Why Lebanon’s Prime Minister Najib Mikati never stood a chance

Kordahi’s views came as a rude shock to Lebanon’s Gulf Arab friends.
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Updated 26 December 2021
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Why Lebanon’s Prime Minister Najib Mikati never stood a chance

  • Diplomatic crisis shows a new government or prime minister is not the solution to Lebanon’s problem
  • Mikati has failed to sack Information Minister Kordahi as a first step in mending ties with Gulf states

LONDON/BEIRUT: When Lebanese Prime Minister Najib Mikati formed a government in September, ending a 13-month-long political stalemate, a collective sigh of relief was heard across the land. But the writing was already on the wall.

It did not take long for the moment of truth to arrive. But it was not the economic meltdown, or the electricity crisis, or the Beirut blast inquiry deadlock or the unfolding humanitarian disaster in the country that laid bare the Mikati government’s impotence. It was something entirely different.

A TV star-turned-information minister was found to harbor outrageous views on an issue only peripherally related to Lebanon’s problems, but which had the potential to precipitate a serious diplomatic crisis for the country.




The people of Lebanon know only too well that the government merry-go-round hides the reality of Hezbollah’s role as the puppet master. (AFP)

In an interview that came to light recently, George Kordahi claimed that the Iran-backed Houthi militia in Yemen was defending itself and that the war in Yemen should stop.

Although the interview was recorded before he assumed his cabinet post, Kordahi’s views came as a rude shock to Lebanon’s Gulf Arab friends, who have been on the receiving end of two kinds of lethal exports originating in Lebanon.

For the past six years, there have been continual attempts to smuggle weapons from Lebanon to the Houthis, and narcotic pills, mainly Captagon, from Lebanon to Saudi Arabia and other Gulf countries.

As Waleed Bukhari, Saudi Arabia’s ambassador to Lebanon, said in a tweet earlier this year: “The quantity of drugs and psychotropics smuggled from Lebanon is enough to drown not only Saudi Arabia but also the entire Arab world.”

Against this backdrop, Lebanese leaders are naturally facing pressure to remove Kordahi from his post as a first step toward mending relations with the Gulf countries.

Lebanese officials also have been urging their American and French counterparts to mediate in the dispute sparked by Kordahi’s comments. The Foreign Ministry said on Sunday that Lebanon’s “great concern (is) to have the best relations with its Gulf and Arab brothers.”




Many Lebanese people think any other leader would have sent Kordahi packing, and accuse Mikati of failing to show strong leadership given that the minister’s views contradict Lebanon’s official position on the Yemen conflict. (AFP)

But all indications are that the situation will get worse before it gets better.

Kordahi has said that he does not intend to quit his post. In a televised speech on Sunday he stated bluntly: “Resigning from the government is not an option.”

Meanwhile, Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Kuwait and Bahrain have recalled their ambassadors from Beirut and ordered their respective Lebanese ambassadors to leave. The UAE has also banned its citizens from traveling to Lebanon.

Prince Faisal bin Farhan, the Saudi foreign minister, has made it clear that Kordahi’s statements are but a symptom of the problem affecting Lebanon: The influence of Hezbollah, which has been the de-facto ruler of Lebanon for a very long time.

Seasoned observers of Lebanese politics view Kordahi as an irrelevance at best. They point out that he has a track record of reading someone else’s script: First from a teleprompter as the host of the Arabic version of the quiz show “Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?;” now, from scripts handed to him by Hezbollah, as described by Arab News Editor in Chief Faisal J. Abbas in a recent column.

What has come as a rude awakening for Lebanon’s friends and well-wishers is not so much Kordahi’s ill-informed views about the war in Yemen, as the feeble response to them from Mikati’s government.

“Compared with the average Lebanese prime minister, Mikati is less confrontational and more consensus-driven,” Chris Abi-Nassif, the Lebanon program director at the Middle East Institute, told Arab News. “Last week’s diplomatic escalation caught him by surprise, especially given that he was banking on his relatively good ties with the Gulf to start reversing Lebanon’s downward trajectory.

“The escalation, however, shows that he clearly has very little maneuvering space and political capital today to stand up against Hezbollah or appease (let alone engage) the Gulf states, which explains the indecision in Beirut over the past few days.”




Kordahi has said that he does not intend to quit his post. (AFP)

Mikati, who is currently in Glasgow, Scotland, for COP26, the UN Climate Change Conference, was due to hold “several international and Arab meetings on Monday and Tuesday to discuss the current crisis between Lebanon and Gulf countries” on the sidelines of the event.

Precisely what conciliatory steps he is contemplating are far from clear, even though Fawzi Kabbara, Lebanon’s ambassador to Saudi Arabia, said upon his return to Beirut that “restoring Lebanese-Saudi ties would be possible if Lebanon agrees to the conditions.”

Many Lebanese people think any other leader would have sent Kordahi packing, and accuse Mikati of failing to show strong leadership given that the minister’s views contradict Lebanon’s official position on the Yemen conflict.

They add that it is obvious from the controversy that Kordahi’s protectors are Hezbollah and its ally, the Marada Movement leader Suleiman Frangieh, who have pointedly praised him and are ensuring that he remains in his job.

“Whether it’s Najib Mikati or anybody that comes to the premiership, the individual is not going to be able to turn the ship around,” Firas Maksad, a senior fellow at the Middle East Institute, told Arab News. 

If Lebanon has any hope of healing the rift with Saudi Arabia and other Gulf states, he said, the best course would be promising not to get involved in Yemen, taking action on illicit smuggling, and reining in the rhetoric.

“Its pledge not to be involved in foreign wars, including Yemen, and support for the Houthis would be a good place to start,” Maksad said.

 




George Kordahi claimed that the Iran-backed Houthi militia in Yemen was defending itself and that the war in Yemen should stop. (AFP)

“Serious, structured efforts to contain and stop the flow of drugs to the Gulf via land and other means of transport would be a gesture that would go down well, and begin to alleviate serious Saudi concerns. 

“And then trying to carefully calibrate public pronouncements directed against the Kingdom and its interests from Lebanese officials would be a third, but it would be a distant third.

“I don’t think that the problem begins, and certainly does not end, with folks that make these statements. The statement is a symptom of the illness, not the illness itself. But again, I think the prospects of any of those are limited.”

Hezbollah has not officially been accused of being behind “the flow of drugs to the Gulf” but most fingers point in its direction. According to a report by The Euro-Gulf Information Center: “The sale of drugs represents an important source of revenue for Hezbollah, made more important due to US sanctions on key party members and its main financial sponsor, Iran. The collapse of the Lebanese state has also pushed Hezbollah deeper into the illicit drug trade — there is less to steal from the national economy.”
The accusations are hardly surprising given that Lebanon has long been under Hezbollah’s thumb. The people know only too well that the government merry-go-round hides the reality of Hezbollah’s role as the puppet master. The prime minister enjoys the visible trappings of power but it is ultimately Hezbollah which calls the shots.




Hezbollah has not officially been accused of being behind the surge in drug-smuggling operations but most fingers point in its direction. (SPA)

“Mikati is not the perfect candidate for any heavy lifting in Beirut, neither when it comes to the required reforms, nor when it comes to the major political crises Lebanon is facing,” Bachar Halabi, a Lebanese political analyst, told Arab News.

“At best, Mikati is a compromise candidate who fills a gap when (former Prime Minister Saad) Hariri is out of power. He does not enjoy the wide popularity or the guts for confrontations. Hence, he is a ‘filler’ in a way. And with all those dossiers blowing up in his face, Mikati is clueless and helpless as well.”

Halabi added: “Today, Hezbollah controls the country. It controls the executive, it controls the legislature, it controls the presidency and it holds a sway over the judiciary and the media.

“With Lebanon falling almost entirely under Iran’s influence, as in the country becoming a satellite state for the regime in Tehran and the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, the particularity of Lebanon and what it represented for the Gulf countries has diminished, whether as a geopolitical asset, banking sector, the health sector or a space with plenty of margin for the press.”

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Tarek Ali Ahmad is the head of the Arab News Research & Studies Unit and a Media Editor. He has covered the October 2019 protests in Lebanon and the country’s 2018 parliamentary elections, as well as the World Economic Forum’s annual meeting in Davos in 2020. He holds an MA in Human Rights Law from SOAS, University of London, and a BA in Media and Communication from the American University of Beirut. Twitter: @Tarek_AliAhmad


US says Israel to open new Gaza crossing as aid deadline looms

Children stare at the destruction following an Israeli strike in the Nuseirat refugee camp in the central Gaza Strip on November
Updated 07 November 2024
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US says Israel to open new Gaza crossing as aid deadline looms

  • The US has given Israel until November 13 to improve the humanitarian situation in Gaza
  • Letter calls for a minimum of 350 trucks per day to be allowed into Gaza

WASHINGTON: Israel has informed the United States that it will open an additional crossing for aid into Gaza, the State Department said Thursday, as a US-imposed deadline looms next week.
Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin have given Israel until November 13 to improve the humanitarian situation in the war-besieged Gaza Strip or risk the withholding of some military assistance from the United States, Israel’s biggest supporter.
They made the demands in a letter before Tuesday’s election of President-elect Donald Trump, who has promised to give freer rein to Israel.
State Department spokesman Matthew Miller said that Israel, after recently reopening the Erez crossing, has informed the United States that they “hope to open an additional new crossing at Kissufim” in “the next few days.”
“We have continued to press them, and we have seen them, including in the past few days since the election, take additional steps,” Miller told reporters.
He stopped short of saying how the United States would assess Israel’s compliance with the aid demands.
In the letter, Blinken and Austin had urged Israel to “consistently” let aid through four major crossings and to open a fifth crossing.
Kissufim, near a kibbutz across from southern Gaza that was attacked in the October 7, 2023 Hamas assault that sparked the war, has mostly been in disuse except by the military since Israel withdrew from Gaza in 2005.
The letter called for a minimum of 350 trucks per day to be allowed into Gaza. Miller said 229 trucks entered on Tuesday.
Outgoing President Joe Biden has repeatedly pressed Israel to improve humanitarian aid and protect civilians, while mostly stopping short of using leverage such as cutting off weapons.
Miller said Blinken hoped to keep using the rest of his term to press for an end to the wars in Gaza and Lebanon.


France mulling new sanctions on Israeli settlers, minister says in West Bank

Updated 07 November 2024
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France mulling new sanctions on Israeli settlers, minister says in West Bank

  • “France has been a driving force to establish the first sanction regime at the European level,” Barrot said
  • Barrot renewed France’s commitment to a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict

RAMALLAH: France is mulling new sanctions on those enabling the expansion of Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank, regarded as illegal under international law, Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot said on a visit to the territory on Thursday.
“France has been a driving force to establish the first sanction regime at the European level targeting individuals or entities, either actors or accomplices of settlement activities,” Barrot said after talks with Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas in Ramallah.
“This regime has been activated two times already and we’re working on a third batch of sanctions targeting these activities that again are illegal with respect to international law.”
Barrot renewed France’s commitment to a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and warned settlement activities “threaten the political perspective that can ensure durable peace for Israel and Palestine.”
Before meeting Abbas, Barrot visited the adjacent town of Al-Bireh, where Israeli settlers set fire to 20 cars on Monday, damaging a nearby building.
After speaking with residents and local officials at the scene, Barrot noted that the attack took place in a part of the West Bank where the Palestinians were supposed to enjoy both civil and security control under the Oslo Accords of the 1990s.
“These attacks from extremist and violent settlers are not only completely inexcusable, not only contrary to international law, but they weaken the perspective of a two-state solution,” Barrot said.
Ramallah and Al-Bireh governor Laila Ghannam expressed outrage that settler attacks were “taking place in full view and hearing of the entire silent international community.”
“Perhaps today, with the visit of the French foreign minister, there will be a spotlight here,” she told AFP.
Speaking in Jerusalem earlier Thursday, Barrot said he saw prospects for ending Israel’s wars in Gaza and Lebanon after Donald Trump’s re-election, citing the Republican’s “wish to see the end of the Middle East’s endless wars” as well as recent “tactical successes” for Israel.


Moroccan population grows to 36.8 million in 2024

The Moroccan population grew by 2.98 million since the last census in 2014. (AFP)
Updated 07 November 2024
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Moroccan population grows to 36.8 million in 2024

RABAT: The Moroccan population grew to 36.82 million by September 2024, according to the preliminary results of a national census, the spokesman for the government said on Thursday.
Compared with the most recent census in 2014, the Moroccan population grew by 2.98 million or 8.8 percent, spokesman Mustapha Baitas told reporters.
The number of households grew to 9.27 million by September 2024, up 26.8 percent compared to 2014, while the number of foreigners living in the country increased to 148,152, up 71.8 percent, he said.


Israel escalates attacks on Lebanon as strikes hit near Beirut airport

A rescuer and a member of the Malaysian battalion of UNIFIL treat a soldier wounded in an Israeli airstrike near Sidon. (AFP)
Updated 07 November 2024
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Israel escalates attacks on Lebanon as strikes hit near Beirut airport

  • Drone strike near Sidon kills three and injures Lebanese soldiers and UN peacekeepers
  • Former Hezbollah chief Hassan Nasrallah’s uncle and family members also killed

BEIRUT: At least 10 people were killed in Lebanon on Thursday in Israeli drone attacks on roads across the south, Mount Lebanon and Bekaa.

Former Hezbollah chief Hassan Nasrallah’s uncle and his family members were also killed by strikes in southern Lebanon.

In Baalbek-Hermel, dozens of victims were laid to rest. They died trapped under the rubble of several flattened buildings, some adjacent to the Baalbek Temple.

In the afternoon, an Israeli strike targeted Tyre.

An Israeli drone hit a car on the Araya road in Mount Lebanon, killing the driver, a 30-year-old woman, making her Israel’s first female target.

Doaa Mattar’s family said that they lost contact with their daughter at the time of the raid.

A relative said that Mattar had taken her friend’s car to drive her family from Beirut to Bhamdoun.

Her body was taken to Hezbollah’s Al-Rassoul Al-Azam Hospital, while two injured passersby — a man and his grandson — were transported to the Sacre Coeur Hospital.

Hours later, another Israeli drone targeted a car on the Awali River road at the entrance to the city of Sidon, south of Beirut.

The strike killed three people inside the vehicle, injured three Lebanese soldiers at a nearby checkpoint and damaged several cars, including a passing UNIFIL convoy bus.

It resulted in five minor injuries among Malaysian UNIFIL soldiers and two civilian injuries.

Meanwhile, Beirut’s southern suburb experienced a violent night of airstrikes that continued until the early hours of Thursday morning, targeting Haret Hreik, Burj Al-Barajneh, Tahwitat Al-Ghadir and Ouzai.

One of the strikes came close to a runway at Beirut airport, causing damage to facilities.

However, airport operations continued, with Middle East Airlines switching to alternative runways for landing minutes after Israel issued evacuation warnings.

All planes heading for Beirut landed shortly before midnight ahead of the Israeli-imposed deadline.

The airstrikes on the southern suburb of Beirut caused extensive damage to residential buildings, shops, schools, social facilities and health centers.

A week of relative calm in Beirut’s southern suburb was shattered as warning sirens caused recently returned residents to flee north.

Many families were forced on to the streets, waiting in their vehicles at a safe distance from the targeted areas.

The Israeli military claimed to have conducted precision strikes against Hezbollah command centers and military infrastructure in the Lebanese capital, according to military spokesman Avichay Adraee.

Israel’s systematic destruction of southern Lebanese towns continued with renewed intensity. Israeli forces reportedly rigged and detonated entire neighborhoods in the border town of Mays Al-Jabal.

Israeli warplanes conducted strikes on the outskirts of Yahmar Al-Shaqif near the Litani River, hitting the town center and eastern areas. The predominantly Christian town of Rmeish, whose residents have steadfastly refused to leave, was also targeted.

In Jbaa, located in the Tuffah region, airstrikes caused significant damage. A separate strike on Bazouriye killed four members of Nasrallah’s extended family, including his uncle, cousins and their grandson.

Reports indicate that Israeli forces used internationally prohibited cluster bombs in their targeting of agricultural fields.

The scope of destruction has reached unprecedented levels in Nabatieh, where medical facilities, businesses, institutions, warehouses and residential buildings have been severely damaged.

Footage shared on social media revealed that entire neighborhoods had been turned into rubble.

Violent clashes erupted on Wednesday evening between Hezbollah fighters and Israeli forces near Rmeish and Yaroun, opposite the Dovev settlement.

Exchanges of fire were also reported near Aita Al-Shaab when Israeli forces attempted to advance into Lebanese territory.

The death and injury toll continues to mount, with the Bekaa region alone reporting 60 casualties, with dozens wounded.

Scenes of mass burials echoed those from Gaza. Among the dead are multiple generations of families, including the Abu Asbar family, who lost parents, children, grandchildren and in-laws during a single Israeli strike.

The attacks have also threatened Lebanon’s cultural heritage, with damage reported near the historic Baalbek Castle complex and the century-old Al-Manshieh building, known for its cultural artifacts.

The Palmyra Hotel, which has hosted decades of Baalbek festivals, also sustained damage.

Baalbek Mayor Mustafa Al-Shall said: “The enemy is targeting poor and residential neighborhoods, and it did not spare archaeological, heritage and historical sites. The number of martyrs in Baalbek is very high.”

One Israeli strike targeted soldier Raed Dandash, born in 2003, as he was driving his car in the town of Talia, in the Bekaa.

An official statement said: “Along with Raed, the strike killed his sister Nathalie and his brother Mohammed, while their mother was seriously injured.”

Airstrikes hit new areas in northern Bekaa, including the towns of Fakeha and Harfouch, killing one.

Lebanon’s officials were shocked by the attacks that targeted the vicinity of Baalbek Castle.

Culture Minister Mohammed Wissam Mortada sent an urgent appeal to UNESCO chief Audrey Azoulay through the head of Lebanon’s permanent mission to the organization, Mustafa Deeb, to “save the castle.”

Several MPs also sent a letter to Azoulay, calling on the international organization to “protect the common heritage of humanity.”

In the letter, MP Najat Saliba called for “the protection of historical sites in Lebanon, especially Baalbek, Tyre, Sidon and other valuable landmarks that are in grave danger due to the escalation of atrocities.”

She said: “These landmarks are priceless not only for our nation but for humanity. They are facing a growing danger with the escalation of the war. Their protection is a responsibility that needs to be assumed in order to preserve a part of human civilization that belongs to our common global and international heritage.”

One building destroyed by Israeli strikes bore an etching showing the year 1928. It was once frequented by French officers during France’s rule over the country.

The Israeli army announced that one of its soldiers “was killed in battles in southern Lebanon, while 60 Hezbollah members were killed during the past 24 hours.”

Hezbollah issued a statement calling on settlers in northern Israel to leave their settlements, warning that they had become become military targets.


Iran’s Pezeshkian says Tehran indifferent to US election result

Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian said Iran's priority is to develop relations with Islamic and neighboring countries. (AFP/Fi
Updated 07 November 2024
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Iran’s Pezeshkian says Tehran indifferent to US election result

  • Pezeshkian says ‘it does not matter’ to Iran who won US election
  • Iran government spokesperson plays down importance of Trump

DUBAI: Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian said the result of the US election did not matter to his country, state media reported on Thursday, amid heightened tensions with Washington over its support for Iran’s arch-enemy, Israel.
Donald Trump’s return to the White House following his election victory this week could mean tougher enforcement of US oil sanctions against Iran, which he initiated in 2018 after quitting a nuclear pact between Tehran and global powers.
The Biden administration has strongly supported Israel in its wars against the Iran-backed Hamas in Gaza and Hezbollah in Lebanon as well as Israeli actions against Iran itself.
Some analysts believe Trump will give Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu a greater free hand in dealing with Iran.
“To us it does not matter at all who has won the American election, because our country and system relies on its inner strength and a great and honorable nation,” Pezeshkian said late on Wednesday, quoted by the state news agency IRNA.
It was his first comment on Trump’s election victory.
“We will not be close-minded in developing our relations with other countries (while) we have made it our priority to develop relations with Islamic and neighboring countries,” Pezeshkian said.
It was not immediately clear if Pezeshkian was also referring to the United States, with which Iran does not have diplomatic relations. Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who has the final say in all matters of state, has banned holding any direct talks with the United States.
An Iranian government spokesperson earlier played down the importance of the US election, while a Revolutionary Guards commander voiced readiness for confrontation.
The Iranian leaders’ main concern is the potential for Trump to empower Netanyahu to strike Iran’s nuclear sites, conduct assassinations and reimpose his “maximum pressure” policy through heightened sanctions on the country’s oil industry.
Some, however, suspect Trump will be cautious about the possibility of war.
In 2018, the then-Trump administration exited Iran’s 2015 nuclear pact with six world powers and reimposed harsh sanctions on Iran, prompting Tehran to violate the pact’s nuclear limits.
International sanctions over Tehran’s nuclear program forced Tehran to reach the 2015 pact under which Iran agreed to curb its nuclear program in exchange for lifting the punitive measures.
Trump’s tough stance could force Ayatollah Khamenei to approve talks “whether direct or indirect” with the United States, two Iranian officials have told Reuters.
In September, Pezeshkian said Tehran was ready to end its nuclear standoff with the West, which accuses it of seeking capacity to develop nuclear weapons. Iran says its nuclear program is for peaceful purposes only.