Lebanese banks suspend strike at PM’s request; pound regains some value

Lebanese banks suspend strike at PM’s request; pound regains some value
Lebanon’s struggling banks have decided to suspend their weekslong strike on Feb. 24, 2023 for one week following a request by caretaker PM Najib Mikati. (AP/File)
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Updated 24 February 2023
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Lebanese banks suspend strike at PM’s request; pound regains some value

Lebanese banks suspend strike at PM’s request; pound regains some value
  • The decision comes as many Lebanese, including civil servants, are expecting to get their monthly pay
  • The Association of Banks in Lebanon did not give further details about the suspension

BEIRUT: Lebanon’s struggling banks on Friday decided to suspend their strike, which started earlier this month, for one week at the request of caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati.

The decision comes as many Lebanese, including civil servants, wait to receive their monthly pay.

Salaries are typically paid toward the end of the month, through bank accounts.

The Association of Banks in Lebanon also said that it realizes the gravity of the economic crisis and the need to secure banking services for citizens at the end of the month. 

The announcement came as the Lebanese pound regained some value on the black market, trading at 79,000 pounds to the US dollar. It traded at 81,000 LBP/USD on Thursday.

An economic analyst expected the local currency to regain more value over the weekend.

However, any rise is likely to be temporary since it is not the result of monetary policy, the observer said.

The banks launched the strike on Feb. 7, objecting to judicial prosecutions — led by Mount Lebanon Public Prosecutor Judge Ghada Aoun — against a number of banks on charges of money laundering.

The association demanded an end to the prosecutions and the passing of the Capital Control Law as conditions for reopening.

The analyst indicated that the Public Prosecution Office of the Court of Cassation was in the process of drafting a judicial circular to define a specific mechanism for bank prosecutions.

The circular, which is expected in the coming days, will being an end to the controversy, the analyst said.

The decision to reopen banks came a day after Mikati told Interior Minister Bassam Mawlawi to instruct the security services to ignore Judge Aoun’s judicial orders and avoid making arrests.

This step aroused discontent within the judicial body, which believes that the principle of separation of powers has been violated.

It also alleged that the political authority was interfering with the judicial authority in sensitive cases such as the probe into the Beirut port explosion and the prosecution of banks.

Pro-bank politicians argued that Judge Aoun was making random accusations, based on political motives, which could end up destroying the banking sector in Lebanon.

With the approval of six judges and the objection of one, the Supreme Judicial Council Issued a statement, addressed to Mikati and Mawlawi.

The council said: “Pursuant to the principles of separation of powers and the independence of the judiciary, which are enshrined in the constitution and the law, we call on you to reverse the decision that violates these two principles.”

Also on Friday, political observers believed that the prosecution of Central Bank Gov. Banque Riad Salameh, and the referral of the investigation to the first investigating judge in Beirut, Charbel Abu Samra, might freeze the investigations of European judges into cases related to Salameh.

They believed that the move was coordinated to localize the investigation and protect Salameh from external allegations.

On Thursday, Beirut Public Prosecutor Judge Raja Hamoush charged Salameh, his brother Raja Salameh, and his assistant Marianne Howayek with forgery, embezzlement of public funds, violation of tax law, money laundering and illegal enrichment.

Judge Hamoush referred the case to Judge Abu Samra, asking him to interrogate the defendants and issue the necessary judicial warrants against them.

A judicial source told Arab News: “When Judge Abu Samra receives the case, the European judicial delegation would have to deal with him and no longer with the Public Prosecution Office.

“The Lebanese investigation may conflict with the European investigation, especially if the same crime is being investigated in Lebanon and abroad.

“The Lebanese judge can reject any request of the European delegation and the Public Prosecution Office would have to ask the European judicial delegation to postpone its visit to Beirut.”

A judicial delegation from Germany, France and Luxembourg in January began its investigations in Beirut in cases related to corruption, forgery, embezzlement, money laundering and transferring money to banks abroad.

During its stay in the Palace of Justice in Beirut for about a week, the delegation listened to 12 banking figures as witnesses, including former Finance Minister Raya Al-Hassan and former MP Marwan Khair El-Din, along with Salameh’s former deputies.

The judicial delegation was scheduled to return to Beirut for a second round of investigations to hear Salameh and several of his relatives.

The source stressed that Lebanon was committed to the UN Convention against Corruption, and is cooperating with the European delegation.

“However, the international agreement gave the Lebanese judiciary the full right to request the postponement of the international investigation in the event that Lebanon initiates an independent internal investigation into the same case.

“This legal outlet would postpone the return of the European judicial delegation to Beirut.”


Palestine refugee funding woes ‘absolutely unbearable’: UNRWA chief

Palestine refugee funding woes ‘absolutely unbearable’: UNRWA chief
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Palestine refugee funding woes ‘absolutely unbearable’: UNRWA chief

Palestine refugee funding woes ‘absolutely unbearable’: UNRWA chief
  • Agency’s financial crisis risks creating ‘inflection point,’ warns Philippe Lazzarini
  • Jordan’s deputy PM says his country is confronting ‘huge challenges’

New York City: The funding crisis for Palestinian refugees in Jordan and other host countries has created an “absolutely unbearable” situation that could soon reach an inflection point, the chief of the UNRWA has warned. 

The UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East supports more than 5 million Palestinian refugees across the Middle East, but has been met with a series of financial crises due to donor countries slashing funding. 

The agency is set to mark 75 years since its establishment next year, but its commissioner-general, Philippe Lazzarini, has warned that immediate funding is required to safeguard millions of Palestinian refugees. 

Lazzarini appeared at a press briefing Thursday on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly alongside Ayman Safadi, Jordan’s deputy prime minister and minister for foreign affairs and expatriates. 

The two had earlier taken part in a high-level meeting organized by Jordan and Sweden to encourage increased funding for the UNRWA. 

Lazzarini said that the agency required between $170 and $190 million just to keep its activities in Jordan, Lebanon, Gaza and elsewhere running until the end of the year. 

He added: “We had some pledges today which will definitely help us to provide more clarity and run the operation in the foreseeable future, but we haven’t yet met our objective. 

Jordan’s foreign minister spoke at length about his country’s issues hosting large numbers of Palestinian refugees amid the UNRWA funding crisis, saying that the agency is “the only beacon of hope in a very bleak situation full of deprivation.” 

He added: “The challenges are huge. The difficulties facing UNRWA are complicated and increasing in scope. Therefore, we call on the international community to act to provide the support UNRWA needs. 

“If we are still unable to establish justice for the Palestine refugees, let us at least give them a chance to live decently.” 

Despite several UN member states pledging Thursday to boost their contributions to the UNRWA, the agency still only has the means to provide services through to October. 

Lazzarini told the media: “I told the member state mission: ‘I know that it sounds like a broken record when we talk about the financial crisis of the agency.’ But I also told them: ‘Please don’t take our ability to muddle through this crisis as a given.’ 

“There will be a point where we reach an inflection point. It has become absolutely unbearable to deal with a situation where the needs of the Palestinian refugees increase, the expectations increase. 

“This tension cannot continue. It’s highly unsettling. It’s unsettling for the communities … for the host countries. 

“And this is also fueling in the region a feeling of abandonment by the international community.” 

The UNRWA chief warned that his agency’s funding crisis would hit children the hardest. Lazzarini recently oversaw the opening of a school for Palestinian refugee students, but said that he did not know if the site would exist by the end of the year. 

The COVID-19 pandemic and austerity measures have also compounded the woes of refugee children, Lazzarini said. 

“One indicator which I was sharing with a member state here today was that in the fourth grade this year, only 20 percent of the (Palestinian refugee) students reached the average for Arabic and mathematics, whereas in 2015, it was 60 percent. 

“And this is quite significant, and collectively, we have to look at how can we bring back a quality education.” 

Safadi was asked about the possibility of engagement between Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Israel, the EU and the US over the Palestine issue, and the potential for a solution to the plight of Palestinian refugees. 

Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman said recently that the Kingdom was taking steps to reach a political agreement with Israel. 

Safadi said: “I will not comment on what the crown prince of Saudi Arabia has said in terms of efforts made towards reaching a political agreement between Saudi Arabia and Israel but we trust the position of our brothers in Saudi Arabia. 

“They have a very firm position in terms of supporting the Palestinian question, the Palestinian right, and supporting the two-state solution as the only path towards achieving peace and stability in the region.” 

The foreign minister reiterated Jordan’s position: “We insist on the two-state solution, that if undermined, and if hope is lost completely in reaching this solution, then there will be a one-state solution, and this is not a solution. 

“It will be a heinous situation of racial discrimination that would lead to further conflict and further deterioration.” 

Lazzarini said that his chief focus during the UN General Assembly has been to place the issue of Palestinian refugees “back on the political agenda.” 

He added: “My main ask is that the issue of the safeguarding of the right of the Palestinian refugees be brought to the agenda, and by having this conversation we talk also after that, about the sustainability of an agency like UNRWA.” 

Lazzarini also discussed the recent eruption of violence in Ain Al-Hilweh refugee camp in Lebanon, which he described as “very worrying.” 

He added: “As we know, it has prevented our kids to go back to school. Our schools have been used by the militants. We have called more than once to the militants to vacate our schools. 

“They need to be protected. They need to be respected. And sadly, this has not been the case. 

“So, I think the fighting in Ain Al-Hilweh right now is adding a layer to the extraordinary human misery prevailing already in the camp.” 

Safadi spoke on his country’s engagement with the political process, saying that Jordan is “talking with everybody” in a bid to reach a resolution. 

He added: “We are engaged with all parties, including with the Israelis. We’re talking to everybody. 

“We’re working with the Americans, with the Europeans, we’re in full coordination with the Palestinians, with other Arab countries, Egypt and others to try and find a political horizon.” 


Kuwaiti PM says Iraqi ruling on maritime navigation contains ‘historical fallacies’

Kuwaiti PM says Iraqi ruling on maritime navigation contains ‘historical fallacies’
Updated 22 September 2023
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Kuwaiti PM says Iraqi ruling on maritime navigation contains ‘historical fallacies’

Kuwaiti PM says Iraqi ruling on maritime navigation contains ‘historical fallacies’
  • A deal regulating navigation in the Khor Abdullah waterway was reached by Iraq and Kuwait in 2012
  • But Iraq's Supreme Court earlier this month ruled the agreement was unconstitutional

Kuwait’s Prime Minister Sheikh Ahmad Nawaf Al-Sabah described an Iraqi ruling on regulating navigation in the Khor Abdullah waterway between the two states as containing “historical fallacies.”

In remarks carried by state news agency KUNA early on Thursday, Sheikh Ahmad also called on Iraq to take “concrete, decisive and urgent measures” to address the ruling.
The prime minister’s comments came during a meeting with his Iraqi counterpart, Mohammed Shia Al-Sudani, on the sidelines of the 78th session of the United Nations General Assembly in New York.
Tensions have been rising between Kuwait and Iraq after the Iraqi Federal Supreme Court earlier this month ruled an agreement regulating navigation in the Khor Abdullah waterway was unconstitutional. The court said the law that ratified the accord should have been approved by two-thirds of parliament.

The land border between the two was demarcated by the United Nations in 1993 after Iraq’s invasion of Kuwait, but it did not cover the length of their maritime boundaries, and this was left for the two oil producers to resolve.
An agreement between the two nations was reached in 2012 and ratified by each of their legislative bodies in 2013.
Sheikh Ahmad also called for the complete demarcation of Kuwaiti-Iraqi maritime borders “in accordance with international law,” KUNA added, echoing a Wednesday call by the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries and the United States.
Iraqi parliament speaker Mohammed Al-Halbousi on Thursday met with a delegation from the Kuwaiti national assembly and emphasized “the importance of respecting and implementing bilateral agreements that are in the interest of the two brotherly peoples,” a statement from his office said.
The statement did not refer specifically to the Khor Abdullah waterway.

 


Sudan army chief warns UN that war could spill over in region, seeks action against RSF backers

Sudan army chief warns UN that war could spill over in region, seeks action against RSF backers
Updated 22 September 2023
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Sudan army chief warns UN that war could spill over in region, seeks action against RSF backers

Sudan army chief warns UN that war could spill over in region, seeks action against RSF backers
  • Army chief Burhan asks UN to take action against RSF’s backers
  • RSF leader says ready for cease-fire and comprehensive talks
  • War has killed over 7,500 people, displaced more than 5 million

UNITED NATIONS: The heads of Sudan’s rival military factions gave competing addresses to the United Nations on Thursday, one from the podium at UN headquarters in New York and the other in a rare video recording from an undisclosed location.

Army leader Abdel Fattah Al-Burhan, speaking at the United Nations, called on the international community to designate the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) as a terrorist organization and to counter its sponsors outside Sudan’s borders, warning that months of war could spill over in the region.

RSF leader Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo, known as Hemedti, said in a video message that his forces were fully prepared for a cease-fire and comprehensive political talks to end the conflict.

Most of Hemedti’s recent communications have been audio messages, and his whereabouts have been a source of speculation.

In the video released on Thursday shortly before Burhan spoke, Hemedti appeared in military uniform, seated behind a desk with a Sudanese national flag behind him as he read out his speech. His location was not clear.

“Today we renew our commitment to the peaceful process to put a halt to this war,” Hemedti said. “The RSF are fully prepared for a cease-fire throughout Sudan to allow the passage of humanitarian aid ... and to start serious and comprehensive political talks.”

 

 

Both sides blamed the other for starting the war that erupted in mid-April in Khartoum and has spread to other parts of the country including the western region of Darfur, displacing more than 5 million people and threatening to destabilize the region.

Saudi Arabia and the United States have tried to secure a lasting cease-fire in Sudan but the process stalled amid parallel international initiatives in Africa and the Middle East.

Tentacles of Wagner group

Burhan, the de facto ruler of Sudan since a 2021 coup, alluded to the rival RSF'S ties with Wagner, the Russian mercenary group hit by Western sanctions over alleged abuses in Africa.
“The danger of this war is now a threat to regional and international peace and security as those rebels have sought the support of outlaws and terrorist groups from different countries in the region and the world,” Burhan said.
“This is like the spark of war, a war that will spill over to other countries in the region,” he said.
“Regional and international interference to support these groups is crystal clear by now. This means that this is the first spark that will burn the region, and will have a direct impact on regional and international peace and security.”
War broke out on April 15 after the collapse of a plan to integrate the army and the RSF.
The fighting in Sudan has killed at least 7,500 people, according to the NGO Acled, and displaced some five million people, dealing a new, devastating blow to efforts to bring democracy to Sudan.
Burhan has increasingly been traveling around the world in what are seen as efforts to burnish his legitimacy.
At the United Nations, he urged world powers to designate the Rapid Support Forces, or RSF, as a terrorist group.
“They have committed all sorts of crimes that give grounds for such a designation,” he said.
“Those who have supported killing, burning, raping, forced displacement, looting, stealing, torture, trafficking of arms and drugs, bringing mercenaries or recruiting children — all such crimes necessitate accountability and punishment,” he said.
The United States earlier this month imposed sanctions on RSF leaders including senior commander Abdelrahim Hamdan Daglo, the brother of the group’s leader, over alleged abuses including the killing of the governor of West Darfur.
But the United States and other Western powers have also been strongly critical of Burhan.
Alongside RSF leader Daglo, Burhan in 2021 sidelined the civilian leadership that had been part of a transitional power-sharing deal following mass protests that brought down longtime dictator Omar Al-Bashir.
“We are still committed to our previous pledges to transfer power to the people of Sudan with great national consensus and consent,” he said.
“The armed forces would leave politics for once and for all.”
 

 


Syria’s Assad steps out of diplomatic freeze with high-level China trip

Syria’s Assad steps out of diplomatic freeze with high-level China trip
Updated 22 September 2023
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Syria’s Assad steps out of diplomatic freeze with high-level China trip

Syria’s Assad steps out of diplomatic freeze with high-level China trip
  • Talks with Xi Jinping to focus on Syrian reconstruction
  • He will also attend opening ceremony of Asian Games

JEDDAH: Syrian President Bashar Assad on Thursday began his first visit to China since 2004 and his latest attempt to end more than a decade of diplomatic isolation under Western sanctions.

Assad arrived in the eastern Chinese city of Hangzhou aboard an Air China plane in heavy fog, which Chinese state media said “added to the atmosphere of mystery.” Assad last visited China in 2004 to meet then-President Hu Jintao. It was the first visit by a Syrian head of state to China since the countries established diplomatic ties in 1956.

China — like Syria’s main allies Russia and Iran — maintained those ties even as other countries isolated Assad over his brutal crackdown of anti-government demonstrations that erupted in 2011, leading to a civil war that has killed more than half a million people, displaced millions more, and battered Syria’s infrastructure and industry.

Assad will attend Saturday’s Asian Games opening ceremony before leading a delegation in meetings in several Chinese cities. 

He meets President Xi Jinping on Friday.

Syrian President Bashar al-Assad meeting with Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao in Beijing on June 23, 2004. He was the first Syrian head of state to visit China since the two countries established diplomatic relations in 1956. (AFP Photo/File)

Being seen with China’s president at a regional gathering adds further legitimacy to Assad’s campaign to return to the world stage. 

Syria joined China’s Belt and Road Initiative in 2022 and was welcomed back into the Arab League in May.

Faced with a crippled economy and little to show so far from his efforts to rebuild ties with Arab states, Assad is keen for financial support. 

But any Chinese or other investment in Syria risks entangling an investor in US sanctions under the 2020 Caesar Act that can freeze assets of anyone dealing with Syria.

“In his third term, Xi Jinping is seeking to openly challenge the US, so I don’t think it’s a surprise that he is willing to … host a leader like Assad,” said Alfred Wu, an associate professor at Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy in Singapore. 

“It will further marginalize China in the world, but he doesn’t care about that.”

The visit comes as China expands its engagement in the Middle East. 

This year Beijing brokered a deal restoring ties between Saudi Arabia and Iran. 

That detente was followed by Syria’s return to the Arab fold at a summit in Saudi Arabia in May, ending more than a decade of regional isolation.

Analysts expect Assad’s visit to China will focus, in part, on funds for reconstruction. 

“Assad intends for his trip to China to convey a sense of international legitimacy for his regime and paint a picture of looming Chinese support for reconstruction in Syria,” said Lina Khatib, director of the Middle East Institute at SOAS university in London.

Syria signed up to China’s vast Belt and Road trade and infrastructure initiative in January 2022.

Assad’s meeting with Xi “is expected to revolve around convincing China to aid Syria’s economic recovery,” said Haid Haid, of the Chatham House think tank in London. 

China pledged $2 billion in investments in Syria in 2017, but Haid said the funds had “yet to materialize.”

(With Agencies)


Mideast peace only possible when Palestinians get full rights: Abbas

Mideast peace only possible when Palestinians get full rights: Abbas
Updated 21 September 2023
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Mideast peace only possible when Palestinians get full rights: Abbas

Mideast peace only possible when Palestinians get full rights: Abbas
  • President urges states that have not yet recognized state of Palestine to do so immediately
  • Calls for peace conference that ‘may be last opportunity to salvage two-state solution’

LONDON: Those who think peace can prevail in the Middle East without the Palestinian people enjoying their full rights are mistaken, Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas said on Thursday.
Addressing the UN General Assembly, he said Israel’s occupation of Palestinian territory “violates the principles of international law and legitimacy while it races against time to change the historical, geographical and demographic reality on the ground, aimed at perpetuating the occupation and entrenching apartheid.”
Abbas said his country remains hopeful that the UN will be “able to implement its resolution demanding an end to the Israeli occupation of our territory and realizing the independence of the fully sovereign state of Palestine, with East Jerusalem as its capital, on the borders of June 4, 1967.”
He added that Israel continues to attack his people, and its “army and its racist, terrorist settlers continue to intimidate and kill our people, to destroy homes and property to just steal our money and resources.”
Abbas said Israel “continues to assault our Islamic and Christian sacred sites … especially the blessed Al-Aqsa Mosque, which international legitimacy has recognized as an exclusive place of worship for Muslims alone.”
He added that Israel is digging tunnels under and around the mosque, threatening its full or partial collapse, “which would lead to an explosion with untold consequences.”
He urged the international community to assume its responsibilities in preserving the historic and legal status of Jerusalem and its holy sites.
He also requested an international peace conference in which all countries concerned with achieving peace in the Middle East would participate.
“I ask your esteemed organization and Secretary-General Antonio Guterres to call for and undertake the necessary arrangements to convene this peace conference, which may be the last opportunity to salvage the two-state solution and to prevent the situation from deteriorating more seriously, and threatening the security and stability of our region and the entire world,” Abbas said.
He also urged states that have not yet recognized the state of Palestine to do so immediately. “I call for the state of Palestine to be admitted to full membership in the United Nations,” he said.
“There are two states that the entire world is talking about: Israel and Palestine. But only Israel is recognized. Why not Palestine?
“I can neither understand nor accept that some states …are reluctant to recognize the state of Palestine, which the UN has accepted as an observer state.
“These same states confirm every day that they support the two-state solution. But they recognize only one of these states, namely Israel. Why?”