Paris: President Emmanuel Macron’s new special envoy for Lebanon heads to Beirut in the coming week as France seeks a new push to end a political crisis that has left the country without a president for over half a year, a diplomatic source said Sunday.
Former foreign minister Jean-Yves Le Drian, appointed by Macron to the role earlier this month, is to fly to Beirut on Wednesday, the source told AFP, asking not to be named.
Another source close to the issue also said Le Drian would leave on Wednesday but it was not clear how long he would stay in Beirut or who he would meet.
His visit comes after Lebanese lawmakers last week failed for a 12th time to elect a new president, an impasse that is causing increasing exasperation in Paris as the country faces an economic and financial crisis.
France, the former colonial master, retains some sway in Lebanon but has to contend with a host of other powers, notably Saudi Arabia, which is influential among the Sunni community, and Iran which can count on the Tehran-backed Shiite movement Hezbollah.
Former president Michel Aoun’s term expired last October with no successor lined up. The bitter divisions between Hezbollah and its opponents now risk miring Lebanon in a protracted power vacuum at the worst possible time.
Macron and Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman after talks on Friday called for a “rapid end to the institutional political vacuum in Lebanon.”
The prolonged absence of a president “remains the major obstacle to resolving the country’s severe socio-economic crisis,” the French presidency said.
Macron won praise from observers for heading to Beirut in the immediate aftermath of the deadly 2020 port explosion explosion to push Lebanon’s leaders into radical reform.
But he now faces pressure to follow up on these promises. Le Drian is a political heavyweight who served as foreign minister throughout Macron’s first mandate and previously as defense minister.
Macron envoy heads to Lebanon in bid to end crisis
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Macron envoy heads to Lebanon in bid to end crisis
- Former foreign minister Jean-Yves Le Drian appointed by Macron to the role to fly to Beirut on Wednesday
- Le Drian is a political heavyweight who served as foreign minister throughout Macron’s first mandate and previously as defense minister.
Syria monitor reports 134 Alawite civilians killed by security forces
BEIRUT: Syrian security forces “executed” 134 civilians on Friday in the Mediterranean heartland of ousted president Bashar Assad’s Alawite minority, a war monitor said.
Some “134 Alawite civilians, including at least 13 women and five children, were executed by security forces in the regions of Banyas, Latakia and Jableh,” Rami Abdel Rahman, the head of the Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, told AFP, bringing the overall toll to 229 since the outbreak of violence on Thursday, when authorities began a vast security operation following clashes.
Yemen’s Houthis give Israel four-day deadline to lift Gaza aid blockage
- The Iran-aligned movement staged more than 100 attacks on shipping from November 2023
- “We will give a deadline for four days. This deadline is for the (Gaza ceasefire) mediators for their efforts,” Al-Houthi said
CAIRO: The leader of Yemen’s Houthis, Abdul Malik Al-Houthi, said on Friday the group would resume its naval operations against Israel if Israel did not lift a blockage of aid into Gaza within four days.
The Iran-aligned movement staged more than 100 attacks on shipping from November 2023, saying they were in solidarity with Palestinians over Israel’s war with Hamas in Gaza — and the assaults tailed off in January after a ceasefire there.
Over that period, it sank two vessels, seized another and killed at least four seafarers in an offensive that disrupted global shipping, forcing firms to re-route to longer and more expensive journeys around southern Africa.
“We will give a deadline for four days. This deadline is for the (Gaza ceasefire) mediators for their efforts,” Al-Houthi said.
“If the Israeli enemy after four days continues to prevent the humanitarian aid into Gaza and continues to completely close the crossings, we will resume our naval operations against the Israeli enemy.”
On March 2, Israel blocked the entry of aid trucks into Gaza as a standoff over the truce escalated, with Hamas calling on Egyptian and Qatari mediators to intervene.
The Houthis, who control most of Yemen, also said in February they will take military action if the US and Israel try to displace Palestinians from Gaza forcibly.
UN envoy ‘deeply alarmed’ by clashes, killings in Syria
- Geir Pedersen insisted there was “clearly an immediate need for restraint from all parties”
GENEVA: The UN envoy for the Syrian Arab Republic voiced alarm Friday at reports of clashes and killings in coastal areas between Syrian caretaker authority forces and elements loyal to toppled president Bashar Assad’s regime.
Decrying “very troubling reports of civilian casualties,” Geir Pedersen insisted there was “clearly an immediate need for restraint from all parties, and full respect for the protection of civilians in accordance with international law.”
UN chopper hit in South Sudan, killing one crew member and some soldiers
- The UN crew was trying to airlift soldiers following heavy clashes in Nasir
- “The attack... is utterly abhorrent and may constitute a war crime under international law,” said Haysom
NAIROBI: A United Nations helicopter attempting to evacuate South Sudanese troops came under fire in the northern town of Nasir on Friday, the UN mission there said, resulting in the death of a crew member and several soldiers including a general.
The UN crew was trying to airlift soldiers following heavy clashes in Nasir between national forces and the White Army militia, a group which President Salva Kiir’s government has linked to forces loyal to his rival and First Vice President Riek Machar.
“The attack... is utterly abhorrent and may constitute a war crime under international law,” said the head of the UN Mission in South Sudan (UNMISS), Nicholas Haysom.
“We also regret the killing of those that we were attempting to extract, particularly when assurances of safe passage had been received. UNMISS urges an investigation to determine those responsible and hold them accountable.”
Calls to the government’s spokesperson, Information Minister Michael Makuei, were not answered. But Kiir’s office said the president would make an address to the nation on Friday afternoon.
The White Army, mostly from the Nuer ethnic group, fought alongside Machar’s forces in the 2013-2018 civil war that pitted them against predominantly ethnic Dinka troops loyal to Kiir.
Machar’s spokesperson this week said security forces had arrested the petroleum minister, the peacebuilding minister, the deputy head of the army and other senior military officials allied with Machar, raising fears for the country’s fragile peace process.
The government has not commented on the detentions and Machar’s party has denied involvement in the fighting in Nasir.
French loan to help Morocco buy 18 fast trains ahead of World Cup
- The trains are part of a plan to extend the high-speed rail network
- Alstom will supply Moroccan state-owned rail operator ONCF, with Avelia Horizon double-decker trains
RABAT: France will lend Morocco 781 million euros to finance the purchase of 18 high-speed trains made by Alstom, the French embassy in Rabat said on Friday.
The trains are part of a plan to extend the high-speed rail network from Kenitra on the western coast to Marrakech before the 2030 World Cup that Morocco will co-host with Spain and Portugal.
Alstom will supply Moroccan state-owned rail operator ONCF, with Avelia Horizon double-decker trains that can carry 640 passengers with a speed of 320 km/h, the embassy said in a statement.
ONCF also aims to expand its network to double the number of cities it serves to 43, or 87 percent of the Moroccan population, by 2040.
In February, ONCF said it will also buy 150 trains under concessional loans from Spain and South Korea as it expands urban, intercity and high-speed rail networks.
South Korea’s Hyundai Rotem will supply 110 urban trains worth $1.5 billion, while Spain’s CAF will build 40 intercity trains for $813 million.
The deals include investments in the country’s nascent rail industry, ONCF said last month.
