Home - el Khazen Family Prince of Maronites : Lebanese Families Keserwan Lebanon

Adib presents government proposal to Aoun as Hezbollah pressure grows

Details

by NAJIA HOUSSARI -- arabnews -- LEBANON: As Lebanon’s Prime Minister-designate Mustapha Adib continues his efforts to form a new government, on Friday he presented to President Michel Aoun a proposal for “distributing the ministries to various sects before setting a final formula on who will be nominated to these ministries,” sources said. The two men will meet again on Saturday for further discussions. Adib is facing sustained pressure from Hezbollah and the Amal Movement, who have raised their demands to insist that all ministerial positions are filled by Shiites, and not only the key role of minister of finance. This has jeopardized his efforts to form a “government that satisfies everybody,” based on a French initiative that calls for the appointment of a small team of independent specialists representing all religious sects, who are not members of the main political parties. Government sources said: “Adib, during his meeting with representatives of Hezbollah and the Amal Movement on Thursday evening, refused to accept from them a list of names of Shiites from which to choose a minister of finance.” During his Friday sermon the following day, the Grand Jaafari Mufti Ahmad Qabalan said: “We insist on nominating our ministers and we refuse to accept that anyone else will do that for us, no matter who he is.”

Economic experts said on Friday that the continuing debates about the formation of the government are a “waste of precious time,” which is a luxury Lebanon does not have. They criticized the continued prioritization of political interests over the best interests of the country and warned that “it is a matter of life or death for the Lebanese people.” They pointed out “thousands have lost their businesses and tens of thousands have lost their jobs, and 55 percent of the Lebanese people are living below the poverty line. There is a shortage of essential products, and the reserves of the Banque du Liban (the Lebanese Central Bank) have withered away.” Meanwhile there has been a brain drain of professionals and businessmen leaving the country, “which threatens to deprive Lebanon of one of its strongest and most important assets.” Adib faced further obstacles from Hezbollah allies on Friday when Suleiman Frangieh, leader of the Marada Movement, announced that he does not agree that the Prime Minister-designate should choose who represents his party in the government without consulting with him.

Meanwhile, Talal Arslan, leader of the Lebanese Democratic Party, called on Adib to “show respect to parliamentary blocks.” Others warned that the president cannot approve a list of ministers he does not know, and that giving a Shiite party the finance portfolio must not deny other sects the right to ministries that they claim. “The French initiative is blocked due to the conflict between particular interests and regional and international calculations,” said Lebanese MP Bilal Abdallah. “The country cannot stand this any more and it might collapse if things continue the way they are.” He added that he hopes Adib will continue his efforts to form a government and give the French initiative a chance.

Lebanese academic Dr. Hares Sleiman said: “The options of Hezbollah and Amal Movement are determined by their priorities: do they want to defend Iran’s quota … or do they want to have the livelihood of the Lebanese people as their priority, including their supporters and the Shiites of Lebanon?” He added: “(Amal Movement leader and Speaker of the Parliament Nabih) Berri wants the Ministry of Finance at a time when there is a shortage of money, and the international community is demanding the dismissal of those who are corrupt and the implementation of reforms to save the Lebanese economy. “So would Berri accept an independent government that satisfies the demands of protesters in the streets so that Lebanon would enjoy internal, Arab and international support? If he does that, he would be conspiring against Hezbollah and its allies in power. If he does not, then the caretaker government of Hassan Diab will stay, and the crisis and the sanctions will continue.”

Saudi heir and Jared Kushner inch kingdom towards deal with Israel

Details

Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman with senior adviser to the US president, Jared Kushner, in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.

by Martin Chulov Middle East correspondent -- theguardian.com -- As the UAE and Bahrain prepared to sign a deal to normalise diplomatic relations with Israel this summer, Saudi Arabia – the regional heavyweight – was quietly urging them on. For several months before the deals were signed at the White House, the Saudi crown prince, Mohammed bin Salman, had been laying out his rationale for a pact that would overturn regional policies towards a long-term foe. There were state-of-the-art fighter jets on offer, political favours with Washington to be won and bigger, better access to Donald Trump’s America, with all the connections a nakedly transactional president saw fit to muster. There was also another inducement: if Saudi Arabia’s allies came to terms with Israel first, it would give the Kingdom cover to follow. Such a move would mark a seismic shift in the region’s geopolitics, easily eclipsing Israeli accords with Egypt in 1978 and Jordan 16 years later.

While a pact between Israel and Saudi Arabia is growing closer, Prince Mohammed is unlikely to give Trump what would be his biggest foreign policy achievement before the US election, according to three sources close to the royal court. Instead, the Kingdom is likely to continue its role of urging regional allies across the line – effectively in its s name. Sudan and Oman are firm favourites to strike a deal before the year is out. But the old guard of the region, Riyadh and Kuwait, are likely to bide their time and hold out for bigger prizes. Both countries are ruled by long-term monarchs, now well into their 80s and ailing, and both remain invested in long-term formulas for Arab-Israeli peace, which have been shredded by the region’s younger leaders, such as Prince Mohammed. Addressing the United Nations general assembly on Wednesday, the Saudi monarch, King Salman, stuck to the script of the 2002 Saudi-sponsored Arab Peace Initiative, which had been seen as a template until the past few years. “The initiative provides the basis for a comprehensive and just solution to the Arab-Israeli conflict that ensures the fraternal Palestinian people obtain their legitimate rights,” said King Salman. “At the forefront of which is establishing their independent state with East Jerusalem as its capital.”

Lebanese maneuvers produce same mediocre results

Details

by DR. DANIA KOLEILAT KHATIB -- .arabnews -- In a press briefing on Monday, ailing Lebanese President Michel Aoun, who had problems reading a scripted speech properly, answered a journalist who asked where the country was heading to if a new government was not formed. He answered with a cold tone: “We are heading to hell.” The gimmick of the formation of a new government will not save Lebanon, as French President Emmanuel Macron is promoting. The problems and the solutions do not end with Prime Minister-designate Mustapha Adib or his predecessor Hassan Diab and their Cabinets, as both men are a cover-up for a corrupt power structure that uses every maneuver possible to stay afloat.

The first maneuver is the apparent rift between the Free Patriotic Movement (FPM) and Hezbollah. The president’s party said it refuses Hezbollah’s claim to the finance portfolio in the next government, stating that the different ministries are not dedicated to a particular confession. However, this show of integrity will not fool a sharp observer. The accord that laid the foundation of the Hezbollah-Aoun alliance will not be broken anytime soon. The FPM is a client of Hezbollah and it is impossible for Aoun to maintain his entourage and his base of supporters without the financial support of the Iran-sponsored group. Nevertheless, as the ghost of potential sanctions comes to haunt Gebran Bassil, Aoun’s son-in-law, the apple of his eye and the head of his political party, some distancing — at least publicly — and a controlled feud are deemed necessary. This will allow for the formation of a government: A government in which Aoun will have his share and that will have the blessing of Macron, who is supposed to offer legitimacy for this botched project among the international community.

California Governor Signs Order Banning Sales Of New Gasoline Cars By 2035

Details

by npr.org -- California will phase out the sale of all gasoline-powered vehicles by 2035 in a bid to lead the U.S. in reducing greenhouse gas emissions by encouraging the state's drivers to switch to electric cars. Gov. Gavin Newsom signed an executive order Wednesday that amounts to the most aggressive clean-car policy in the United States. Although it bans the sale of new gas cars and trucks after the 15-year deadline, it will still allow such vehicles to be owned and sold on the used-car market. "This is the most impactful step our state can take to fight climate change," the governor said in a statement. "Our cars shouldn't make wildfires worse — and create more days filled with smoky air. Cars shouldn't melt glaciers or raise sea levels threatening our cherished beaches and coastlines."

Newsom, a Democrat, also threw his support behind a ban on petroleum fracking but called on the California Legislature to make that change. With extreme wildfires still burning in the state, Newsom says fighting climate change is an emergency. However, the state's efforts have run afoul of the Trump administration, which has sought to revoke California's authority to mandate zero-emission vehicles – a challenge that has landed in court. Gov. Brown's Biggest Climate Foe Isn't Trump. It's Car-Loving Californians In January 2018, Gov. Jerry Brown signed an executive order setting ambitious targets of 200 hydrogen fueling stations and 250,000 electric vehicle chargers to support 1.5 million zero-emission vehicles on California roads by 2025. The number of zero-emission electric vehicles being sold in the state has been on the upswing in recent years, although they accounted for fewer than 8% of all new cars sold in California last year.

France backs idea by Lebanese politician to end cabinet logjam

Details

BEIRUT/PARIS (Reuters) - France backed on Wednesday a proposal by a former Lebanese prime minister that could help break a deadlock blocking formation of Lebanon’s new cabinet amid the Middle East nation’s worst crisis since its 1975-90 civil war. Paris has been pressing politicians for the quick formation of a government that will draw up reforms to tackle corruption and help attract international aid to fix an economy drowning in debt and struggling after a massive explosion at Beirut port. Lebanese Deputy Parliament Speaker Elie Ferzli said he now saw “promising possibilities” for an end to the cabinet logjam. The process of forming a cabinet hit the buffers this month after Lebanon’s two main Shi’ite Muslim parties insisted they pick some cabinet posts, including the finance minister, which has been held by a Shi’ite for years.

Prime Minister-designate Mustapha Adib, a Sunni Muslim under Lebanon’s sectarian system of power-sharing, had sought to shake up ministerial positions with a new cabinet of specialists. Former prime minister Saad al-Hariri, a leading Sunni politician, offered a way out by proposing on Tuesday that an “independent” Shi’ite candidate be named as finance minister. “This declaration represents an opening and all parties should understand its importance so that a government of mission can now be established,” the French Foreign Ministry said.

His Beatitude Cardinal Bechara Rai likens fading Christian presence in Middle East to a sinking ship

Details

By Doreen Abi Raad • Catholic News Service BEIRUT (CNS) — Lebanese Cardinal Bechara Rai warned that the Christian presence in the Middle East is shrinking and church leaders “are called to face the winds that blow in our homelands.” The assessment by the patriarch of Maronite Catholics during a meeting of the Middle East Council of Churches executive committee Sept. 18 underscored the dire reality facing Christians in the tumultuous region. “The ship threatened by strong winds and waves” that is sinking symbolizes “the witnessing church in the sea of our Middle Eastern countries troubled by the winds of conflicts and wars, political, economic, financial and livelihood crises, and the corona epidemic,” Cardinal Rai said. The cardinal also explained at the meeting he hosted at Bkerke, the Maronite patriarchate north of Beirut, that the threat “reached its climax” in Lebanon with the catastrophic double explosion in the port of Beirut Aug. 4. The disaster left nearly 200 people dead, injured another 6,000, and displaced more than 300,000 people.

He stressed that the MECC is called in such turbulent time to work with churches and their leaders, institutions and the faithful “to face the waves and winds that ravage their homelands … with stances of faith and hope.” “We ask you, Lord, through the intercession of our Mother Virgin Mary, the star of the sea in the storm, to lead our homelands, our churches and our people to the port of safety,” Cardinal Rai pleaded. The MECC in its final statement reiterated its appeal for an end to “the destructive wars and conflicts in the Middle East, to protect human dignity, and build peace on the basis of justice and rights.” Meeting participants expressed their “deep solidarity” with the Lebanese in the “catastrophic tragedy” they are suffering from the Beirut explosions. They called for continued “ecumenical ecclesiastical efforts with all local, regional and international partners to lift the material and psychological repercussions of this tragedy.” They also expressed their solidarity with all those affected by the coronavirus pandemic, especially people who have lost loved ones, offered appreciation to medical and humanitarian aid teams, and assured their continued prayers for an end to the pandemic.

Explosion at Hezbollah-Linked Site in Lebanese Village

Details

Southern Lebanon is a political stronghold of Hezbollah. [Screengrab/Al Jazeera]

by Al Jazeera -- The Lebanese army said the blast occurred in a building in the southern village of Ein Qana, about 50km (30 miles) south of the capital Beirut, on Tuesday and that it was investigating. Hezbollah members imposed a security cordon around the blast area, barring journalists from reaching it. Hezbollah’s media office told Al Jazeera the explosion was caused by a “technical error” at their arms depot. “This explosion was at a house that stored weapons – result of technical error. No one was killed or injured. The building belonged to a Hezbollah affiliated de-mining association,” said Al Jazeera’s Zeina Khodr, reporting from Beirut. Footage broadcast by the local Al Jadeed station showed damage to buildings and debris scattered across a large area.

The shaky footage also showed what appeared to be a minibus on fire. Other footage showed a wrecked SUV parked outside a damaged house. The explosion comes seven weeks after the powerful explosion at Beirut port, caused by the detonation of nearly 3,000 tonnes of improperly stored ammonium nitrate. The explosion killed nearly 200 people, injured 6,500 and damaged tens of thousands of buildings in the capital, Beirut. It is still not clear what caused the initial fire that ignited the chemicals, and so far no one has been held accountable.