by middleeasteye.net — Lebanese authorities are investigating the alleged kidnapping of a Saudi businessman in the Bekaa Valley region of eastern Lebanon, according to local media. Hussein al-Shammari was allegedly lured to the region to buy property, a judicial official said. A ransom demand has not been issued but the man was likely kidnapped “with the aim of financially extorting” him, the official said. The Bekaa public prosecutor instructed security forces to “conduct investigations and gather information on his whereabouts, which is likely the Al-Sharawneh neighbourhood” on the outskirts of the city of Baalbek, an official told the AFP on condition of anonymity.

The Bekaa Valley, a Hezbollah stronghold, is the heart of Lebanon’s farmland and has been associated with lawlessness, competing tribes and hashish production. The region is a well-known route for smuggling into neighbouring Syria. In April, a gang kidnapped an Egyptian accountant in Baalbek. He was rescued by the army after two weeks in captivity.

khazen.org stands with his Beatitude Maronite Cardinal Patriarch Bechara el Rai and the Maronite church from the insult of the unlawful detention of Archbishop Moussa al-Hajj. What has happened is an insult to all of the Maronites and Lebanese citizen including the double standard of using the judiciary system for political reasons.  Maronite Patriarch Bechara […]

By Sami Moubayed, Correspondent – gulfnews.com — Damascus: On October 31, 2022, Michel Aoun’s six-year tenure at the Lebanese presidency will end. Attempts are presently underway, led by Aoun’s Free Patriotic Movement (FPM), either to extend his term for an indefinite period or bequeath the post to his son-in-law and political heir Gibran Bassil. But, a third option is now making the rounds, which calls on Prime Minister-designate Najib Mikati to assume the presidential seat, albeit temporarily, if no candidate is chosen anytime between now and next October.

FPM Initiative

The Aounists are peddling an extension of their boss’ term, citing a clause in the Lebanese constitution, which says the president cannot be sworn into office unless there is a full-fledge cabinet of ministers, approved by the Lebanese Parliament. Mikati is currently in designate mode, tasked with forming his fourth government last May. In Lebanon, that is a process that can take weeks, or months. A Prime Minister-designate cannot supervise a presidential election, nor inaugurate a new president, giving Aoun a legal pretext to extend his term at the Baabda Palace. Although he has often said that he has no intention of staying in office longer than his presidential term, he has also said he won’t surrender office to a “power vacuum”.

And it’s a power vacuum that the Aounists are trying to create, in order to keep Aoun as president. They have been trying to obstruct Mikati’s attempts at cabinet formation, to keep him in prime minister-designate capacity. A suggested cabinet reshuffle was sent to Aoun on June 29, which he automatically rejected, because it suggested replacing the FPM’s current Minister of Energy Walid Fayyad with an independent. They hope to keep finding more excuses to delay cabinet formation, saying that they will only facilitate the process if Mikati agrees to support Bassil for president. And that is something which Mikati refuses to commit, given that Bassil is an extremely unpopular figure, even among Lebanese Christians, and is sanctioned by the United States.

Congratulations to our Lebanese Basketball team ranking second beating China, New-Zeeland and many other countries to fell short against Australia in the Final Lebanon’s men’s basketball team fell agonisingly short in their attempt to win the Fiba Asia Cup after they were beaten 75-73 by Australia in Jakarta, Indonesia, on Sunday evening. The Cedars were […]

By MAYSAA AJJAN — arabnews.com — BEIRUT: With their money stuck in banks, the steep devaluation of the Lebanese lira, the de-facto suspension of Circular 331 and the rising inflation, investors and the Lebanese central bank Banque Du Liban have reached an impasse. “The first five years of Circular 331 initiative were great to the ecosystem, venture capitals included,” Walid Hanna, founder and CEO of Middle East Venture Partners, told Arab News. The circular released by BDL in late 2013 injected nearly $400 million into the entrepreneurial sector to build a Lebanese knowledge economy. “The initiative seamlessly empowered the ecosystem until the financial crisis occurred in 2019. Problems happened when venture capitals powered by the circular received capital calls from their banks and the BDL, either in Lebanese liras or US dollars,” said Hanna. A capital call is a legal right by which a fund manager asks the fund investors or shareholders to pay their pro-rata portion of their fund commitments. “The devaluation of the lira, which has lost more than 90 percent of its value, made the situation complicated and problematic,” added Hanna.

After local banks decided to withhold the savings of individuals and institutions at the onset of the financial crisis in October 2019, most VCs lost a significant amount of money. Still worse, the banks tethered their startups’ capital. Another problem was that the VCs received their capital calls — their due money from investors — in Lebanese dollars or “lollars.” A “lollar” is a US dollar stuck in the Lebanese banking system; in other words, a computer entry with no corresponding tangible currency. The issue of the “lollar” made it impossible for startups to expand their businesses abroad. The fact that BDL required startups and VCs to not spend any “circular 331 money” outside of Lebanon didn’t help matters, explained Hanna. “Therefore, it is a triple problem for the banks, the startups and BDL. This is where the decline started,” Hanna concluded.

Written By Riya Baibhawi — Lebanese Prime Minister Najib Mikati on Friday warned that the ruin of a massive grain silo risks total collapse due to an ongoing fire at Beirut Port. According to Associated Press, a fire in the structure has been smouldering for the past two weeks due to 800 tons of grains inside fermenting in the hot weather. Notably, blazes extended after flames reached nearly the electrical cable. Hundreds of thousands of firefighters have been deployed at the site which reminds many of 2020’s devastating explosion that ripped the Mediterranean city apart. Experts say part of the structure is leaning and in danger of tipping over. On Friday, PM asked the firefighters and civil defence volunteers to step back for their own safety.

During the 2020 explosion, the grain silo shielded the western part of Beirut, withstanding the brutal force. While the governement experts have warned that trying to put out the fire with water could worsen it due to humidity, the Interior Minister on Thursday ordered firefighters to try to contain the fire with water anyway. Later, the Lebanese army also deployed a helicopter in an attempt to douse the fire with water as well.

Cardinal Bechara Rai, patriarch of Maronite Catholics, greets Maronite Archbishop Moussa El-Hage of Haifa and the Holy Land at Diman, the patriarchal summer residence in north Lebanon July 20, 2022. The Maronite Catholic officials denounced the detention of Archbishop El-Hage on the southern border of Lebanon July 18. (CNS photo/Mychel Akl for Maronite patriarchate)

By: Doreen Abi Raad BEIRUT (CNS) — Maronite Catholic officials in Lebanon have denounced the detention of one of its bishops on the country’s southern border with Israel. The July 18 incident occurred at the border post of Lebanon’s General Security in the village of Ras Naqoura, at which Maronite Archbishop Moussa El-Hage of Haifa and the Holy Land was detained for more than 12 hours. Archbishop El-Hage, also the patriarchal exarch of Jerusalem and Palestine and Jordan, was traveling by road from his episcopal seat in Haifa, Israel, when he was taken into custody by security officers at a crossing that is reserved for religious and the diplomatic corps. Maronite officials said the archbishop was transporting aid, food and cash from his archdiocese intended for needy in Lebanon, amid the country’s catastrophic economic collapse that has pushed nearly 80% of the population into poverty.

Cardinal Bechara Rai, patriarch of Maronite Catholics, convened a meeting July 20 of the permanent council, a patriarchal authority composed of four bishops that meets in “emergency and serious cases.” Archbishop El-Hage was present. In the statement following the meeting at Diman, the patriarchal summer residence in north Lebanon, the Maronite council condemned what it called the “unfortunate and reprehensible attack” on Archbishop El-Hage. The incident, they said, “brought us back to the times of occupation and rulers in the previous centuries, when the invaders and occupiers were trying to undermine the role of the Maronite Church in Lebanon and the East and its brotherhood between religions.”

سجعان قزي

@AzziSejean

ليس لبنانُ بَعدُ مِن الأولويّاتِ الدُوَليّةِ لكنّه حكمًا من الضَرورات. حزبُ الله هو بين الأولويّاتِ للأسبابِ المعروفةِ وليس الدولة. الّذين دَرجْنا على اعتبارِهم أصدقاءَ، يُسعِفون لبنان بالحدِّ الأدنى من المساعداتِ الإنسانيّةِ وبالحدِّ الأقصى من النصائحِ المجانيّةِ ليبقى حيًّا ولو مُضرَّجًا بالأزَمات. هو جَبهةٌ مُعلَنةٌ في حربٍ لم تَندلِع ويَدفعُ ثَمنَها كأنّها مُندَلِعةٌ. “الأصدقاءُ” يَعرِفون أنَّ في لبنان تَقطُنُ جميعُ صراعاتِ الـمِنطقةِ القابلةِ للحلِّ سلميًّا أو المعرَّضةِ للحلِّ عسكريًّا، لكنّهم يَتعاطَوْن معه كأنَّ مشاكلَه داخليّة. “لهم أعينٌ ولا يُبصِرون، ولهم آذانٌ ولا يَسمَعون”.

حلُّ قضايا الشرقِ ممكنٌ سياسيًّا لو تَقدَّمت مُكوّناتُه البشريّةُ واحتَكَمت إلى حقوقِ الإنسانِ والقوانينِ الدُوليّة. لكنَّ المعضِلةَ أنَّ أهلَ الشرقِ الكبير يُقبِلون على الخِيارِ العسكريِّ أوّلًا فيما هو الخِيارُ الأخير. الحروبُ تَهرُب من الشرقِ الأوسط، وبعضُ دولِه يركضُ وراءَها. لا مجدَ دونَ الانتصارِ، ويا ليتَهم انتصَروا. منذ فجرِ الفتوحاتِ والعربُ يأنَسُون إلى الحروبِ. قاتلوا قرونًا من دونِ قضيّةٍ وطنيّة، ولـمّا أصبحَت لديهم قضيّةٌ كبرى، القضيّةُ الفِلسطينيّةُ، أوْقفوا القِتالَ وراحَ بعضُهم يُقاتلُ البعضَ الآخَر، وهَرعوا إلى الحلولِ السلميّةِ قبلَ نيلِ حقٍّ أو تسجيلِ انتصار. مُتعِبٌ أن يَنتميَ لبنان إلى هذه العروبةِ المتحوِّرة، وممنوعٌ عليه أن يَستعيدَ العروبةَ الأصيلة.

BEIRUT, (Reuters) – Lebanese Prime Minister-designate Najib Mikati said on Tuesday a political agreement on a new central bank governor was required before an investigation into current head Riad Salameh could progress. He made his comments shortly after a judicial raid on the Beirut headquarters of Banque du Liban, a move Mikati denounced as inappropriate because the bank dealt with issues related to monetary stability and it could lead to an “ominous shock”. “What is required is that this file be dealt with via prior political agreement on a new governor of the Banque du Liban, and that the case take its appropriate legal course after that,” a statement from Mikati’s office said.

Mikati’s office did not respond to a request for comment on whether discussions on replacing the governor had taken place. Salameh, the central bank governor since 1993, faces corruption probes in at least five European countries and in Lebanon, which has been plunged into a deep financial crisis that critics blame, in part, on his policies. He has defended his actions and denied wrongdoing, saying the investigations are politically motivated and aim at scapegoating him for the Lebanon’s financial problems. He still enjoys the support of some of Lebanon’s top politicians, including Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri.

Khazen.org condemns the lebanese government unjust detention of the Maronite Catholic Archbishop Mousa El-Hajj at the Naqoura border crossing as an apparent intimidation from Hezbollah and its allies – We stand with the Maronite Church –

Press release from In Defense of Christians (IDC) — Washington, DC – In Defense of Christians (IDC) condemns the Lebanese government’s unjust detention of a Maronite Catholic Archbishop as an apparent act of intimidation against Maronite Church leadership for its public opposition to Hezbollah. On July 19, Lebanese authorities detained Maronite Catholic Archbishop Mousa El-Hajj at the Naqoura border crossing, upon his return from pastoral duties in Israel, and subjected him to an eight-hour interrogation. The Archbishop was released only after the intervention of senior church and judicial officials. The vicar has been summoned for further interrogation before a military court on Wednesday, July 20.

Archbishop El-Hajj is the Maronite Archbishop for Haifa and the Holy Land, and Patriarchal Vicar to Jerusalem, Palestine and Jordan. His arrest and detention by Lebanese authorities occurred in flagrant contempt of his pastoral duty, and further threaten Lebanon’s tradition of religious freedom. The arrest of Archbishop El-Hajj is an apparent attempt to intimidate Maronite Patriarch Rai for his opposition to Hezbollah’s political coercion. The Patriarch has publicly called for Lebanon’s full sovereignty and neutrality, and the unconditional enforcement of UN Resolutions 1559 and 1701 for the disarmament of Hezbollah. Such acts against the leaders of the Maronite Church demonstrate Iran’s coercive control over Lebanon through its proxy Hezbollah, and its malign intention to solidify Lebanon as an Iranian satellite state.