by AFP – The US Treasury slapped sanctions on prominent Lebanese tycoons Jihad al-Arab and Dany Khoury and lawmaker Jamil Sayyed for allegedly benefitting from corruption and adding to the breakdown of the rule of law in the country. The three “have each personally profited from the pervasive corruption and cronyism in Lebanon, enriching themselves at the expense of the Lebanese people and state institutions,” the US Treasury said. “While the Lebanese people face daily struggles to access basic public goods, including medicine, electricity, and food, during a historic and devastating economic crisis, members of the Lebanese political class and their cronies operate with impunity to enrich themselves and hide their wealth,” the Treasury said in a statement.

The Treasury said al-Arab has used close political connections and kickback payments to win important public contracts worth hundreds of millions of dollars in which he overbilled the government and, in an emergency deal to address Beirut’s 2016 garbage crisis, did not resolve the problem. The Treasury also said he won two government contracts worth $200 million after brokering a political deal in 2014 ahead of elections. Khoury, it said, used his ties to already-sanctioned politician Gibran Bassil to reap lucrative contracts “while failing to meaningfully fulfill the terms of those contracts.” “Khoury and his company have been accused of dumping toxic waste and refuse into the Mediterranean Sea, poisoning fisheries, and polluting Lebanon’s beaches, all while failing to remedy the garbage crisis,” it said.

طنية – الفاتيكان – اعتبر سفير لبنان لدى الكرسي الرسولي فريد الياس الخازن أن “لبنان في صلب اهتمامات البابا ودوائر الكرسي الرسولي”.

وقال في حديث إلى “الوكالة الوطنية للإعلام” بعد لقاءات قام بها في الفاتيكان مع كبار المسؤولين الذين يعتبرون بلد الأرز في سلم أولوياتهم: “الأحداث الأخيرة في 14 تشرين الأول تخص الواقع اللبناني بتفاصيله وظروفه في ظل أزمات اقتصادية ومالية غير مسبوقة. لكن بمعزل عن الأحداث، إن الفاتيكان غير قادر على القيام بدور حاسم لوضع حد لصدام غير مرتبط مباشرة بالأزمات الاقتصادية والاجتماعية التي يعانيها الشعب اللبناني”.

وإذ رأى أن “مسار تأليف الحكومة جاء بهدف إخراج البلاد من أوضاع خانقة أصابت الأفراد والجماعات في البيئات كافة، الطائفية والمناطقية والسياسية”، قال: “الكرسي الرسولي حريص بالدرجة الأولى على العدالة وحقوق الإنسان واحترام القانون، بمعزل عن المشهد السياسي المأزوم وتجاذبات الداخل لأي سبب كان. إنها مسائل مبدئية تلازم عمل الكرسي الرسولي في ورشة إصلاح أطلقها البابا فرنسيس في السنوات الأخيرة، وهي متواصلة بزخم لافت. الفاتيكان لا يوفر فرصة لمد يد العون الى لبنان في كافة المجالات. وكان ثمة ارتياح لتشكيل حكومة جديدة لمسته من كبار

@AzziSejean

ولِـمَ لَـم يُستَدْعَ سمير جعجع إلى الضاحيةِ الجَنوبيّةِ مباشَرةً من دونِ المرورِ في اليرزة؟ هناك المستَدعي الأصيلُ والمفوَّضُ الأصيلُ الذي يُعفي المفوَّضَ الوكيلَ من ارتكابِ جرمِ الخروجِ عن العدالة. هناك مكانُ احتجازِ الشرعيّةِ والدستورِ والعيشِ المشترَك. هناك تَرقُدُ الدولةُ اللبنانيّةُ الموحَّدة.

مذ كانت دولةُ لبنان، وأطرافٌ متعدِّدةُ الهُويّاتِ الطائفيّةِ والعقائديّةِ تَتداولُ مَهمّةَ تحميلِ المسيحيّين، وتحديدًا الموارنة، مسؤوليّةَ جميعِ الأحداثِ الـمَفصِليّةِ في هذه البلادِ المعقَّدةِ في هُويّتِها، والـمُحرَجةِ في وِحدتِها، والمتعثِّرةِ في تعايُشِها. أوّلُ “جريمةٍ” اتُّهِموا بها كانت إنشاءَهم سنةَ 1920 دولةَ “لبنانَ الكبير” مستقلَّةً عن سوريا التي لم تَكن بعدُ موجودةً. ومن يومِها تلاحَقت اتّهاماتُ المسيحيّين وصولًا إلى تحميلِ القوّاتِ اللبنانيّةِ مسؤوليّةَ أحداثِ 14 تشرين الأوّل الجاري. كفى، صار التذكيرُ بدورِ المسيحيّين ملزِمًا خصوصًا أنَّ أمامَ المحنِ يُفتَقدُ التضامنُ، ولا يبقى إلّا الشعبَ المقاوِم.

إبّانَ الانتدابِ الفرنسيِّ اتّـهَموا المسيحيّين باسْتِلطافِ الفرنسيّين، فتَفاجأوا بهم سنةَ 1943 يقودون والمسلمون معركةَ الاستقلالِ. سنةَ 1958 حَـمّلوا الرئيسَ كميل شمعون والشيخ بيار الجميّل مسؤوليّةَ “ثورة 1958” لأنّهما واجَها المدَّ الناصريَّ ومشروعَ ضمِّ لبنان إلى الوِحدةِ السوريّةِ/المصريّة. سنةَ 1975 رَمَوا المسؤوليّةَ على حزبِ الكتائب اللبنانيّةِ لأنّه تَصدّى لتوسّعِ الفِلسطينيّين عسكريًّا ومحاولةِ إقامتِهم دولةً بديلةً على أرضِ لبنان. طوالَ السبعيناتِ وَصَموا بشيرَ الجميل بنعوتٍ شتّى، ثم التَفَّتْ غالِبيّةُ اللبنانيّين حولَه ورفَعَتْهُ إلى مرتبةِ الرمزِ لحظةَ انتخابِه رئيسًا للجمهوريّةِ وبعدَ استشهادِه. سنةَ 1994 أَلْصَقوا تفجيرَ سيّدةِ النجاةِ في زوق مكايل بسمير جعجع فاعتُقلَ وسُجنَ وبُرِّئَ من هذه الجريمة.

شدد الرئيس العماد ميشال سليمان على ضرورة ترميم علاقة لبنان الرسمي بالدول العربية الصديقة، سيّما المملكة العربية السعودية التي تعاني ما تعانيه في مواجهة الارهاب.واعتبر سليمان خلال استقباله وزير العدل السابق اللواء أشرف ريفي انه من واجب الحكومة السهر على تأمين المصلحة اللبنانية العليا، التي تبدأ بتحسين علاقات لبنان الخارجية وتحييده عن صراعات المحاور، وهذا […]

by thenationalnews.com — Lebanon’s former prime minister, Hassan Diab, has filed a lawsuit challenging the state over his prosecution in connection with the Beirut port blast that killed over 200 people last year. The lawsuit comes a day before the former leader’s questioning session by Judge Tarek Bitar, the lead investigator in the Beirut blast probe. Mr Bitar has charged Mr Diab along with four other ministers of criminal negligence in connection with the case. All five have snubbed Mr Bitar’s summons, arguing he had no constitutional authority to prosecute them.

The judge had issued a subpoena for Mr Diab and arrest warrants for two of the four indicted officials, including ex-finance minister Ali Hassan Khalil, a member of Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri’s bloc and the target of US sanctions. Mr Berri and his Shiite allies, Iran-backed Hezbollah, have accused Mr Bitar of politicising the case. Once notified of the lawsuit, Mr Bitar must pause his prosecution of Mr Diab until a ruling is issued by the Supreme Court, in line with the law. The Supreme Court also has yet to rule on two other requests to oust Mr Bitar due to concerns over his impartiality. Mr Diab said the judge had no authority to prosecute him, echoing arguments by Hezbollah and their allies who called for the trial of indicted officials take place before a special body comprising members of Parliament and judges.

by arabnews.com — RIYADH: Saudi Arabia summoned the Lebanese ambassador to the Kingdom on Wednesday over “offensive” comments made by Lebanon’s information minister. The foreign ministry expressed its disappointment at comments made by Lebanon’s Information Minister George Kordahi regarding the Arab coalition in Yemen. It said it was disappointed by the “insults contained in those […]

By Reuters — Lebanon’s top Christian cleric on Tuesday said the country’s three leading politicians agreed to a “solution” to political tensions and government paralysis tied to high-profile judicial investigations. “There is a constitutional and legal solution to the current crisis,” Maronite Patriarch Bechara Boutros Al-Rai said during a news conference after a day spent shuttling between the prime minister, the parliament speaker and president. An official source said the solution involved prosecuting former ministers charged over the August 2020 Beirut port explosion at a special court made up of MPs and judges while allowing blast investigator Tarek Bitar to continue with the cases of lower-level officials. The special court, formed by a parliamentary vote, has never held any official to account. Bitar has sought to question top officials including former ministers affiliated with the Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri’s Amal movement and the Marada Movement, both allies of Hezbollah, which has responded with a smear campaign accusing Bitar of politicising the probe. Rai had earlier said after a meeting with Berri that issues had to be resolved “because Lebanon is dying, the people are dying and the state is disintegrating.”

Lebanese Prime Minister Najib Mikati has not convened a Cabinet meeting since Oct. 12, pending a solution to the standoff that has paralysed government for over two weeks. The dispute spilt over into the Cabinet when ministers allied to those parties called for Bitar’s removal in a heated discussion during the last session. Rai also said he was “slightly upset” about the summoning of Lebanese Forces party leader Samir Geagea by army intelligence for a hearing over fatal clashes in Beirut’s Ain Al-Remmaneh neighbourhood this month. On Oct. 14, seven people, all followers of Hezbollah and Amal, were shot dead during a Beirut protest the parties organised against Bitar, the worst street violence in more than a decade. The parties said the seven were killed by supporters of the Christian Lebanese Forces party headed by Samir Geagea, who has backed the blast investigation. Geagea has repeatedly denied the allegations.

Saudi Arabia’s Ambassador to Lebanon Waleed Bukhari told Lebanese religious figures on Tuesday that the Kingdom “cares for Lebanon’s security, stability, institutions and co-existence between Christians and Muslims.” The Saudi embassy’s media office said: “There is no legitimacy for the discourse of strife, nor for one that goes against Lebanon’s Arab identity.” This was the first Saudi statement since the bloody clashes in Tayouneh on Oct. 14.

Geoge Kordahi

Prime Minister Mikati: Qardahi’s words about Yemen are unacceptable and do not reflect Lebanon’s position. Regarding the Minister of Information’s words George KordahiWhich is being circulated, and which is part of an interview I conducted with him several weeks before he took up his ministerial position, it is unacceptable and does not express the government’s position at all, especially with regard to the Yemeni issue and Lebanon’s relations with its Arab brothers, specifically the brothers in Kingdom Saudi Arabia resources Gulf Cooperation Council countries“.

by arabnews.com — DUBAI: Once again, Lebanon’s information minister has triggered social media frenzy when a video of him wishing for a ‘temporary military coup’ to emanate and restructure the country’s political life, surfaced on Tuesday. “I wish that a military coup happens in Lebanon, yet a temporary military coup that comes to organize and reorganize the political life in Lebanon,” the current Lebanese information minister George Kordahi was heard telling a TV host in the short video. An independent online media platform, Megaphone posted on Twitter the two and a half minute video that has so far been viewed by nearly 6000 users. According to Lebanese news portal, Annahar online, the video was part of an interview conducted by a media platform called Barlamanasha3b [People’s Parliament] and the interview was carried out on August 5.

At the time, Kordahi had not yet been named as information minister in Prime Minister Najib Mekati’s cabinet that was formed during September. When the host opposed him by saying ‘there is nothing called temporary military coup’, Kordahi maintained saying: “Yes there is a temporary military coup for at least five years [in my opinion] then they reappoint the political regime.” When the TV host of Barlamanasha3b asked him about his position on what is happening in Yemen, Kordahi said ‘they’ [referring to Houthis] are defending themselves’. He questioned in a exclamatory tone, ‘Them! Are they assaulting anyone?’. “In my opinion, this Yemeni war is absurd and should stop,” he said.

by Najia Houssari — arabnews.con — BEIRUT: A Lebanese judge has charged 68 people following the Oct. 14 deadly clash in the Tayouneh neighborhood of Beirut that left seven people dead and dozens wounded. Eighteen are in detention while the remaining 50 continue to evade the authorities. The clash south of Beirut broke out during a Hezbollah-organized protest against Judge Tarek Bitar leading the investigation into last year’s massive Beirut port blast. Judge Fadi Akiki, the state commissioner to the military court, charged the 68 people with crimes including murder, attempted murder, inciting sectarian strife, having unlicensed weapons and sabotage. The five-hour long battle was fought between supporters of Hezbollah and Amal, plus gunmen believed to be supporters of the Lebanese Forces party. It took place on the border between Beirut’s Chyah and Ain Al-Rummaneh neighborhoods. Also on Monday, Lebanon’s military intelligence agency summoned the head of the Lebanese Forces, Samir Geagea, to give testimony regarding the deadly clashes. He was asked to appear before military investigators on Wednesday.

A security source confirmed to Arab News that the Directorate of Intelligence of the Lebanese Army summoned Geagea to the investigation branch in the Ministry of Defense. Members of the Internal Security Forces pasted the summons on the door of Geagea’s headquarters in Maarab. The source told Arab News that “the directorate of intelligence moved at the request of Judge Akiki, who asked army intelligence to listen to Geagea as a witness.” The source added that “information is still being collected in these incidents, and there are detainees whose status must be decided upon.” A judicial source indicated that a search warrant might be issued and an investigation launched against Geagea if he failed to attend the hearing.