US sanctions Lebanese network over alleged oil, LPG smuggling for Hezbollah

US sanctions Lebanese network over alleged oil, LPG smuggling for Hezbollah
Lebanon’s Hezbollah has traded near-daily fire with Israeli forces in support of ally Hamas since the Palestinian militant group’s October 7 attack triggered war in the Gaza Strip, with repeated escalations during more than 11 months of the cross-border violence. (AFP)
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Updated 12 September 2024
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US sanctions Lebanese network over alleged oil, LPG smuggling for Hezbollah

US sanctions Lebanese network over alleged oil, LPG smuggling for Hezbollah
  • The sanctions target three people, five companies and two vessels

WASHINGTON: The Biden administration on Wednesday issued sanctions on a Lebanese network it accused of smuggling oil and liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) to help fund the Lebanese armed group Hezbollah.
The sanctions target three people, five companies and two vessels that the US Treasury Department said were overseen by a senior leader of Hezbollah’s finance team and used profits from illicit LPG shipments to Syria to aid generate revenue for the group.
Acting Under Secretary of the Treasury for Terrorism and Financial Intelligence Bradley Smith, in a statement, said Hezbollah “continues to launch rockets into Israel and fuel regional instability, choosing to prioritize funding violence over taking care of the people it claims to care about, including the tens of thousands displaced in southern Lebanon.”


Most of Lebanon’s displacement shelters are full, UN says

Updated 12 sec ago
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Most of Lebanon’s displacement shelters are full, UN says

Most of Lebanon’s displacement shelters are full, UN says
  • Lebanese authorities say more than 1.2 million Lebanese have been displaced and nearly 2,000 people killed since the start of Israeli war
GENEVA: UN officials said on Friday most of Lebanon’s nearly 900 shelters were full and that people fleeing Israeli military strikes were increasingly sleeping out in the open in streets or in public parks.
“Most of the nearly 900 government established collective shelters in Lebanon have no more capacity,” the UN refugee agency’s Rula Amin told a Geneva press briefing. She said that they were working with local authorities to find more sites and that some hotels were opening their doors.
“People are sleeping in public parks, on the street, the beach,” said Mathieu Luciano, the International Organization For Migration’s office head in Lebanon. He confirmed that most shelters were full, including those in Beirut and Mount Lebanon, but said some others had space.
He voiced concern about the fate of tens of thousands of mostly female live-in domestic workers in Lebanon whom he said were being “abandoned” by their employers. “They face very limited shelter options,” he said, adding that many of them came from Egypt, Sudan and Sri Lanka.
Lebanese authorities say more than 1.2 million Lebanese have been displaced and nearly 2,000 people killed since the start of Israeli war with Lebanon’s Iran-backed Hezbollah group over the last year, most of them over the past two weeks.
On Friday, Israeli strikes sealed off Lebanon’s main border crossing with Syria, blocking the way for vehicles, although the UNHCR’s Amin said that some were crossing on foot.
“We could see that some people were walking, desperate to flee Lebanon, and so they walked actually through that destroyed road,” she said.

WHO aims to begin second phase of polio campaign in Gaza on Oct. 14

WHO aims to begin second phase of polio campaign in Gaza on Oct. 14
Updated 04 October 2024
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WHO aims to begin second phase of polio campaign in Gaza on Oct. 14

WHO aims to begin second phase of polio campaign in Gaza on Oct. 14
  • Negotiations ongoing and a meeting with Israeli authorities about the next phase of the campaign planned for Sunday

GENEVA: A World Health Organization official on Friday said the organization has sent a request to Israel to begin the second phase of the polio vaccination campaign in Gaza from Oct. 14.
“We have asked the Israeli authorities to consider a similar scheme that we had for the first round, something they call ‘tactical pauses’ (in fighting) during the working hours of the campaign,” said Ayadil Saparbekov, WHO lead for emergencies in the occupied Palestinian territory.
He said negotiations were ongoing and that a meeting with Israeli authorities about the next phase of the campaign was planned for Sunday.


Source close to Lebanon’s Hezbollah says slain chief Nasrallah temporarily buried

Source close to Lebanon’s Hezbollah says slain chief Nasrallah temporarily buried
Updated 04 October 2024
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Source close to Lebanon’s Hezbollah says slain chief Nasrallah temporarily buried

Source close to Lebanon’s Hezbollah says slain chief Nasrallah temporarily buried
  • An Israeli strike killed the Hezbollah leader last week

BEIRUT: A source close to Hezbollah said Friday that the Lebanese militant group’s slain chief Hassan Nasrallah has been temporarily buried in a secret location for fear Israel would target a large funeral.
“Hassan Nasrallah has been temporarily buried, until the circumstances allow for a public funeral,” the source said, after an Israeli strike killed the leader last week.
The source said a public funeral had been impossible to hold “for fear of Israeli threats they would target mourners and the place of his burial.”
Shiite Muslim rites provide for such a temporary burial when circumstances prevent a proper funeral or the deceased cannot be buried where they wished.
A Lebanese official who spoke on condition of anonymity said Hezbollah had, through top Lebanese officials, sought but failed to obtain “guarantees” from the United States, a key ally of Israel, that Israel would not target a public funeral.
Amid intensifying Israeli bombardment of Hezbollah, a massive strike on its south Beirut stronghold on September 27 killed Nasrallah alongside an Iranian Revolutionary Guards general.
Israel said it killed around 20 members of the Iran-backed militant group.
Nasrallah still does not have a successor a week after he was killed.
His cousin Hashem Safieddine, a prominent Hezbollah figure touted as a possible successor, was the target of a recent Israeli air strike on south Beirut, US and Israeli media reported.


Tunisia votes Sunday in its third presidential election since the Arab Spring

Tunisia votes Sunday in its third presidential election since the Arab Spring
Updated 04 October 2024
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Tunisia votes Sunday in its third presidential election since the Arab Spring

Tunisia votes Sunday in its third presidential election since the Arab Spring
  • Tunisia’s President Kais Saied faces few obstacles to winning another term in the country’s presidential election Sunday because his major opponents have been imprisoned or left off the ballot
  • The presidential election is Tunisia’s third since protests led to the 2011 ouster of President Zine El Abidine Ben Ali during the Arab Spring

TUNIS: With his major opponents imprisoned or left off the ballot, Tunisian President Kais Saied faces few obstacles to winning reelection on Sunday, five years after riding anti-establishment backlash to a first term.
The North African country’s Oct. 6 presidential election is its third since protests led to the 2011 ouster of President Zine El Abidine Ben Ali — the first autocrat toppled in the Arab Spring uprisings that also overthrew leaders in Egypt, Libya and Yemen.
International observers praised the previous two contests as meeting democratic norms. However, a raft of arrests and actions taken by a Saied-appointed election authority have raised questions about whether this year’s race is free and fair. And opposition parties have called for a boycott.
What’s at stake?
Not long ago, Tunisia was hailed as the Arab Spring’s only success story. As coups, counter-revolutions and civil wars convulsed the region, the North African nation enshrined a new democratic constitution and saw its leading civil society groups win the Nobel Peace Prize for brokering political compromise.
But its new leaders were unable to buoy its struggling economy and were plagued by political infighting and episodes of violence and terrorism.
Amid that backdrop, Saied, then 61 and a political outsider, won his first term in 2019. He advanced to a runoff promising to usher in a “New Tunisia” and hand more power to young people and local governments.
This year’s election will offer a window into popular opinion about the trajectory that Tunisia’s fading democracy has taken since Saied took office.
Saied’s supporters appear to have remained loyal to him and his promise to transform Tunisia. But he isn’t affiliated with any political party, and it’s unclear just how deep his support runs among Tunisians.
It’s the first presidential race since Saied upended the country’s politics in July 2021, declaring a state of emergency, sacking his prime minister, suspending the parliament and rewriting Tunisia’s constitution consolidating his own power.
Those actions outraged pro-democracy groups and leading opposition parties, who called them a coup. Yet despite anger from career politicians, voters approved Saied’s new constitution the following year in a low-turnout referendum.
Authorities subsequently began arresting Saied’s critics including journalists, lawyers, politicians and civil society figures, charging them with endangering state security and violating a controversial anti-fake news law that observers argue stifles dissent.
Fewer voters turned out to participate in parliamentary and local elections in 2022 and 2023 amid economic woes and widespread political apathy.
Who’s running?
Many wanted to challenge Saied, but few were able to.
Seventeen potential candidates filed paperwork to run and Tunisia’s election authority approved only three: Saied, Zouhair Maghzaoui and Ayachi Zammel.
Maghzaoui is a veteran politician who has campaigned against Saied’s economic program and recent political arrests. Still, he is loathed by opposition parties for backing Saied’s constitution and earlier moves to consolidate power.
Zammel is a businessman supported by politicians not boycotting the race. During the campaign, he has been sentenced to prison time in four voter fraud cases related to signatures his team gathered to qualify for the ballot.
Others had hoped to run but were prevented. The election authority, known as ISIE, last month dismissed a court ruling ordering it to reinstate three additional challengers.
With many arrested, detained or convicted on charges related to their political activities, Tunisia’s most well-known opposition figures are also not participating.
That includes the 83-year-old leader of Tunisia’s most well organized political party Ennahda, which rose to power after the Arab Spring. Rached Ghannouchi, the Islamist party’s co-founder and Tunisia’s former house speaker, has been imprisoned since last year after criticizing Saied.
The crackdown also includes one of Ghannouchi’s most vocal detractors: Abir Moussi, a right-wing lawmaker known for railing against Islamists and speaking nostalgically for pre-Arab Spring Tunisia. The 49-year-old president of the Free Destourian Party also was imprisoned last year after criticizing Saied.
Other less known politicians who announced plans to run have also since been jailed or sentenced on similar charges.
Opposition groups have called to boycott the race. The National Salvation Front — a coalition of secular and Islamist parties including Ennahda — has denounced the process as a sham and questioned the election’s legitimacy.
What are the other issues?
The country’s economy continues to face major challenges. Despite Saied’s promises to chart a new course for Tunisia, unemployment has steadily increased to one of the region’s highest at 16 percent, with young Tunisians hit particularly hard.
Growth has been slow since the COVID-19 pandemic and Tunisia has remained reliant on multilateral lenders such as the World Bank and the European Union. Today, Tunisia owes them more than $9 billion. Apart from agricultural reform, Saied’s overarching economic strategy is unclear.
Negotiations have long been stalled over a $1.9 billion bailout package offered by the International Monetary Fund in 2022. Saied has been unwilling to accept its conditions, which include restructuring indebted state-owned companies and cutting public wages. Some of the IMF’s stipulations — including lifting subsidies for electricity, flour and fuel — would likely be unpopular among Tunisians who rely on their low costs.
Economic analysts say that foreign and local investors are reluctant to invest in Tunisia due to continued political risks and an absence of reassurances.
The dire economic straits have had a two-pronged effect on one of Tunisia’s key political issues: migration. From 2019 to 2023, an increasing number of Tunisians attempted to migrate to Europe without authorization. Meanwhile, Saied’s administration has taken a harsh approach against migrants arriving from sub-Saharan Africa, many who have found themselves stuck in Tunisia while trying to reach Europe.
Saied energized his supporters in early 2023 by accusing migrants of violence and crime and portraying them as part of a plot to change the country’s demography. The anti-migrant rhetoric prompted extreme violence against migrants and a crackdown from authorities. Last year, security forces targeted migrant communities from the coast to the capital with a series of arrests, deportation to the desert and the demolition of tent camps in Tunis and coastal towns.
Bodies continue to wash ashore on Tunisia’s coastline as boats carrying Tunisians and migrants from sub-Saharan Africa manage only to make it a few nautical miles before sinking.
What does it mean overseas?
Tunisia has maintained ties with its traditional Western allies but also forged new partnerships under Saied.
Much like many populist leaders who’ve taken power worldwide, Saied emphasizes sovereignty and freeing Tunisia from what he calls “foreign diktats.” He has insisted that Tunisia won’t become a “border guard” for Europe, which has sought agreements with him to better police the Mediterranean.
Tunisia and Iran lifted visa requirements and in May announced plans to boost trade ties. It has also accepted millions in loans as part of China’s Belt and Road Initiative to build hospitals, stadiums and ports.
Yet European countries remain Tunisia’s top trade partners and their leaders have maintained productive ties with Saied, hailing agreements to manage migration as a “model” for the region.
Saied has spoken ardently in support of Palestinians as war has swept the Middle East and opposes moves made to normalize diplomatic ties with Israel.


“We don’t want to die here”: Sierra Leone housekeepers trapped in Lebanon

“We don’t want to die here”: Sierra Leone housekeepers trapped in Lebanon
Updated 04 October 2024
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“We don’t want to die here”: Sierra Leone housekeepers trapped in Lebanon

“We don’t want to die here”: Sierra Leone housekeepers trapped in Lebanon
  • With a change of clothes stuffed into a plastic bag, the 27-year-old housekeeper made her way to the capital Beirut in an ambulance
  • The situation for the country’s migrant workers is particularly precarious, as their legal status is often tied to their employer

Freetown: When an Israeli air strike killed her employer and destroyed nearly everything she owned in southern Lebanon, it also crushed Fatima Samuella Tholley’s hopes of returning home to Sierra Leone to escape the spiralling violence.
With a change of clothes stuffed into a plastic bag, the 27-year-old housekeeper told AFP that she and her cousin made their way to the capital Beirut in an ambulance.
Bewildered and terrified, the pair were thrust into the chaos of the bombarded city — unfamiliar to them apart from the airport where they had arrived months before.
“We don’t know today if we will live or not, only God knows,” Fatima told AFP via video call, breaking down in tears.
“I have nothing... no passport, no documents,” she said.
The cousins have spent days sheltering in the cramped storage room of an empty apartment, which they said was offered to them by a man they had met on their journey.
With no access to TV news and unable to communicate in French or Arabic, they could only watch from their window as the city was pounded by strikes.
The spike in violence in Lebanon since mid-September has killed more than 1,000 people and forced hundreds of thousands more to flee their homes, as Israel bombards Hezbollah strongholds around the country.
The situation for the country’s migrant workers is particularly precarious, as their legal status is often tied to their employer under the “kafala” sponsorship system governing foreign labor.
Rights groups say the system allows for numerous abuses including the withholding of wages and the confiscation of official documents — which provide workers their only lifeline out of the country.
“When we came here, our madams received our passports, they seized everything until we finished our contract” said 29-year-old Mariatu Musa Tholley, who also works as a housekeeper.
“Now [the bombing] burned everything, even our madams... only we survived.”
Sierra Leone is working to establish how many of its citizens are currently in Lebanon, with the aim of providing emergency travel certificates to those without passports, Kai S. Brima from the foreign affairs ministry told AFP.
The poor west African country has a significant Lebanese community dating back over a century, which is heavily involved in business and trade.
Scores of migrants travel to Lebanon every year, with the aim of paying remittances to support families back home.
“We don’t know anything, any information,” Mariatu said.
“[Our neighbors] don’t open the door for us because they know we are black,” she wept.
“We don’t want to die here.”
Fatima and Mariatu said they had each earned $150 per month, working from 6:00 am until midnight seven days a week.
They said they were rarely allowed out of the house.
AFP contacted four other Sierra Leonean domestic workers by phone, all of whom recounted similar situations of helplessness in Beirut.
Patricia Antwin, 27, came to Lebanon as a housekeeper to support her family in December 2021.
She said she fled her first employer after suffering sexual harassment, leaving her passport behind.
When an airstrike hit the home of her second employer in a southern village, Patricia was left stranded.
“The people I work for, they left me, they left me and went away,” she told AFP.
Patricia said a passing driver saw her crying in the street and offered to take her to Beirut.
Like Fatima and Mariatu, she has no money or formal documentation.
“I only came with two clothes in my plastic bag,” she said.
Patricia initially slept on the floor of a friend’s apartment, but moved to Beirut’s waterfront after strikes in the area intensified.
She later found shelter at a Christian school in Jounieh, some 20 kilometers (12 miles) north of the capital.
“We are seeing people moving from one place to another,” she said.
“I don’t want to lose my life here,” she added, explaining she had a child back in Sierra Leone.
Housekeeper Kadij Koroma said she had been sleeping on the streets for almost a week after fleeing to Beirut when she was separated from her employer.
“We don’t have a place to sleep, we don’t have food, we don’t have water,” she said, adding that she relied on passers by to provide bread or small change for sustenance.
Kadij said she wasn’t sure if her employer was still alive, or if her friends who had also traveled from Sierra Leone to work in Lebanon had survived the bombardment.
“You don’t know where to go,” she said, “everywhere you go, bomb, everywhere you go, bomb.”