Tag: Lebanon

Categories
Afghanistan News World

Israel and Lebanon urged to respect the Blue Line

Israel and Lebanon urged to respect the Blue Line

A top UN official has urged the Lebanese Armed Forces and the Israeli Defense Forces to respect the sanctity of the Blue Line…reports Asian Lite News

A top UN official has urged the Lebanese Armed Forces and the Israeli Defense Forces to respect the sanctity of the Blue Line, a border demarcation between the two nations published by the world body in 2000, in furtherance of peace and stability.

The remarks by Stefano Del Col, chief of the UN Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL), came during a celebration held at the mission’s headquarters in Naqoura on the occasion of the UN Day, Xinhua news agency reported.

Israel and Lebanon urged to respect the Blue Line

“For over a decade now, the iconic blue barrels have helped avoid incidents that could become flashpoints for misunderstanding and conflict,” Del Col said in a statement.

“By setting aside differences to engage constructively on resolving contentions, marking the remaining parts of the Blue Line and avoiding unilateral action, we can avoid this risk,” he added.

Del Col stressed the importance of peacekeeping for creating a space in which political and diplomatic solutions can take root, while working independently and impartially.

ALSO READ: Israel foils smuggling attempt from Lebanon

“We have to redouble our efforts to create space for a political and diplomatic solution, and a permanent ceasefire between Lebanon and Israel,” he said, adding that “in the meantime, and as a step in that direction, we should firm up the Blue Line arrangement as the essential de-confliction tool”.

Del Col praised the dedication of peacekeepers and the commitment of the parties who contributed to 15 years of relative stability on the borders.

Categories
Arab News News World

Israel foils smuggling attempt from Lebanon

Israel foils smuggling attempt from Lebanon

Israeli security forces said that they have thwarted an attempt to smuggle drugs and weapons from Lebanon into the Jewish state’s territory…reports Asian Lite News

Troops on patrol observed suspects carrying bags from Lebanon into Israel at midnight between Friday and Saturday in Metula, a northern city near the countries’ border, Xinhua news agency quoted the military as saying in a statement.

Israel foils smuggling attempt from Lebanon

Soldiers and police officers were dispatched to the scene and confiscated two pistols and 21 bags containing nine kg of drugs worth approximately 350,000 new shekels ($109,171), the military added.

ALSO READ: Israel to reopen for fully vaccinated tourists

The Israel Defense Forces is investigating if the smuggling attempt was linked to Lebanon’s Hezbollah group, according to the statement.

Categories
Arab News News World

Lebanon to hold parliamentary elections on March

Lebanon to hold parliamentary elections on March

Lebanon’s parliament on Tuesday voted to set the date of parliamentary elections on March 27, ahead of the previous schedule in May…reports Asian Lite News

The earlier date was chosen in order to avoid clashing with the Islamic fasting month of Ramadan.

Lebanon to hold parliamentary elections on March

“The elections will be transparent and sound,” Lebanese Prime Minister Najib Mikati vowed after the parliament session, Xinhua news agency reported.

ASLO READ: Iran helps the families affected by terrorist attacks in Afghan

The next parliamentary elections will be the first since the country’s popular uprising in October 2019, when hundreds of thousands of people demanded for the overhaul of the political system.

Lebanon is currently suffering from its worst financial crisis amid a shortage of foreign reserves and the collapse of the local currency’s value by over 90 per cent.

Categories
News World World News

Iran to continue oil shipments to Lebanon

Iran to continue oil shipments to Lebanon

Iran is ready to secure Lebanon’s need for medicines, food and medical equipment in addition to constructing two power plants…reports Asian Lite News

Visiting Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amir Abdollahian said that his country will continue to send oil shipments to help Lebanon overcome its fuel shortage crisis.

The Iranian Minister’s remarks came during a press conference held here on Friday to wrap his two-day visit to Lebanon, reports Xinhua news agency.

Abdollahian said that he hopes the oil export to Lebanon would take place within the framework of protocol agreements between the two countries in the future.

Iran is ready to secure Lebanon’s need for medicines, food and medical equipment in addition to constructing two power plants, he added.

ALSO READ: Iran Prez accuses US of being behind Kunduz attack

The Iran-backed Lebanese Shia Hezbollah group has been sending Iranian fuel shipments for Lebanon since August amid fuel shortages in the country due to economic collapse.

Abdollahian said at the conference that Iran fully respects Lebanon’s sovereignty and wishes to support the country through cooperation between the two governments.

Categories
-Top News News World

Lebanon and IMF to resume talks for int’l support

Lebanon and IMF to resume talks for int’l support

Lebanon remains fully committed to engaging in a constructive, transparent and equitable debt restructuring process with all other stakeholders…reports Asian Lite News

Lebanon has resumed talks with the International Monetary Fund (IMF), seeking a recovery program with international support, the Finance Ministry said in a statement.

The statement issued on Monday said that Lebanon remains fully committed to engaging in a constructive, transparent and equitable debt restructuring process with all other stakeholders, reports Xinhua news agency.

Prime Minister Najib Mikati

“The government reiterates its commitment to a fair and comprehensive solution for all creditors and will engage, with the support of its financial and legal advisors, in good faith discussions with all its creditors as early as possible,” it added.

The Lebanese cabinet formed the team in charge of negotiating with the IMF under the leadership of Deputy Prime Minister Saade Chami and including Finance Minister Youssef el-Khalil, Economy and Trade Minister Amin Salam, and Central Bank Governor Riad Salameh.

Lebanon has been going through an unprecedented financial crisis with the local currency depreciating by over 90 per cent, limiting people’s ability to afford their basic needs.

ALSO READ: Urgent steps must be taken to save world’s third pole

The country’s social stability started deteriorating since the October 2019 uprising, adding to it is the economic impact of Covid-19 and the deadly Port of Beirut explosions in August 2020.

Moreover, the failure to form an effective government to implement much-needed financial reforms accelerated the deterioration of the socioeconomic situation by resulting in the collapse of the Lebanese pound and an increase in annual inflation by 158 per cent with food inflation going up by 550 per cent.

The country’s poverty rate is currently hovering over 78 per cent.

Categories
-Top News World World News

Iran’s fuel shipments violate Lebanon’s sovereignty: Mikati

Lebanese Prime Minister Najib Mikati

The Tehran-aligned group began bringing tanker trucks carrying fuel from Iran, a move it says should ease a crippling energy crisis in Lebanon…reports Asian Lite News

Lebanese Prime Minister Najib Mikati said Iranian fuel shipments imported by the Hezbollah movement constitute a breach of Lebanon’s sovereignty, according to comments published by his office.

“The violation of Lebanon’s sovereignty makes me sad,” Mikati told CNN in an interview, his office said in a posting on Twitter.

He added: “But I’m not concerned that sanctions can be imposed” on Lebanon “because the operation was carried out without the involvement of the Lebanese government.”

Lebanese Prime Minister Najib Mikati

The Tehran-aligned group on Thursday began bringing tanker trucks carrying fuel from Iran, a move it says should ease a crippling energy crisis in Lebanon.

A tanker ship carried the fuel to Syria and from there it crossed into Lebanon. Both Syria and Iran are under US sanctions.

Meanwhile, authorities have seized 20 tons of ammonium nitrate — the same chemical behind a deadly explosion last year at Beirut’s port — in the eastern Bekaa Valley, state media said.

Ammonium nitrate is an odorless crystalline substance commonly used as a fertilizer that has been the cause of numerous industrial explosions over the decades.

ALSO READ: ‘A new chapter in Iran-Tajikistan ties’

The National News Agency said security forces raided a fertilizer warehouse in the eastern Bekaa Valley, considered a hub for smuggling operations between Lebanon and Syria.

Authorities seized 20 tons of the dangerous chemical stored inside a truck parked at the warehouse, the NNA said, adding the material was transported to a “safe place.”

Lebanese President Michel Aoun

Interior Minister Bassam Mawlawi called on security forces to conduct a sweep of the area. He said: “We must do our best to move these materials to a safer place away from exposure to heat and sun” to avoid a “catastrophe.”

The company that owns the ammonium nitrate said that the fertilizer was intended for agricultural use.

Categories
-Top News World World News

Trucks carrying Iranian oil arrives in Lebanon

Lebanese welcome the arrival of tanker trucks carrying Iranian oil in the city of Baalbek, Lebanon.(XinhuaTaher Abu HamdanIANS)

Lebanon has received tanker trucks carrying Iranian oil in a move aimed at easing energy shortages in the crisis-hit country…reports Asian Lite News

A vessel carrying Iranian oil docked in Syria on Sunday, and the oil was unloaded in trucks and sent by land to the Bekaa Valley on Thursday, reports Xinhua news agency.

Lebanon has been suffering from shortage of US currency reserves, which deprives the country from importing its oil needs.

Lebanese welcome the arrival of tanker trucks carrying Iranian oil in the city of Baalbek, Lebanon.(XinhuaTaher Abu HamdanIANS)

Hezbollah leader Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah announced on Monday that a second ship with fuel oil would arrive in the Syrian port of Baniyas in a few days, and Lebanon is expected to receive two more ships carrying gasoline and fuel oil.

Some Lebanese anti-Hezbollah parties expressed over the past few days their concerns over the possibility of the US imposing sanctions on Lebanon after its oil imports from Iran.

Two days ago, Lebanese President Michel Aoun said his country will begin talks with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank soon.
ALSO READ: Iran says talks with IAEA chief constructive

“We will initiate talks with the IMF and World Bank for financing, as there is an international will to help us,” Aoun said during his meeting at Baabda Palace with a delegation from the labour confederation on Wednesday.

He added that economy will be the main priority in the coming period.

Aoun said that the new cabinet will launch several projects, including the construction of power stations and the reconstruction of the Beirut port which was destroyed by two huge explosions on August 4, 2020.

Lebanon formed a new cabinet on September 10, breaking 13 months of political deadlock in the crisis-torn country.

The 24 cabinet ministers, who are not official members of Lebanon’s different political parties, were appointed by ruling authorities based on their political affiliations.

According to the new Prime Minister Najib Mikati, his cabinet is formed of specialists who are keen to stop the country’s current collapse by dealing with urgent issues, including the negative repercussions of lifting subsidies.

Since the Beirut port explosions and the resignation of the government of Prime Minister Hassan Diab last year, Lebanese citizens and experts have been calling for an efficient cabinet capable of undertaking major reforms such as the overhaul of the electricity sector, the restructuring of the public sector and the fight against corruption.

However, differences among political parties over the ministerial shares’ distribution delayed the cabinet formation which exacerbated the country’s financial and economic crisis, with about 74 per cent of the population living in poverty now.

Categories
-Top News Asia News

Lebanon to raise fuel prices in bid to ease crippling shortages

Lebanon’s Deputy Minister announces country’s bankruptcy

The decision was made at an emergency meeting attended by the president, central bank governor and other officials..reports Asian Lite News

Lebanese fuel prices are expected to double after the state decided on Saturday to change the exchange rate used to price petroleum products in a bid to ease crippling shortages that have brought Lebanon to a standstill.

Amounting to a partial reduction in fuel subsidies, the rise will mean more hardship in a country where poverty levels have soared during a two-year-long financial meltdown that has wiped more than 90 percent off the value of the Lebanese pound.

The decision was made at an emergency meeting attended by the president, central bank governor and other officials over a fuel crisis that has left Lebanon in chaos, paralysing basic services and sparking daily melees as people scramble for fuel.

Though prices will rise, the decision did not fully lift the exchange rate for pricing fuel to the exchange rate at which the central bank will finance its import — a gap which the state will continue to finance, for now.

A statement said the central bank will open an account to for that purpose up to a maximum of $225 million until the end of September — funds the government will have to pay back in the 2022 budget.

The account was to cover an “urgent and exception subsidy” for gasoline, fuel oil and cooking gas, the bank said.

The fuel subsidy would only continue until the end of September, a ministerial source said.

President Michel Aoun confirmed the treasury would bear the cost of the continued subsidy.

The fuel crisis worsened this month when the central bank said it could no longer finance fuel imports at heavily subsidised exchange rates and would switch to market rates.

The government objected, refusing to change official selling prices, creating a standoff that left importers in limbo and caused supplies to dry up across the country.

Saturday’s decision marked a compromise as official selling prices will now be based on an exchange rate of 8,000 pounds to the dollar, up from 3,900, but still well below an unofficial parallel market rate closer to 20,000 pounds.

Roads have been clogged across Lebanon as motorists have queued for the little gasoline left. Prices have soared on the black market. Some confrontations over gasoline have turned deadly.

The fuel oil that powers much of Lebanon has also nearly run out, leading to lengthy blackouts.

Reflecting concern about the impact of the price rise, the government decided to pay emergency social assistance to people on the public payroll equal to one month’s pay or pension.

While the government will adjust its fuel import exchange rate to 8,000 pounds to the dollar, the central bank use a rate determined by its Sayrafa platform which stood at 16,500 pounds on Friday.

Central bank governor Riad Salameh told Reuters the difference between the two rates would be a loss to be carried by the government.

Critics blame the subsidy system for encouraging smuggling to Syria. This will continue all the while fuel is sold in Lebanon below market price, said Nassib Ghobril, chief economist at Byblos Bank. “It is not going to solve the problem,” he said.

ALSO READ: US to help Lebanon with electricity

Categories
-Top News Music Saudi Arabia

US to help Lebanon with electricity

Negotiations are continuing with the World Bank to finance the cost of the gas, the presidency statement said…reports Asian Lite News.

The Lebanese presidency said on Thursday that the United States has decided to assist Lebanon with electricity provision as the country struggles with crippling fuel shortages.

It said the US ambassador informed President Michel Aoun of the decision through a phone call on Thursday. There was no immediate comment from the US Embassy in Lebanon.

The plan would provide Egyptian natural gas to Jordan for generation into additional electricity that can be transmitted to Lebanon via Syria, as well as facilitate the transfer of natural gas to Lebanon.

Negotiations are continuing with the World Bank to finance the cost of the gas, the presidency statement said.

Meanwhile, Aoun accused unnamed parties on Thursday of seeking to prevent the formation of a new government and to push the country into chaos.

Earlier this week Aoun and Prime Minister-designate Najib Mikati had expressed optimism that a government could soon be formed to steer Lebanon out of its two-year financial crisis, but the prospect of an imminent deal appears to have faded.

“Several forces are working to prevent the creation of a government and are determined to push the country toward chaos in order to fulfil their political aims,” the presidency said in a statement, citing Aoun.

The statement said Aoun was cooperating with Mikati but that other groups were increasing demands over positions in the future cabinet with the goal of forcing Mikati to quit, an outcome the president said he did not want.

Mikati later said in a statement cited by broadcaster Al-Jadeed that he would continue his efforts to form a government.

The formation of a government is a necessary first step to start pulling Lebanon out of a crisis that has deepened with crippling fuel shortages.

Lebanon has been managed by a caretaker government since the resignation of Prime Minister Hassan Diab’s cabinet following a devastating explosion in Beirut port one year ago.

The formation of a cabinet has been greatly complicated by Lebanon’s sectarian and factional rivalries.

ALSO READ-Ashraf Ghani is a crook, says Trump

READ MORE-Afghans in India faces uncertainty, flock to embassies

Categories
-Top News Asia News

UN chief renews call for calm on Israel-Lebanon border

The Blue Line is a border demarcation between Lebanon and Israel published by the United Nations in 2000….reports Asian Lite News

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres repeated his call on Sunday for calm on the Lebanon-Israel border.

“The secretary-general expresses his deep concern about the recent escalation between Lebanon and Israel across the Blue Line, including rocket fire into Israel and returns airstrikes and artillery fire into Lebanon,” said Guterres’ press office in a note to correspondents.

The Blue Line is a border demarcation between Lebanon and Israel published by the United Nations in 2000.

The secretary-general calls on all parties to exercise utmost restraint and to actively engage with the liaison and coordination mechanisms of the UN Interim Force in Lebanon, said the press office. “It is paramount that all actors involved avoid actions that can further heighten tensions and lead to miscalculation.”

Guterres made a similar call on Friday.

The latest escalation came as Lebanon is struggling both politically and economically, one year after the devastating Beirut Port blast.

Israeli soldiers operate an artillery battery from a position at the Israeli-Gaza border near Sderot, amid the escalating flare-up of Israeli-Palestinian violence. (Photo Ilia Yefi

Meanwhile, Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett has warned Lebanon that his country “will not accept” rocket fire.

Speaking at a cabinet meeting on Sunday, Bennett said that the Lebanese government and army “should take responsibility for what happens in their backyard”, reports Xinhua news agency.

The Prime Minister made the remarks a day after the armed Lebanese group, Hezbollah fired rockets at Israeli territory.

Hezbollah leader Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah also said that the Lebanese Shia movement does not fear any Israeli war and “we are fully prepared for the war and we are certain that we will win it”.

On August 6, about 19 rockets were fired at northern Israel by Hezbollah, causing no injuries.

The Israeli army said in a statement that most of the rockets were intercepted by its aerial defence systems and the rest landed in open areas adjacent to the Lebanese-Israeli border.

Hezbollah said the rockets were in retaliation to the Israeli airstrikes in southern Lebanon a few days earlier.

The airstrikes were carried out after three rockets were fired from Lebanon towards Israel on August 4, causing no injuries.

Israel said the rockets were fired by a Palestinian group. (ANI/Xinhua)

ALSO READ: Najib Mikati named Lebanon’s new PM