشب بين إسرائيل والفِلسطينيّين في 07 أيار 2021 أبعدُ من الخلافِ على الصلاةِ في باحةِ المسجِد الأقصى. إنّه يَحمِل في عمقِه هذه المشاعرَ والمفاهيمَ ونقيضَها.

في التفسيرِ الوطني، انتفاضةُ أورشليم وغزّة فَجّرها غضبٌ فِلسطينيٌّ دفينٌ وقهرٌ عتيقٌ عمرُه سبعون سنة. منذ 1948 والغضبُ والقهرُ يَكبُران ويَتفجَّران بأشكالٍ شتّى في أمكنةٍ مختلِفةٍ، وأحيانًا في غيرِ الساحةِ الصحيحة... لا تستطيعُ إسرائيلُ دعوةَ الفِلسطينيّين إلى مفاوضاتِ سلامٍ فيما تَستكْمِلُ القضاءَ على آخِرِ معالمِ وجودِهم. ما تَركت إسرائيلُ للفِلسطينيّين سوى الحجرِ والبندقيّةِ و"الله أكبر" و"يا يسوعَ المسيح". احتلّت فِلسطين. توسّعت في الضِفّةِ الغربيّة. ضَمَّت كلَّ أورشليم و"طَوَّبتْها" عاصمةً لها. أَلغَت حلَّ الدولتَين. أعلنت دولةَ إسرائيل يهوديّةً قوميّة. صَنَّفت المواطنين الفِلسطينيّين فيها درجةً ثانية. زادَت عددَ المستوطَناتِ في الضِفّةِ وعَمَّمت عليها القانونَ المدنيَّ الإسرائيليّ. واصَلت تهجيرَ الفِلسطينيّين المقيمين بالألوف. رَفضَت حقَّ عودةِ فِلسطينيّي الشَتات. وتَتحضّرُ لضَمِّ أجزاءَ إضافيّةٍ من الضِفّةِ الغربيّةِ (ثُلُث غَوْرِ الأردن). لو كان الشعبُ الفِلسطينيُّ حَجرًا لتَحوّلَ ثائرًا، فكيف وهو إنسانٌ ثائرٌ أصلًا ويُحسِنُ رميَ الحجَر و... الصاروخ.

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Top US general monitoring Israel-Hamas conflict in case it spreads to Lebanon

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by msn.com -- Gen. Frank McKenzie, the top U.S. general in the Middle East, said he is closely monitoring the conflict between Israel and Hamas in case it widens into Lebanon. McKenzie, who is overseeing the withdrawal of U.S. forces in Afghanistan, also said that he would present a plan in early June to Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin for how the U.S. would carry out its "over-the-horizon" operations after all 2,500 American troops have left. The U.S. Central Command commander talked with a small group of reporters traveling with him to the Middle East Wednesday about how CENTCOM will soon incorporate Israel into its area of responsibility, assuming the primary U.S. military relationship that for decades has been undertaken by U.S. European Command.

McKenzie said the current conflict between Israel and Hamas has not affected the planned transition in any way, but he said CENTCOM is "closely monitoring" the conflict in case it should widen further. "I think a conflict on that scale isn't good for any kind of stability anywhere," said McKenzie. "There is a danger any time that a conflict like this drags on -- of it widening -- that would be dangerous." McKenzie said the main concern is that the conflict could widen into neighboring Lebanon, which is home to some Palestinian extremist groups and Hezbollah. "We certainly don't want that to happen, I'm sure that Israel doesn't want that to happen," he added. "That is very concerning," said McKenzie. "Although it looks like there haven't been any significant attacks from Lebanon, that could change." "I hope that the status quo remains and that does not occur," said McKenzie. "But I think that would be the principal area where it could widen, I hope it doesn't happen."

The rockets fired by militants in Lebanon into northern Israel threatened to open up a new front in the fighting. The rocket attack, which drew Israeli artillery fire in response but did not cause any injuries, raised the possibility of dragging Israel into renewed conflict with the powerful Lebanese militant group Hezbollah to its north. No one immediately claimed responsibility for the attack, and Hezbollah, which fought a month-long war against Israel in 2006, has stayed out of the fighting for now. The rockets were widely believed to be fired by Palestinian factions based in south Lebanon. But they cannot operate without Hezbollah's tacit consent, and the barrage appears to be carefully calibrated to send a political message that the group, which has tens of thousands of missiles, could join the battle at any time. Israel considers Hezbollah to be its most formidable threat, and has threatened widespread destruction in Lebanon if war were to erupt.

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