EU foreign policy chief Borrell to return to Beirut to discuss crisis

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European High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs Josep Borrell addresses a joint press at the EU headquarters in Brussels on July 12, 2021. (AFP)
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Updated 13 July 2021
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EU foreign policy chief Borrell to return to Beirut to discuss crisis

  • Saudi-US-French diplomatic consultations continue to help Lebanon
  • Central Bank vows to maintain mandatory gold reserve

BEIRUT: The EU’s foreign policy representative, Josep Borrell, is expected to visit Lebanon on Tuesday and meet officials.

Borrell said that “the situation in Lebanon has not improved” since his last visit to the country three weeks ago.

On Monday, the EU Foreign Affairs Council discussed the Lebanese crisis.

German news agency DPA said that the council might officially approve the adoption of sanctions against Lebanese officials considered to be undermining democracy in the country.

But the agency added that EU diplomats “are divided over the possibility of adopting sanctions, as a result of many outstanding technical and judicial points.”

Meanwhile, a diplomatic meeting was held in Beirut between the Saudi Ambassador to Lebanon Walid Abdullah Al-Bukhari, US Ambassador Dorothy Shea and French Ambassador Anne Grillo.

The meeting at the Saudi Embassy comes days after meetings between the US and French envoys in Riyadh with Saudi officials to develop a joint action plan for humanitarian and food assistance to Lebanon.

The US and France are seeking to motivate the provision of aid to Lebanon to protect stability and the Lebanese Army, in light of two separate statements issued last week by the American and French embassies in Lebanon.

The diplomatic efforts have ramped up amid the acceleration of the economic collapse in Lebanon and the fear that the situation could descend into chaos.

US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken, French Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian and Saudi Foreign Minister Faisal bin Farhan discussed the crisis last month in Italy on the sidelines of the G20 summit in Matera, Italy.

Blinken tweeted: “Important discussion with my Saudi and French counterparts, @FaisalbinFarhan and @JY_LeDrian, regarding the need for Lebanon’s political leaders to show real leadership by implementing overdue reforms to stabilize the economy and provide the Lebanese people much-needed relief.”

In a statement issued after the tripartite meeting, the Saudi Embassy said that the discussions “focused on the most prominent political developments taking place in the Lebanese and regional arenas, in addition to issues of common interest.”

The US Embassy tweeted that the diplomatic consultations focused on​ “the dire economic situation in Lebanon and how to most effectively support the Lebanese people.”




Supporters of families who had relatives killed in last year’s blast at Beirut’s port, take part in a protest in support of legal action, near the blast scene on Monday. (AP)

The talks took place as the Banque du Liban (BDL) denied rumors that the central bank’s governor, Riad Salameh, had disposed of the bank’s gold.

The BDL reassured that “Lebanon’s gold is fine, untouched, and will not be touched.”

The bank added that the gold “is not subject to any pawn or pledge, as some may dream, intending to continue to drown Lebanon and harness what the country still owns for goals that harm Lebanon and do not serve its interests at all.”

The BDL stressed that it “will also maintain the mandatory reserve.”

It said “the solution to reviving the Lebanese economy is for political officials to assume their responsibilities in forming a new government that will implement the required reforms and restore confidence internally and externally.”

Lebanon is witnessing the worst economic crisis in its modern history.

The national currency lost more than 95 percent of its value against the dollar, which touched LBP 20,000.

This has resulted in the loss of purchasing power and to problems that extend to the loss of electricity, medicine, fuel and foodstuff, for which subsidies are being lifted because of the scarcity of foreign currencies.

The Health Ministry has meanwhile announced an investigation into the death of a baby girl whose family said she was unable to access proper treatment amid Lebanon’s severe medical shortages.

Juri Al-Sayed died on Sunday aged just 9-months-old in the southern town of Anout from pneumonia. It was alleged that the hospital lacked the medicines required to treat the infection. She suffered from very high temperature. Baby Juri was transferred to a hospital that lacked the requisite paediatric care.

The tragedy constituted a new source of simmering anger among the Lebanese.

On Sunday and Monday, many activists, including doctors, announced on social media their intention to emigrate “because the state is killing its own people.”

Hamad Hassan, the health minister in the caretaker government, met with a delegation from the Syndicate of Pharmaceutical Importers and owners of drugstores in Lebanon.

A member of the syndicate’s board of directors, Marwan Hakim, said: “The importers suffer from financial technical problems related to the transfers that the BDL must issue to companies abroad, as these transfers have stopped since May 7.”

Hakim said: “If the problems are not resolved, there will be no medicine left in Lebanon.”

Pharmacies returned to work on Monday after an open strike that lasted for days despite not achieving their goal of an improved availability of medicine in pharmacies.

A statement from their group said pharmacists might strike again if the health minister did not meet the commitments.

It added that the pharmacists were awaiting the minister’s “fulfillment of his pledge to issue detailed regulations for medicines based on the agreement between the ministry and the BDL.”

This agreement is expected to allow importers to release and distribute medicines to pharmacies, especially those that treat chronic diseases, inflammatory medicines and pain relievers.

 


Activist Gaza aid boat slams Israel ‘threat’

Updated 05 June 2025
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Activist Gaza aid boat slams Israel ‘threat’

ROME: International activists seeking to sail an aid boat to Gaza condemned Wednesday what they called Israel’s threats and “declared intent to attack” their vessel as it crosses the Mediterranean.
Israel’s military said Tuesday it was ready to “protect” the country’s seas, after the vessel — the Madleen, sailed by the Freedom Flotilla Coalition — left Sicily on Sunday carrying around a dozen people, including environmental activist Greta Thunberg.
“The navy operates day and night to protect Israel’s maritime space and borders at sea,” army spokesman Brig. Gen. Effie Defrin said.
Asked about the aid vessel, he said: “For this case as well, we are prepared.”
He added: “We have gained experience in recent years, and we will act accordingly.”
In a statement on Wednesday, the activist coalition said it “strongly condemns Israel’s declared intent to attack Madleen,” calling it a “threat.”
“Madleen carries humanitarian aid and international human rights defenders in direct challenge to Israel’s illegal, decades-long blockade, and ongoing genocide” in Gaza, it said.
Israel has come under increasing international criticism over the dire humanitarian situation in the Palestinian territory, where the United Nations warned in May that the entire population was at risk of famine.
The Freedom Flotilla Coalition, launched in 2010, is an international movement supporting Palestinians, combining humanitarian aid with political protest against the blockade on Gaza.
The Madleen is a small sailboat reportedly carrying fruit juices, milk, rice, tinned food and protein bars.
In early May, the Freedom Flotilla ship Conscience was damaged in international waters off Malta as it headed to Gaza, with the activists saying they suspected an Israeli drone attack.
The coalition said that on Tuesday evening, off the coast of the Greek island of Crete, the Madleen “was approached and circled by a drone, followed, several hours later by two additional drones.”
It said it was later informed these were surveillance drones operated by the Greek coast guard, EU border agency Frontex or both.
Israel recently eased a more than two-month blockade on war-ravaged Gaza, but the aid community has urged it to allow in more food, faster.
 


IAEA head in Damascus to discuss nuclear power

Updated 04 June 2025
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IAEA head in Damascus to discuss nuclear power

  • The IAEA has urged Syria repeatedly to cooperate fully with the agency in connection to a suspected nuclear reactor at the Deir Ezzor desert site

DAMASCUS: UN nuclear watchdog head Rafael Grossi said Wednesday his agency and Syrian authorities would begin “exploring the possibility of nuclear power,” on his first visit to Damascus since the ouster of Bashar Assad.
The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) has repeatedly been at loggerheads with Syria in the past over what it says are “unresolved issues” regarding suspected nuclear activities.
On his visit, the IAEA chief met with Syrian President Ahmed Al-Sharaa and Foreign Minister Asaad Al-Shaibani.
“Honoured to meet Syrian President Ahmed Al-Sharaa in Damascus. I recognize his courage in cooperating with full transparency to close a chapter of Syria’s past that diverted resources necessary for development,” Grossi said in a post on X.
He said the two sides “will also begin exploring the possibility of nuclear power in Syria.”
“Our cooperation is key to closing outstanding issues and focusing on the much needed help IAEA can provide Syria in health and agriculture,” he added.
The IAEA has urged Syria repeatedly to cooperate fully with the agency in connection to a suspected nuclear reactor at the Deir Ezzor desert site.
Israel in 2018 admitted carrying out a top-secret air raid in 2007 against what it said was a nuclear reactor under construction at the site in eastern Syria.
Syria had denied it was building a nuclear reactor.
Grossi visited Damascus in March last year, meeting then president Assad who was overthrown in December after nearly 14 years of civil war.
Grossi told an IAEA Board of Governors meeting in March this year that he had requested Syria’s cooperation to “fulfil our obligation to verify nuclear material and facilities” and to “address unresolved issues.”
“Clarifying these issues remains essential to Syria demonstrating its commitment to nuclear non-proliferation and international peace and security,” he said at the time.


Sudan’s former premier Hamdok says recent military gains won’t end the war

Updated 04 June 2025
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Sudan’s former premier Hamdok says recent military gains won’t end the war

MARRAKECH: Sudan’s former prime minister on Wednesday dismissed the military’s moves to form a new government as “fake,” saying its recent victories in recapturing the capital Khartoum and other territory will not end the country’s two-year civil war.

Abdalla Hamdok said no military victory, in Khartoum or elsewhere, could end the war that has killed tens of thousands and driven millions from their homes.

“Whether Khartoum is captured or not captured, it’s irrelevant,” Hamdok said on the sidelines of the Mo Ibrahim Foundation’s governance conference in Morocco. 

“There is no military solution to this. No side will be able to have outright victory.”

Hamdok became Sudan’s first civilian prime minister after decades of military rule in 2019, trying to lead a democratic transition. He resigned in January 2022 after a turbulent stretch in which he was ousted in a coup and briefly reinstated amid international pressure.

The following year, warring generals plunged the country into civil war. Sudan today bears the grim distinction of being home to some of the world’s worst humanitarian crises.

Fighting between the army and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces has left at least 24,000 dead, though many believe the true toll is far worse.

Both sides stand accused of war crimes. 

The RSF, with roots in Darfur’s notorious Janjaweed militia, has been accused of carrying out genocide. The army is accused of unleashing chemical weapons and targeting civilians where they live.

The war has driven about 13 million people from their homes, including 4 million who have crossed into neighboring countries. Famine is setting in and cholera is sweeping through.

The military recaptured the Khartoum area from the RSF in March, as well as some surrounding territory. Army chief Gen. Abdel-Fattah Al-Burhan has framed the advances as a major turning point in the conflict.

Last month, he appointed a new prime minister, Kamil Al-Taib Idris, for the first time since the war began, tasked with forming a new government. But the fighting has continued. 

The RSF has regrouped in its stronghold in Darfur and made advances elsewhere, including in Kordofan.

Hamdok, a 69-year-old former economist who now leads a civilian coalition from exile, called the idea that the conflict was drawing down “total nonsense.” The idea that reconstruction can begin in Khartoum while fighting rages elsewhere is “absolutely ridiculous,” he said.

“Any attempt at creating a government in Sudan today is fake. It is irrelevant,” he said, arguing that lasting peace can’t be secured without addressing the root causes of the war.

Hamdok said a ceasefire and a credible process to restore democratic, civilian rule would need to confront Sudan’s deep inequalities, including uneven development, issues among different identity groups and questions about the role of religion in government.

“Trusting the soldiers to bring democracy is a false pretense,” he added.

Though rooted in longstanding divisions, the war has been supercharged by foreign powers accused of arming both sides.

Pro-democracy groups, including Hamdok’s Somoud coalition, have condemned atrocities committed by both the army and the RSF.

“What we would like to see is anybody who is supplying arms to any side to stop,” he said.


Egypt says the sovereignty of a famous monastery is assured

Updated 04 June 2025
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Egypt says the sovereignty of a famous monastery is assured

  • Egypt’s foreign minister assured his Greek counterpart that the spiritual and religious value of Saint Catherine Monastery will be preserved

CAIRO: Egypt says the sovereignty of a famous monastery is assured.
Egypt’s foreign minister on Wednesday told his Greek counterpart that the spiritual and religious value of the Saint Catherine Monastery and surrounding archaeological sites will be preserved. That’s according to a statement.
The Greek Orthodox Church had been concerned after an administrative court said the state owns the land but affirmed the monks’ right to use the site.
The Patriarchate of Jerusalem last week expressed concern and said “it is our sacred obligation to ensure that Christian worship continues on this holy ground, as it has done for 17 centuries.” It acknowledged Egypt’s assurances there would be no infringement.
Egypt’s presidency last week said the ruling consolidates the state’s commitment to preserve the monastery’s religious status.


UN calls for probe into Libya mass graves

Updated 04 June 2025
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UN calls for probe into Libya mass graves

  • UN rights chief ‘shocked’ as dozens of bodies discovered in a section of Libyan capital run by armed militia

GENEVA: The UN human rights office called on Wednesday for an independent investigation into the discovery of mass graves at detention centers in Libya’s capital Tripoli.

It expressed concerns about the discovery of dozens of bodies, some charred and buried and others in hospital refrigerators, in an area of Libya’s capital controlled by an armed militia whose leader was killed last month.

UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Türk said he was shocked by revelations that gross rights violations were uncovered at detention facilities in Tripoli run by the Stabilization Support Authority, or SSA, an armed group whose commander, Abdel-Ghani Al-Kikli, was killed in militia fighting in mid-May.

It was established to uphold the rule of law and falls under the Presidential Council that came to power in 2021 with the Government of National Unity of Abdul Hamid Dbeibah through a UN-backed process.

The rights office said it later received information on the excavation of 10 charred bodies at the SSA headquarters in the Abu Salim neighborhood and another 67 bodies discovered in refrigerators in the Abu Salim and Al-Khadra Hospitals. 

It also cited reports of a burial site at the Tripoli Zoo that was run by the SSA.

The office said the identities of the bodies were not immediately clear. “Our worst-held fears are being confirmed: Dozens of bodies have been discovered at these sites, along with the discovery of suspected instruments of torture and abuse, and potential evidence of extrajudicial killings,” Türk said in a statement.

Türk called on authorities to seal the area to preserve evidence and said there needed to be accountability for the killings. He said the UN should be granted access to the sites to document rights violations.

Libya, a major oil producer in the Mediterranean, has known little law and order since a 2011 NATO-backed uprising that toppled dictator Muammar Qaddafi and eventually divided the country between warring eastern and western factions.

The rights body said the discovery of dozens of bodies and suspected instruments of torture and abuse confirmed longstanding findings by the UN that human rights violations were committed at such sites.

“We call on the Libyan authorities to conduct independent, impartial and transparent investigations into these discoveries,” it said in a statement. It urged the authorities to preserve evidence and grant Libya’s forensic teams, as well as the United Nations, full access to the sites.

Outright war fighting in Libya abated with a ceasefire in 2020. However, efforts to end the political crisis have failed, with major factions occasionally joining forces in armed clashes and competing for control over Libya’s substantial energy resources.

Armed clashes erupted on Monday evening and gunfire echoed in the center and other parts of Tripoli following reports that the commander of one of its most powerful armed groups had been killed, three residents said by phone.