Al-Rahi Says Lebanese Politicians ‘Experts in Creating Obstacles

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by naharnet -- Maronite Patriarch Beshara al-Rahi on Sunday said Lebanese politicians are “experts in creating and resolving obstacles,” referring to the latest deadlock over the deadly Qabrshmoun incident. “Lebanese politicians have proved anew that they are experts in creating obstacles and paralysis and in resolving the obstacles and resuming activity, after they subject the state and the people to hefty financial and economic losses,” al-Rahi said in his Sunday Mass sermon. Lamenting that “the Lebanese state is living a lethal political rift,” the patriarch said “divisions within the state started with the failure to abide by the 1990 Taef Accord.” The political parties reached a reconciliation Friday in Baabda after weeks of political deadlock in the wake of the Qabrshmoun incident. Cabinet sessions resumed following the reconciliation.

Lebanese cabinet meets after political crisis ends

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BEIRUT (Reuters) - Lebanon’s cabinet met on Saturday for the first time since late June, a day after steps were taken to resolve a political dispute that had paralysed a government seeking to reduce massive public debt. Information Minister Jamil al-Jarrah, speaking on television after the meeting, said an investigation into a shooting incident which sparked the crisis would continue and findings would be reported to the cabinet to decide how to proceed. Two aides to a government minister were killed during June’s shooting, and the minister’s allies accused a rival political party of attempting to assassinate him.

T That party said its supporters had been fired on first and that two of them were injured in the clash. The dispute, pitting Lebanon’s two main Druze leaders against each other and embroiling other parties in the coalition government, focused on which court should hear the case. Lebanon’s dollar bonds rose on Friday as it became clear that the Druze leaders would hold a reconciliation meeting and that a cabinet session might become possible. With one of the world’s heaviest public debt burdens, equivalent to 150% of GDP, the government has made reducing the fiscal deficit and attracting foreign investment a priority since it was appointed in January.

A 2019 budget was approved, months late, in July, with big planned cuts to spending. Prime Minister Saad al-Hariri has said the government is committed to quickly agreeing a 2020 budget that includes further fiscal reforms. Political disputes have derailed economic policy-making for long stretches of the past decade, a period also affected by the war in neighbouring Syria. Lebanon’s growth has slowed and its public debt has grown. Reporting by Angus McDowall; editing by John Stonestreet and Stephen Powell Our Standards:The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

Canadian citizen freed from Syria after Lebanese mediation

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BySARAH EL DEEB, ASSOCIATED PRESS -- Details of Baxter's detention were not immediately available but Canadian media reported last December he was detained while in war-torn Syria, where he was traveling seeking an adventure. Canadian officials declined to provide further information, citing privacy provisions. Lebanon's General Security Chief Abbas Ibrahim said Baxter was detained for what Syrian authorities considered a "major violation" of local laws, adding that authorities there may have considered the incident security related. He didn't elaborate. Baxter appeared briefly on a podium, shared with Ibrahim and the Canadian ambassador to Lebanon, Emmanuelle Lamoureux. He was emotional and choked on his words as he tried to hold back tears. "I'd just like to thank the Canadian embassy for helping me," Baxter said, reaching to hold the shoulder of the Canadian ambassador. "I would like to thank the Lebanese for helping me get free. I thought I would be there forever, honestly." He added, wiping his eyes: "I didn't know if anyone knew if I was alive."

Baxter's release marked the second time Lebanon has helped free a foreigner held in Syria. Last month, Ibrahim also mediated the release of an American traveler, Sam Goodwin, held in Syria for two months. The circumstances of Goodwin's detention in northeastern Syria in May were unclear. "I think the work and effort we did shortened the period of (Baxter's) detention and as you see he is on his way to Canada," Ibrahim said Friday before Baxter spoke.

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Lebanese daily publishes blank edition to protest crisis

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by AP -- BEIRUT — Lebanon's only English-language daily protested the country's deteriorating economic and political conditions by publishing a blank edition Thursday, calling it an "alarm bell." Each page of The Daily Star's Thursday edition bore a single phrase referring to one of the country's problems, including government deadlock, rising public debt, increasing sectarian rhetoric and unemployment. The back page had a photo of a cedar tree, a national symbol, with a caption reading: "Wake up before it's too late!" "We are sounding the alarm bell over the many challenges the country is facing," the paper's editor-in-chief Nadim Ladki told The Associated Press. "It's a call on everyone— politicians, activists, ordinary people — to pull together in the same direction to resolve the crises and challenges."

Lebanon has been in the grip of an economic crisis for months, and the government has not met since a June 30 shooting in a mountain village that escalated tensions between the Christian and Druze communities. Rival groups in the Cabinet have been divided on how to proceed with the investigation of the shooting, which left two people dead. The U.S. Embassy issued a statement Wednesday saying it supports a fair and transparent investigation into the shooting in the village of Qabr Shamoun. "Any attempt to use the tragic June 30 event in Qabr Shamoun to advance political objectives should be rejected," the embassy said in an apparent reference to the militant Hezbollah group and its allies, who are seen as pressuring Druze leader Walid Jumblatt.

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Lebanese monastery brings together Christians scattered by war

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by arabnews.com -- QOZHAYA, Lebanon: The last time Samuel Botros stepped into the Lebanese monastery of Saint Anthony of Qozhaya was in 1978. He was 24, newly married, and the country was in the grip of an all-out war. Like many of his generation, he left. It took him 41 years to return. The 1975-90 civil war may be over in Lebanon but conflicts in nearby countries like Iraq and Syria have devastated entire communities where Christians once lived alongside Muslims. That has triggered an exodus among people of both faiths, especially among minority sects — like Botros’ Syriac Orthodox community whose roots are in early Christianity.

The monastery, which is nestled in a remote valley in the northern Lebanese mountains and dates from the fourth century, is a meeting place for Christians who have fled conflict. “It is the war that did this to us. It is the wars that continue to leave behind destruction and force people to leave,” said Botros, visiting the monastery as part of a gathering of his community’s scout group — their first in the region since the 1950s.The scout group’s roughly 150 members include people living in Lebanon, Iraq, Syria, Egypt, Jordan, the Palestinian Territories and further afield. Lebanon was the only country where they could all meet easily and safely, Botros said. In Iraq, years of conflict, most recently with Daesh, erased much of the Christian heritage in ancient cities like Mosul and Sinjar in the north. In Syria’s civil war, some of the oldest churches in Aleppo, Homs and other cities were damaged. Botros, now 65, is about to retire in Sweden where he made his home years ago. He is father and grandfather to children who know Lebanon only through photos.

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Teenager takes top prize in Lebanese arm wrestling competition

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by euronews.com --Fifteen-year-old George Bejjani became the youngest contestant to ever win the title in Lebanon's arm-wrestling championship in the +90kgs category for men. The event crowned winners in different categories including men over 90kgs, men under 90kgs and women.

The championship also brought Lebanon's 2018 champions head-to-head with Ukrainian champions in two super matches, one featuring male and one featuring female contestants. Ukrainian champion Marina Shulika defeated her Lebanese counterpart Serena Abou Saleh in the women's super match, while Lebanon's 2018 champion Maroun Ghanem defeated two-time world champion Mikhail Rudakov. Five women finalists competed for the 2019 title, with 16-year-old Jessica Bejjani crowned champion. She encouraged women to try out the sport, rather than shy away from it. Arm-wrestling in Lebanon had been just a pastime for many years but after establishing a federation and introducing nation-wide competitions, it became a professional sport in the country.