Lebanese MPs warn Hezbollah over US sanctions

It is known that Hezbollah has long been involved in the war in Syria and maintains military bases and training centers inside Syrian territories near the border with Lebanon. (AFP)
Short Url
Updated 27 May 2020
Follow

Lebanese MPs warn Hezbollah over US sanctions

BEIRUT: Political forces in Lebanon have renewed pressure on the Iranian-backed Hezbollah to reform or face the US imposition of the Caesar Act, which could prove catastrophic for the country.

Lebanese political circles are abuzz with debate over Hezbollah’s involvement in Syria and the likelihood of the imposition of the Caesar Act, which calls for biting sanctions on the Assad regime and its supporters.

Mouaz Mustafa, who is a member of the Caesar Act team, recently said that prominent political figures in Lebanon were likely to be targeted alongside Hezbollah because the goal of the sanctions was to reach all people who had any kind of agreements with the Syrian regime.

Lebanese politicians are not taking this matter lightly as is evident from their statements calling for an end to smuggling along the Syria-Lebanon border and for Hezbollah to be disarmed.

Gebran Bassil, leader of the Free Patriotic Movement (FPM), recently blamed “de facto forces” for the illegal smuggling along the borders in an apparent dig at the powerful military outfit.

It is known that Hezbollah has long been involved in the war in Syria and maintains military bases and training centers inside Syrian territories near the border with Lebanon. Diesel and flour smuggling is carried out through illegal crossings from Lebanon to Syria.

In a strongly worded message, FPM MP Ziad Aswad said: “We cannot go on holding weapons while our people are hungry.”

Aswad warned Hezbollah that “the price of its weapons is paid by all Lebanese.”

The most obvious position on American messages reaching Lebanese parties came through the admission of Aswad that “the Americans’ decision is necessary to disarm the (Hezbollah) party, or else manage yourself, Lebanese.”

This unprecedented stance of the FPM against Hezbollah coincided with a political campaign by the Iranian-backed group’s opponents against the illegal crossings.

Lebanese security forces have stepped up measures to prevent cross-border smuggling with the Lebanese Army arresting several smugglers and closing five illegal crossings.

The forces also removed bridges in Lebanese border villages and the town of Hermel and closed dirt roads. One of these roads passes through the Orontes River Basin up to the Syrian border.

Hezbollah Secretary-General Hassan Nasrallah responded to calls to deploy the army and UN forces on the border with Syria by asserting that Lebanon “cannot control the situation alone because the borders are overlapping and the matter is complicated. The solution is a bilateral cooperation between the two governments
and armies.”

Former Minister May Chidiac said: “We have to wait to know the details of the (Caesar) Act and the regulations that will be covered by the sanctions because it is not clear yet.”

 Chidiac told Arab News that “the American officials responsible for Lebanon stress the necessity of closing the illegal crossings and combating customs smuggling.”

The aim is to dry up the channels that support Hezbollah’s statelet in Lebanon, and the American conditions can be monitored during Lebanon’s negotiations with the International Monetary Fund regarding its financial crisis.”

Chidiac added: “Lebanon is no longer a priority for the Americans. There is a shifting of cards in the region due to the sharing of Russian and Iranian influence in Syria. What is incomprehensible is Hezbollah’s refusal to deploy UNIFIL forces on the eastern border of Lebanon with Syria, even though it accepted its deployment the Resolution 1701 to reinforce the role of UNIFIL on the southern border of Lebanon.”

The former Ambassador for Lebanon to the US Dr. Riyad Tabbara said that “the US … is sending messages regarding dealings with Hezbollah.”

Tabbara told Arab News that “The Caesar Act has opened the door for US President Donald Trump to choose whoever he wanted for sanctions. The phrase ‘everyone who cooperates with Hezbollah’ is flexible and allows for the expansion of targeting and pressure.”

Tabbara said that the Americans “do not want to ruin Lebanon, but rather to pressure Hezbollah.”

He added that “the FPM’s stance indicates that the movement has received American messages, but it is trying to persuade Washington that it can play an effective role on the issue of Hezbollah.”

Regarding illegal crossings, Tabbara said that pressure from Washington on their closure is incessant and does not involve the Caesar Act: “Rather, these pressures may help influence Hezbollah.”

Former MP Faris Saeed said that the “Caesar Act will have a significant impact on Lebanon in terms of preventing the export of any commodity to the Syrian regime under the threat of prosecution and sanctions, and therefore what goes from Lebanon to Syria will be a violation of the international law. Whoever tries to persuade the Lebanese to invest in Syria is mistaken.”

 


Syrian state media: Israel attacked town near Lebanon border

Updated 3 sec ago
Follow

Syrian state media: Israel attacked town near Lebanon border

DAMASCUS: An Israeli strike hit a Syrian town near the border with Lebanon on Tuesday, Syrian state media said, less than a week after deadly strikes on the same area.
“An Israeli aggression targeted the industrial zone in Al-Qusayr” in Homs province, the official SANA news agency said. There was no immediate news of casualties or damage.

Health ministry in Hamas-run Gaza says war death toll at 43,391

Updated 13 min 48 sec ago
Follow

Health ministry in Hamas-run Gaza says war death toll at 43,391

  • The toll includes 17 deaths in the previous 24 hours

GAZA STRIP: The health ministry in Hamas-run Gaza said on Tuesday that at least 43,391 people have been killed in the year-old war between Israel and Palestinian militants.
The toll includes 17 deaths in the previous 24 hours, according to the ministry, which said 102,347 people have been wounded in the Gaza Strip since the war began when Hamas militants attacked Israel on October 7, 2023.


Greece says migrant arrivals rising in south-east islands

Updated 38 min 40 sec ago
Follow

Greece says migrant arrivals rising in south-east islands

  • At the end of October, several hundred migrants set up tents and cardboard houses outside the local government offices of the city of Rhodes, sparking anger among residents
  • Rhodes mayor Alexandros Koliadis told Rodiaki that the island lacks the personnel, police officers and coast guard needed to register the arrivals before transferring them to camps

ATHENS: Some islands in the southeast of the Aegean sea, including Rhodes, are seeing an increase in migrants arriving by boat from Turkiye, Greek migration and asylum minister Nikos Panagiotopoulos said Tuesday.
“The southeast of the Aegean and the island of Rhodes are experiencing migratory pressure right now,” he said on public television station ERT, though he said the increase does not appear to be linked to rising tensions in the Middle East.
At the end of October, several hundred migrants set up tents and cardboard houses outside the local government offices of the city of Rhodes, sparking anger among residents and local authorities.
According to local media Rodiaki, more than 700 migrants arrived during the last week of October.
Rhodes mayor Alexandros Koliadis told Rodiaki that the island lacks the personnel, police officers and coast guard needed to register the arrivals before transferring them to camps on the mainland or in other islands.
Previously, Aegean islands further north such as Lesbos and Samos had received the brunt of migrants crossing from Turkish shores.
Crete, which has likewise seen an increase in arrivals from Libya, also needs to build facilities to process migrants.
Greece has seen a 25 percent increase this year in the number of people fleeing war and poverty, with a 30 percent increase alone to Rhodes and the south-east Aegean, according to the Migration Ministry.
The UN High Commissioner for Refugees says 48,158 arrivals have been recorded so far in 2024, of which around 42,000 arrived by boat and 6,000 by crossing the land frontier with Turkiye.
“The camps on the islands have an occupancy rate of 100 percent. But on the mainland they are only 55 percent full, which provides a margin in the event of an increase in arrivals on the islands,” Panagiotopoulos said.


Sudan files AU complaint against Chad over arms: minister

Updated 51 min 17 sec ago
Follow

Sudan files AU complaint against Chad over arms: minister

  • Chad last month denied accusations that it was “amplifying the war in Sudan” by arming the RSF

PORT SUDAN: Sudan’s army-backed government on Tuesday accused neighboring Chad of supplying arms to rebel militias, likely referring to the paramilitary forces it is battling.
The northeast African country has been engulfed by war since April 2023, when fighting broke out between the regular army, led by de facto ruler Abdel Fattah Al-Burhan, and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) commanded by his former deputy Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo.
Justice minister Muawiya Osman said Burhan’s administration had lodged the complaint against Chad at the African Union.
Speaking to reporters, including AFP, Osman said the government demanded compensation and accused Chad of “supplying arms to rebel militias” and causing “harm to Sudanese citizens.”
“We will present evidence to the relevant authorities,” he added from Port Sudan, where Burhan relocated after fighting spread to the capital, Khartoum.
Chad last month denied accusations that it was “amplifying the war in Sudan” by arming the RSF.
“We do not support any of the factions that are fighting on Sudanese territory — we are in favor of peace,” foreign minister and government spokesman Abderaman Koulamallah said at the time.
The United Nations has been using the Adre border crossing between the two countries to deliver humanitarian aid.
Sudan had initially agreed to keep the crossing open for three months, a period set to expire on November 15. Authorities in Khartoum have yet to decide whether to extend the arrangement.
The Sudanese war has killed tens of thousands of people and displaced more than 11 million, including 3.1 million who are now sheltering beyond the country’s borders.


Explosion at Turkish oil refinery injures 12

Updated 05 November 2024
Follow

Explosion at Turkish oil refinery injures 12

  • The 12 employees sustained slight injuries and were taken to a hospital for examinations

ANKARA: An explosion at an oil refinery in northwestern Turkiye on Tuesday left at least 12 employees slightly injured, the company said. A fire at the facility was quickly brought under control.
The Turkish Petroleum Refineries company, TUPRAS, said a fire broke out at its facilities in Izmit, in Kocaeli province, during maintenance work on a compressor. The company’s emergency teams responded immediately to the incident, it said in a statement.
The 12 employees sustained slight injuries and were taken to a hospital for examinations, the company said.
The company said the unit where the incident occurred “was deactivated in a controlled manner” and that other operations at the refinery were “continuing as normal.”
Earlier, Tahir Buyukakin, the mayor for Kocaeli told private NTV television that the blast occurred during a drill. The fire was quickly brought under control by the company’s own crews and no request for help was made, he said.
Video footage from the site showed smoke rising from the refinery, which is one of Turkiye’s largest. Izmit is about 100 kilometers (62 miles) east of Istanbul.
The Borsa Istanbul stock exchange temporarily halted trading of TUPRAS shares, until the company provides a detailed explanation of the incident.