AMMAN: Lebanon’s caretaker energy minister said on Wednesday “politics” was behind the delay of a US-backed deal to supply his country with electricity from Jordan via Syrian territory to ease crippling power shortages.
Walid Fayad told Reuters that the World Bank, which had pledged to finance the project, was “tying it to some kind of political diligence,” alluding to external considerations without getting into specifics.
Speaking on the sidelines of an energy conference in the Jordanian capital, Fayad said the World Bank was also “adding more conditions although they were clear at the start.”
Fayad said the United States had demanded to “see the financing terms from the World Bank” to ensure that the electricity deal “is not sanctionable,” even though Washington had told Beirut in January not to fear sanctions over its regional energy supply plans.
A US State Department source said that the US was requesting details of transactions, including final financing as contracts, to review for sanctions compliance as part of Washington’s OFAC (Office of Foreign Assets Control) process, which administers a number of different sanctions programs. The source said this was part of standard government procedures.
The United States enacted the Caesar Act in 2019 allowing it to freeze assets of anyone dealing with Syria, with the aim of forcing President Bashar Assad to stop his war with opposition forces and agree a political solution.
Lebanon and Jordan signed a deal in Beirut last January to ease chronic Lebanese power outages by transmitting about 400 megawatts (MW) of electricity across Syrian territory.
Fayad said the delay would worsen shortages as Lebanon enters its summer season, with higher energy demand and an influx of tourists.
The Lebanese-Jordanian agreement is part of a wider plan that also aims to pump Egyptian gas to a power station in northern Lebanon via a pipeline that runs through Jordan and Syria.
The agreement with Egypt has yet to be signed.
“There is no delay but an important milestone that we need to get through is the American approval plus the financing from the World Bank,” Egyptian Petroleum Minister Tarek El Molla told Reuters at the conference in Amman.
Lebanon has suffered power outages dating to its 1975-90 civil war, which ravaged the electricity infrastructure and left many families relying on private generators.
A World Bank spokesperson was not immediately available for comment.
Lebanese caretaker energy minister says ‘politics’ behind delay of US-backed electricity plan
https://arab.news/vk4yx
Lebanese caretaker energy minister says ‘politics’ behind delay of US-backed electricity plan
- Walid Fayad told Reuters that the World Bank, which had pledged to finance the project, was "tying it to some kind of political diligence,"
- The United States had demanded to "see the financing terms from the World Bank" to ensure that the electricity deal "is not sanctionable,"
Israel detains Al-Aqsa imam as PA warns of escalation during Ramadan
- Israeli authorities have prohibited 250 people from entering Al-Aqsa Mosque since January
- Knesset member Amit Halevi called for Jewish prayers at the site during Ramadan
LONDON: Israeli authorities detained Sheikh Mohammad Al-Abbasi, the imam of Al-Aqsa Mosque, from within the mosque’s courtyards as 222 settlers stormed the site on Monday.
The Palestinian Authority warned of an Israeli escalation at the Al-Aqsa compound in the walled city of occupied East Jerusalem, ahead of and during the fasting month of Ramadan, which starts this week.
The Jerusalem Governorate reported that Israeli authorities have prohibited 250 people from entering Al-Aqsa Mosque since January. This week, they prevented the Jerusalem Endowments Council from preparing for Ramadan by blocking the installation of umbrellas for sun and rain protection, and the setup of temporary clinics, according to Wafa news agency.
The governorate also condemned the visit of Israeli Knesset member Amit Halevi to Al-Aqsa Mosque on Sunday, accompanied by Israeli police. It said that Halevi’s incursion was part of a provocative tour with the “Temple Mount Administration,” amid rising Israeli calls to change the reality at Al-Aqsa Mosque and alter the historic status quo.
Halevi advocated continuing what he described as “Jewish prayers” at the site during the month of Ramadan, Wafa added.
The governorate also reported that Israeli forces issued a six-month ban on freed prisoner and Al-Aqsa Mosque guard Fadi Alyan from entering the mosque.
