Lebanon’s new government lifts petrol price, signs audit deal

Lebanese riot police stand guard in front the central bank building, where anti-government demonstrators protest against the Lebanese central bank's governor Riad Salameh and the deepening financial crisis, in Beirut. (AP)
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Updated 17 September 2021
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Lebanon’s new government lifts petrol price, signs audit deal

  • The audit is a key requirement for Lebanon to secure foreign aid
  • Fuel prices issued on Friday raised the gasoline price by more than 37 percent

BEIRUT: Lebanon’s new government raised gasoline prices on Friday, cutting a subsidy that Prime Minister Najib Mikati termed unaffordable as he advances plans to address a devastating financial crisis.

The government also signed a new contract with restructuring consultancy Alvarez & Marsal to carry out a forensic audit of the central bank.

Fuel prices issued on Friday raised the gasoline price by more than 37 percent with immediate effect.

The price of a 20-liter canister of unleaded 98-octane gasoline now ranges between 174,000 and 180,000 Lebanese pounds ($13). On the black market, 20 liters are sold for 600,000 Lebanese pounds.

The Ministry of Energy issued on Friday a price list for liquid fuels based on the exchange rate of the central bank’s Sayrafa platform.

This means that Lebanon has entered the last stage before lifting subsidies on gasoline after the subsidy on diesel was completely lifted.

The exchange rate on Sayrafa is 12,000 Lebanese pounds to the dollar, while the black market rate dropped to 13,000 Lebanese pounds to the dollar on Friday morning. It began picking up again in the afternoon, reaching 14,200 Lebanese pounds to the dollar.

Queues at gas stations were especially long over the past 24 hours, with the postponement of the pricing process delaying the opening of hundreds of gas stations.

“The liberalization of gasoline imports means that the process has become purely technical; companies import and secure goods for the country as they did many years ago. The central bank no longer has anything to do with the issue of securing dollars,” said Georges Fayyad, who heads the Association of Petroleum Importing Companies in Lebanon.

This measure came the day after the first shipment of Iraqi fuel arrived in Lebanon. The 32,000 ton-shipment is being unloaded in the tanks of Electricité du Liban, and the second shipment of grade B fuel will arrive next week.

A source in the EDL said: “The EDL is expected to be able to increase the power supply by about four hours,” bearing in mind that households only get one or two hours of EDL power a day.

Owners of private generators practice harsh rationing on subscribers due to the scarcity of diesel. Bills have doubled: Five amps per month costs over 1.5 million Lebanese pounds, more than double the minimum wage.

Eighty Syrian tankers loaded with Iranian diesel entered Lebanon through Hezbollah’s illegal crossings with Syria this week, evading state control and violating state sovereignty.

Druze leader of the Progressive Socialist Party, Walid Jumblatt, sarcastically tweeted: “We no longer know where the convoys of diesel, gasoline and oil come from. We now have so many enthusiasts that we may become an oil-exporting country without demarcation of borders or exploration.”

George Brax, a member of the gas station owners’ syndicate, said: “The Iraqi fuel will contribute to reducing the demand for diesel to generate electricity, and lifting the subsidy will reduce demand on the black market. As for Iranian diesel, it contributes to alleviating the crisis, but it is only temporary since Hezbollah cannot continue importing fuel into Lebanon.”

The government signed a new contract with A&M to carry out a forensic audit of the central bank, a step sought by donors who want to see Beirut enact reforms to unlock badly needed aid.

Finance Minister Youssef Khalil, formerly a senior central bank official, signed the contract with A&M, which the ministry said would present an initial report within 12 weeks of its team starting work.

A&M withdrew from the audit last November, saying it had not received the information it required. The Finance Ministry said in April the central bank had agreed to hand over required documents.

Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri announced that a public session would be held on Sept. 20 to discuss the ministerial statement of Najib Mikati’s government and pass a vote of confidence.

In a statement, Mikati’s government stressed that it is “committed to resuming talks with the International Monetary Fund based on priorities and what the national interest requires.”

It also noted that it wants to implement “reforms in the banking sector and restructure it as necessary.”

The IMF talks were stalled last year when politicians and bankers questioned the extent of financial losses identified in the financial recovery plan put in place by the government at the time.

The EU is threatening Mikati’s government with sanctions until it fulfills the promises made to implement the reforms required by the IMF and the international community.


Turkiye’s foreign minister visits Athens to help mend ties between the regional rivals

Updated 7 sec ago
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Turkiye’s foreign minister visits Athens to help mend ties between the regional rivals

ATHENS, Greece: Turkiye’s Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan arrived Friday in Athens for meetings with his Greek counterpart as part of efforts to ease tension between the two neighbors and regional rivals.
Both NATO members, Greece and Turkiye have been at loggerheads for decades over a long series of issues, including volatile maritime boundary disputes that have twice led them to the brink of war. The two have renewed a diplomatic push for over a year to improve ties.
“Step by step, we have achieved a level of trust so that we can discuss issues with sincerity and prevent crises,” Greek Foreign Minister George Gerapetritis said in an interview with Turkiye’s Hurriyet newspaper published Thursday.
The meeting between the two foreign ministers follows a series of high-profile talks between Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan as part of a relation-mending initiative launched in 2023.
Officials in Athens are expected to raise concerns about rising illegal migration, as Greece has seen an uptick in arrivals. And, despite deep disagreements on Israel and fighting in the Middle East, both foreign ministers are also expected to explore ways to improve regional stability.
The talks will help set the stage for a Greece-Turkiye high-level cooperation council planned for early 2025 in Ankara, Turkiye.

Turkiye’s Erdogan hopes Trump will tell Israel to “stop,” NTV reports

Updated 9 min 57 sec ago
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Turkiye’s Erdogan hopes Trump will tell Israel to “stop,” NTV reports

ANKARA: Turkiye’s President Tayyip Erdogan said that he hoped US President-elect Donald Trump will tell Israel to “stop” the attacks and halting arms support to Israel could be a good start, broadcaster NTV reported on Friday.
Trump’s presidency will seriously affect political and military balances in the Middle East region, Erdogan was quoted as telling reporters on his flight back to Turkiye from Budapest, where he attended a European Political Community summit. 


Nearly 70% of Gaza war dead women and children, UN rights office says

Updated 15 min 55 sec ago
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Nearly 70% of Gaza war dead women and children, UN rights office says

  • UN Human Rights Office: Systematic violation of the fundamental principles of international humanitarian law
  • The youngest victim whose death was verified by UN monitors was a one-day-old boy, and the oldest was a 97-year-old woman

GENEVA: The UN Human Rights Office said on Friday nearly 70 percent of the fatalities it has verified in the Gaza war were women and children, and condemned what it called a systematic violation of the fundamental principles of international humanitarian law.
The UN count covers the first seven months of the Israel-Hamas conflict in the Gaza Strip that began more than a year ago.
The 8,119 victims verified by the UN Rights Office in that seven-month period is considerably lower than the toll of over 43,000 provided by Palestinian health authorities for the full 13 months of conflict.
But the UN breakdown of the victims’ age and gender backs the Palestinian assertion that women and children represent a large portion of those killed in the war.
This finding indicates “a systematic violation of the fundamental principles of international humanitarian law, including distinction and proportionality,” the UN rights office said in a statement accompanying the 32-page report.
“It is essential that there is due reckoning with respect to the allegations of serious violations of international law through credible and impartial judicial bodies and that, in the meantime, all relevant information and evidence are collected and preserved,” United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Turk said.
Israel did not immediately comment on the report’s findings.
Israel’s military, which began its offensive in response to the Oct. 7, 2023 attack in which Hamas fighters killed about 1,200 people in southern Israel and seized more than 250 hostages, says it takes care to avoid harming civilians in Gaza.
It has said approximately one civilian has been killed for every fighter, a ratio it blames on Hamas, saying the Palestinian militant group uses civilian facilities. Hamas has denied using civilians and civilian infrastructure, including hospitals, as human shields.
YOUNGEST VICTIM AGED ONE DAY
The youngest victim whose death was verified by UN monitors was a one-day-old boy, and the oldest was a 97-year-old woman, the report said.
Overall, children represented 44 percent of the victims, with children aged five-nine representing the single biggest age category, followed by those aged 10-14, and then those aged up to and including four.
This broadly reflects the enclave’s demographics, which the report said reflected an apparent failure to take precautions to avoid civilian losses.
It showed that in 88 percent of cases, five or more people were killed in the same attack, pointing to the Israeli military’s use of weapons with an effect across a wide area, although it said some fatalities may have been the result of errant projectiles from Palestinian armed groups.


Khamenei aide warns against impulsive Iran response to Israel attack

Updated 54 min 27 sec ago
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Khamenei aide warns against impulsive Iran response to Israel attack

  • Israel is engaged in conflicts with the Iran-backed Hamas in the Gaza Strip and Hezbollah in Lebanon
  • Israeli warplanes struck military sites in Iran on October 26 in retaliation for a large Iranian missile attack

TEHRAN: An adviser to Iran’s supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has warned against launching an “instinctive” response to Israeli air strikes on the Islamic republic last month.
Israel, Iran’s sworn enemy, is engaged in conflicts with the Iran-backed Hamas in the Gaza Strip and Hezbollah in Lebanon.
Israeli warplanes struck military sites in Iran on October 26 in retaliation for a large Iranian missile attack on Israel at the start of the month.
“Israel aims to bring the conflict to Iran. We must act wisely to avoid its trap and not react instinctively,” the adviser, Ali Larijani, told state television late Thursday.
Iran said it fired 200 missiles at Israel on October 1 in response to the killing of Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah in a strike on Beirut and Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh while he was in Tehran.
After Israel hit back, it warned Iran against any counterattack, but the Islamic republic has vowed to respond.
“Our actions and reactions are strategically defined, so we must avoid instinctive or emotional responses and remain entirely rational,” Larijani added.
The former parliament speaker also praised Nasrallah for accepting a ceasefire during the 2006 Israel-Hezbollah war rather than making an “emotional decision.”
On Sunday, Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian said a potential ceasefire between Tehran’s allies and Israel could affect Iran’s response to the Israeli strikes.


Hezbollah claims second attack on Israel naval base in 24 hours

Updated 08 November 2024
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Hezbollah claims second attack on Israel naval base in 24 hours

  • The group had on Thursday claimed another attack on the same area
  • Israel has been at war with Lebanon’s Hezbollah since late September

BEIRUT: Hezbollah said it targeted a naval base near the Israeli city of Haifa with missiles Friday, the second such attack in less than 24 hours.
The Iran-backed Lebanese group said it targeted the “Stella Maris” naval base northwest of Haifa with a missile barrage, “in response to the attacks and massacres committed by the Israeli enemy.”
The group had on Thursday claimed another attack on the same area.
In a separate statement, the group claimed that it had also targeted the Ramat David air base, southeast of Haifa, with missiles.
Israel has been at war with Lebanon’s Hezbollah since late September when it broadened its focus from fighting Hamas in the Gaza Strip to securing its northern border.
It escalated its air campaign and later sent in ground forces into the country’s south.
This came after a year of cross-border exchanges with Hezbollah, which has said it was acting in support of Hamas Palestinian militants fighting Israel in Gaza.
The war has killed more than 2,600 people in Lebanon since September 23, according to the Lebanese health ministry.