Daughter of US hostage in Lebanon call on Trump to act: ‘We need him back ASAP’

Details

foxnews.com --The daughter of an American citizen held hostage in Lebanon called on President Trump and his administration to take action. Appearing on "Fox & Friends: Weekend" with host Pete Hegseth and the daughter of Amer Fakhoury, Guilia Fakhoury, urged the president to do anything in his power to bring her father home. "My dad was kidnapped," said Guila Fakhoury. "He went to retrieve his passport after [they told him] 'we just need it for a background check' and we never saw him again."

She said her father is battling Stage 4 cancer while jailed in Beirut. "On top of that, he acquired Epstein-Barr virus which led to his Stage 4 cancer," she continued. "And he is still held hostage by a country we are giving millions [in] aid [to] every year." "So, this is outrageous," she stated. Amer Fakhoury served as a commander in the South Lebanon Army, a mostly Christian force allied with and supported by Israel, and was jailed on vacation with his family last December after a Hezbollah-backed newspaper accused him of war crimes. He had not returned two Lebanon for two decades. "We call on our president because we trust that our president will never sit back and watch an innocent American citizen being tortured, held hostage and dying," the family's attorney Celine Atallah. "This is not a legal case." "My message to President Trump...He advocates for all Americans out there. He fights for Americans and right now there is a sick American, U.S. citizen, who is held hostage and we need him back ASAP," Guila Fakhoury concluded

Lebanese security fire water cannons at protesters

Details

by reuters -- Some protesters among the hundreds who had gathered for a planned march managed to open a metal gate blocking their way but were pushed back. After Lebanon’s Internal Security Forces used Twitter to warn peaceful demonstrators to leave for their own safety, riot police fanned out to disperse dozens of remaining protesters. “We want the demonstrations to be peaceful so they can prevail,” said Abdo Saadeh, criticizing a government formed this week as a “masquerade” by a political elite that protesters blame for driving the country towards collapse. The Iranian-backed group Hezbollah and its allies formed a cabinet of technocrats nominated by their parties under Prime Minister Hassan Diab, who was tapped for the job after protests forced former premier Saad al-Hariri to resign on Oct. 29. “We came here today because there is no trust in this government,” Saadeh said. “They brought their cronies, their consultants.”

The new government must tackle a financial emergency that has sunk the currency, pushed up prices and driven banks to impose capital controls. Security conditions have deteriorated, with hundreds injured last weekend in clashes between demonstrators and security forces. We want a government of independents, not parties,” said demonstrator Reema Ajouz. “Independents can save the country. With the politicians we have we are headed to the precipice.”

As Lebanese Struggle to Make Ends Meet, Living Costs Set to Soar Higher

Details

BEIRUT Reuters Tom Arnold — Lebanese consumers feeling the pinch from rising living costs amid an economic crisis are likely to be squeezed even tighter as more local pounds and less U.S. dollars come into circulation, pushing up inflation. Lebanon has long relied on a steady flow of dollars from its overseas diaspora to help fund its financial system. But that has been choked off as faith in the political elite crumbled. People have been hit by what economists estimate is a 30% annual rise in inflation during the crisis that escalated in October. The pound has collapsed against the U.S. dollar in the parallel market and a liquidity crunch has bitten. That slashed consumer purchasing power and prompted some to withdraw pounds from banks as unofficial capital controls shattered confidence in the banking system and restricted access to dollars.

Arlette Mattar, 54, a midwife and mother of three, has cut back to basics, eliminating sweets and restricting purchases of items like tissues and toiletries. "The cost of living is high now," she said outside a supermarket in a middle-class Beirut neighbourhood. "Now when I shop I get only what I need." While the pound, pegged against the dollar for 22 years, is the official currency, the greenback has long been used as an alternative for transactions. Some consumers who were buying with dollars say they now use pounds. "Today you know the most important thing is food, it is necessary for one to live, so this affected all Lebanese families," said a beautician and mother of two who asked only to be identified by her surname, Boutros. She had tightened spending on goods like cleaning products. The Lebanese economy relies on imports.

Read more ...

Summary news: New Lebanon government looking for $5 billion in loans

Details

BEIRUT (Reuters) - Lebanon’s new government must reassure international donors it is serious about reforms to tackle a financial crisis as it looks initially to secure up to $5 billion in soft loans for basic goods, its finance minister said on Thursday. The government that took office on Tuesday faces an emergency in which banks have imposed controls, the Lebanese pound has weakened and protesters have turned to violence which a senior U.N. official described as “politically manipulated”. “The entire international community has its eye on what this government will do,” Finance Minister Ghazi Wazni said in televised comments. “What is its programme, what are the reform steps, is it ready for support or no?” Lebanon is looking to secure $4 billion to $5 billion in soft loans from international donors to finance purchases of wheat, fuel and medicines, The Daily Star newspaper had earlier quoted the minister as saying. “This injection will cover the country’s needs for one year,” said Wazni.

Bank restrictions on access to cash, inflation and job losses have hit people hard. Increasingly violent though more limited protests have replaced jubilant demonstrations against a political elite blamed for driving Lebanon towards collapse. Interior minister Mohammed Fahmi said the state would not tolerate attacks on security forces who he said would protect people’s rights, including freedom of expression. On Wednesday, protesters broke stone slabs off buildings in a luxury commercial district of Beirut to hurl at barricades guarded by security forces blocking paths to parliament. “This looks more like a political manipulation to provoke the security forces, to undermine civil peace, to fan up sectarian strife,” Jan Kubis, U.N. special coordinator for Lebanon, wrote on Twitter, mentioning attacks on security forces and vandalism of state institutions and private property. The new government was set up with backing from the powerful Iran-backed group Hezbollah and its political allies. Major political parties that have Western backing, including that of former premier Saad al-Hariri, are not part of the cabinet.

RESCUE PLAN

Read more ...

ضيقُ الخِياراتِ مع تَعدُّدِ الولاءات

Details

سجعان قزي

وزير سابق

@AzziSejean

  -هذه انتفاضةٌ على كلِّ شيءٍ لأنَّ المواطنين يَنقُصهم كلُّ شيء. وهذه نقمةٌ على جميعِ المسؤولين لأن هؤلاءِ أَهملوا حقوقَ الناسِ مدى ثلاثينَ سنة. ليلةَ 14 تموز 1789، هَروَل الدوق "دو لاروشفوكو" يُبلغ الملِكَ لويس السادس عشر بسقوطِ الـــ"باستيل" فقال له الملِك: "ما هي إلا انتفاضة"، فأجابه الدوق: "بل هي الثورة". دَهاءُ الثوراتِ أن تُرهِبَ السلطةَ من دونِ أن تُخيفَ الشعب. لذا، كلّما انحرفت الثورةُ في لبنان نحو العنف، بَطُلت أن تكونَ كذلك وأَصبحت "أحداثًا" يُـحَلَّلُ ردعُها. بالمناسبةِ، كان يُستحسنُ بمجلسِ الأمنِ المركزيِّ (20/01) استعمالُ كلمةً أخرى غيرَ "الردع"، فاستذكارُ "قوّاتِ الردع" ممزوجٌ بالحربِ والدمعِ...

مرتكزاتُ لبنان سَقطت، وما بقي منها غيرُ كافٍ ليبقى لبنانُ كما هو شكلًا وضمونًا: لبنانُ الكبير ضَربَته الديمغرافيا. الاستقلالُ ضَربه الانحيازُ. السيادةُ ضربَها تداولُ الاحتلالات. الوِحدةُ الوطنيّةُ ضَربَتها القوميّاتُ المتضارِبة. الدستورُ ضَربَه التخطّي والتعليق. الهويّةُ ضَربها انتحالُ الصِفة. الصيغةُ ضَربها تَعدّدُ الولاءات. المساواةُ ضَربها السلاح. التعدديّةُ الحضاريّةُ ضَربها اتّساعُ الفوارقِ في أنماطِ الحياة. اتفاقُ الطائفِ ضَربه التباسُ موادِّه وسوءُ التطبيق. الديمقراطيّةُ ضَربتها التوافقيّة المعطِّلة. النظامُ الليبراليُّ الاقتصاديُّ والماليُّ ضَربه اختلالٌ في قطاعاتِه وجشعُ أركانِه وغيابُ الطبقةِ الوسطى، ولبنان الرسالةِ ضَربه الخلافُ على دورِه ورسالتِه.

Read more ...

Lebanon Ex-minister Feels Heat In Testy Davos Debate

Details

Davos, Switzerland, (APP  - 23rd Jan, 2020 ) :Key Lebanon party leader and former foreign minister Gebran Bassil on Thursday faced accusations over his personal wealth and record at the top of a country mired in corruption, during a hugely uncomfortable appearance at the Davos economic forum. Bassil, the son-in-law of Lebanese President Michel Aoun, lost his post as foreign minister when a new government was finally announced this week after months of street protests over a collapsing economy. His appearance at the luxury Swiss resort had caused howls of outrage in Lebanon where thousands signed petitions asking about the financing of his trip at a time when Lebanese are trying to make ends meet. "How did you get here?", asked the moderator. "Did you take a private plane?" "I came simply on my own expenses," Bassil replied. "I know rumours and lies circulate always but this is the reality. Not one lira at the expense of the Lebanese treasury!" "So this is family money?" the moderator pressed. "No this was offered to me. I was invited here," Bassil replied. "We are not allowed to have friends like that when we are in government," witheringly pointed out Dutch Trade Minister Sigrid Kaag, who previously served as UN coordinator for Lebanon.

Turning to the situation in Lebanon, Bassil insisted the protests were not political in nature and he even supported them. "What is happening in the street is very positive," said Bassil, still seen as a key powerbroker as leader of the Free Patriotic Movement. "They are protesting as they lost their money, they are not united on any political issue." Opponents of Bassil reacted with glee on social media to his performance. "Watching Gebran Bassil getting roasted is so good," commented one on Twitter. Bassil, who served half a decade as foreign minister after a similar time as energy minister, has consistently come under fire from demonstrators mobilised to demand the removal of a political class they deem incompetent and corrupt. "Lebanon is a country that has been stymied by top-level corruption across the board," commented Kaarg. "The sectarian system, coupled with the former warlords, have hijacked the state," she said.