PARIS: International donors pledged $11 billion in loans and grants Friday to help debt-ridden Lebanon at a conference in Paris that also sought to ensure the money is well spent in a country hit hard by the Syrian war next door.
French President Emmanuel Macron praised the international community’s “unprecedented mobilization” for Lebanon as crucial for building the conditions for a sustainable peace in the Middle East.
“At a time when the Levant probably lives one of the worst moments of its history ... it’s more important than ever to preserve the most precious asset: A peaceful, diverse and harmonious Lebanon,” Macron said.
In total, donors committed $10.2 billion in loans and $860 million in gifts, France’s ambassador to Lebanon Bruno Foucher said on Twitter.
Lebanese Prime Minister Saad Hariri outlined his country’s grim situation, saying his nation’s stability is at stake.
“It is not the stability of Lebanon alone. This is the stability of the region and, therefore, of our world,” Hariri said, warning that a collapse in Lebanon could ricochet throughout the Middle East and Europe.
Fears of economic collapse in Lebanon are mounting ahead of next month’s parliamentary election, the first in nine years.
French Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian announced that France would provide 400 million euros ($489.3 million) in loans below market rates and would gift Lebanon another 150 million euros ($183.5 million).
“In a Middle East shaken by crises, wounded by civil wars, Lebanon remains a model of pluralism, tolerance and openness which we need,” he said.
“But Lebanon is not an island. It’s borne the full force of regional tensions and the Syria crisis,” he said, adding that it was also grappling with the threat of terrorism.
The meeting was not a classic donors’ conference, but meant to seek an investment plan around infrastructure, water and energy, delineate structural reforms, and mobilize the private sector, French officials have said.
Hariri, pointing out the impact of seven years of war in Syria, said that growth in Lebanon has dived from 8 percent to barely 1 percent.
Syria’s war has hindered land exports to Jordan, Iraq and Gulf Arab countries. Lebanon is also hosting 1.2 million refugees — accounting for nearly a quarter of the country’s population.
Rampant corruption by the country’s political class has taken another kind of toll, hollowing out infrastructure and basic services, with frequent water and electricity cutoffs.
Last week, Lebanon’s Parliament approved a budget — its second since 2005 — with a fiscal deficit of $4.8 billion. The national debt at the end of 2017 stood at $80 billion, or more than 150 percent of gross domestic product.
France has deep ties with Lebanon, a former protectorate.
Another conference on April 25 in Brussels will aim to help Lebanon better cope with Syrian refugees.
Some 40 countries sent representatives to the meeting.
The World Bank said it would “mobilize more than $4 billion over the next five years,” its chief executive Kristalina Georgieva announced on Twitter.
“Lebanon cannot succeed alone,” Hariri appealed, adding: “It’s not just a matter of Lebanon’s security, it’s about the security of the region and the whole world.”
The EU rowed in with a promise of 150 million euros, the Netherlands offered 300 million euros and Italy pledged 120 million euros, France’s ambassador to Lebanon Bruno Foucher said.
France, which held mandate power over Lebanon for the first half of the 20th century, has been leading efforts to try stabilize the country.
The conference comes as Lebanon gears up for its first general elections in almost a decade in May with economic dark clouds gathering.
The government projects a deficit of $4.8 billion for 2018 — more than double the deficit in 2011, when Syria’s war started.
Economists say the state urgently needs to reduce its spending to avert a serious crisis. But public services such as water supplies, electricity and waste management have suffered huge underinvestment, compounding problems that date back decades.
Paris conference raises over $11bn in pledges for Lebanon
Paris conference raises over $11bn in pledges for Lebanon
- Growth in Lebanon has dived from 8 percent to barely 1 percent.
- Lebanese Prime Minister Saad Hariri says his nation’s stability is at stake
Kuwait airport targeted as Iran presses on with attacks on Gulf states
KUWAIT CITY/DUBAI: Gulf nations on Sunday reported new missile and drone attacks, while Iran vowed to press on with strikes against neighboring countries as the war entered its second week.
Kuwait’s defense ministry and Kuwait's Public Authority for Civil Aviation said that the country’s forces were “responding to a wave of hostile drones” that penetrated the country’s airspace.
“The fuel tanks of Kuwait International Airport were attacked by drones in a direct targeting of vital infrastructure,” the defense ministry spokesman said, according to a post by the Kuwaiti military on X.
Saudi Arabia's Ministry of Defense was also reporting a wave of drone attacks, saying 21 unmanned aerial vehicles were intercepted and destroyed in the last four hours.
Major General Turki Al-Maliki, spokesman for the Defense Ministry, said in separate posts on X that 13 drones were intercepted and destroyed east of the national capital, Riyadh city, while eight drones were shot down just after entering Saudi air space.
Before midnight on Saturday, loud explosions were heard in Dubai, the Qatari capital Doha and Bahrain’s Manama, with attacks reported in the UAE, Saudi Arabia, Qatar and Kuwait, where the national oil company announced a “precautionary” cut to production.
The attacks came despite Iran’s president earlier apologizing to Gulf countries for earlier strikes. He had said they would no longer be targeted unless strikes were launched from their territory first.
Hours later, Iran said it would continue conducting strikes on sites in Gulf countries which were “at the disposal of the enemy.”
UAE President Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan said in a rare televised address that the Emirates were in “a period of war” and “will emerge stronger” from it.
Dubai authorities said Saturday evening one person had been killed by debris from an “aerial interception,” adding they were a Pakistani national.
Dubai airport closed, reopens
Earlier in the day, Dubai closed its main airport — the world’s busiest for international traffic — after authorities said an unidentified object was intercepted nearby.
The government said there had been “a minor incident resulting from the fall of debris after an interception,” without directly mentioning the airport. It said there were no injuries.
The Flightradar24 tracking website earlier showed planes circling above the airport in an apparent holding pattern.
In a statement since deleted from X, Emirates, the largest airline in the Middle East, had announced it was suspending all flights to and from Dubai until further notice, but later said it had resumed operations.
The UAE, a US ally and home to American military installations, has been the most heavily targeted nation in the Gulf during the war.
Earlier in the day, the Ministry of Defense said that of the 16 ballistic missiles fired at the country on Saturday, all but one had been intercepted, with that missile falling into the sea.
Of the 121 drones detected, 119 were brought down, while two fell within Emirati territory.
The barrage brings the number of ballistic missiles detected by the UAE since the start of the war last Saturday to 221, the defense ministry said, with the number of drones surpassing 1,300.
Flights from Dubai’s main airport had partially resumed on Monday despite daily drone attacks targeting sites in the UAE.
Last Saturday, four employees were injured and an airport terminal damaged as the war broke out following US-Israeli strikes on Iran.
Iranian attacks have also hit Abu Dhabi airport, the upmarket Palm Jumeirah development and the Burj Al Arab luxury hotel over the past week, while drone debris caused a fire at the US consulate in Dubai on Tuesday.
Relentless air threats
Elsewhere in the Gulf on Saturday, Qatar’s defense ministry said its military had intercepted two missile attacks targeting the country.
Kuwait said Saturday night it had intercepted seven drones since dawn, with the attacks resulting “only in material damage from falling debris.”
And Bahrain said it has intercepted and 92 missiles and 151 drones since the start of the “brutal Iranian aggression.”
AFP journalists heard an explosion Saturday night in Manama, Bahrain’s capital, as authorities said one person was injured after rocket shrapnel fell in a public street.
In Saudi Arabia, the defense ministry said it had destroyed three ballistic missiles heading toward Prince Sultan Air Base, which hosts American troops, as well as 17 drones over the Shaybah oil field in the southeast.
Kuwait also reported intercepting a drone, while the country’s national oil company announced a “precautionary” cut to its production of crude due to Iranian attacks and threats to the Strait of Hormuz, a key transit point for Gulf hydrocarbons.
Further north, Jordan accused Iran of directly targeting sites in the kingdom, saying Tehran had fired 119 missiles and drones in the past week.
“These missiles and drones were targeting vital installations inside Jordan and were not passing through our territories,” said military spokesman Brig. Gen. Mustafa Hayari.
(With AFP)
