New chaos in Lebanon as bank chief snubs probe

Lebanon's Central Bank Governor Riad Salameh speaks during an interview for Reuters Next conference, in Beirut (REUTERS)
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Updated 15 March 2023
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New chaos in Lebanon as bank chief snubs probe

  • Salameh refuses to answer investigators

BEIRUT: Chaos in Lebanon worsened on Wednesday when central bank governor Riad Salameh boycotted a hearing at which he was to be questioned by European investigators on accusations of embezzling public money.

Instead he sent his lawyer, Hafez Zakhour, who said Salameh would not be appearing because the European interrogation session was “a violation of Lebanese sovereignty.”

Salameh, 72, who has run the central bank for six terms spanning 30 years, is being investigated in Lebanon and at least five European countries over accusations of stealing $330 million. He denies the accusations and says he is being made a scapegoat for Lebanon’s economic meltdown.
Since October 2019, Lebanon has been facing the worst economic and financial crisis in its modern history due to decades of corruption and mismanagement by the ruling political class.

Critics accuse the central bank of providing cover for corrupt individuals and some banks through financial engineering operations, forcing over half the population into poverty.

French and German investigators flew to Beirut this week, and submitted questions to be put to Salameh by presiding judge Charbel Bou Samra on Wednesday. After the European delegation waited for about two hours, the interrogation session was adjourned.

Bou Samra set a new date for Salameh’s hearing on Thursday, after ruling that the European delegation’s investigation did not contradict Lebanese law. Zakhour confirmed that his client would attend the new hearing.Under Lebanese law, the European delegation cannot question Salameh directly, but only through a Lebanese judge and mediator.

Separately, the Lebanese state, represented by Judge Helena Iskandar, filed new charges on Wednesday against Salameh, his brother Raja and his adviser Marianne Hoayek. All were accused of bribery, forgery, use of counterfeiters, money laundering, illicit enrichment and tax evasion.

Iskandar demanded the arrest of the Salameh brothers and Hoayek, the seizure of their properties, and for their bank accounts, and those of their spouses and children in Lebanon and abroad, to be frozen.

A judicial source said: “Judge Iskandar’s procedures aim to preserve the right of the Lebanese state in a local investigation.”


Israeli military says it acted against targets in Syria

Updated 21 sec ago
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Israeli military says it acted against targets in Syria

The Israeli military rarely comments on allegations that it acts in Syria

JERUSALEM: The Israeli military said Friday that over the source of the week it had acted in Syria against targets, just days after Syrian state media reported Israeli airstrikes killed 16 people in western Syria and wounded dozens more.
“In southern Syria, the IDF targeted several terrorists who were advancing terror activities against Israel,” a statement from the military said Friday but did not give further detail.
The Israeli military rarely comments on allegations that it acts in Syria and declined to comment on a New York Times report that Israeli special forces raided a weapons manufacturing site near the Syria-Lebanon border on Sunday.
On Sunday, Syrian state news agency SANA reported that Israel launched the strikes on “a number of military sites in the central region,” without elaborating on what was struck.

Jordan’s Safadi and EU’s Borrell meet in Madrid to discuss Palestinian statehood

Updated 13 September 2024
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Jordan’s Safadi and EU’s Borrell meet in Madrid to discuss Palestinian statehood

  • Two officials discussed escalation of violence in the West Bank and efforts to halt Israeli aggression in Gaza Strip

LONDON: Jordanian Foreign Affairs Minister Ayman Safadi met in Madrid on Friday with the EU’s foreign affairs and security chief Josep Borrell.

The two men discussed an escalation of violence in the West Bank and efforts to halt Israeli aggression in the Gaza Strip, the Jordan News Agency reported.

Safadi and Borrell also spoke about wider regional developments and the development of relations between Jordan and the EU.

They met on the sidelines of a high-level meeting involving several Muslim and European countries which looked at ways to end the Israel-Hamas conflict and called for a clear schedule for the implementation of a two-state solution.

Safadi and Borrell reaffirmed their ongoing coordination and collaboration which is focused on reducing escalation in the West Bank, achieving an immediate and complete truce in Gaza, safeguarding civilians, and ensuring sufficient and sustainable humanitarian supplies reach all areas of the Strip.

Safadi warned of dire repercussions if Israel persisted in its actions in the West Bank and violation of Islamic and Christian sanctities in Jerusalem.


Deadly floods bring relief to Moroccan farmers

Updated 13 September 2024
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Deadly floods bring relief to Moroccan farmers

  • The torrential rains at the weekend triggered floods that killed at least 18 people in areas of southern Morocco that straddle the Sahara desert

RABAT: When powerful thunderstorms hit Morocco’s arid south, they brought deadly floods but also provided some relief to farmers as the country grapples with its worst drought in nearly 40 years.
The torrential rains at the weekend triggered floods that killed at least 18 people in areas of southern Morocco that straddle the Sahara desert.
While the rain was devastating in part, it also brought some relief to farmers growing crops like almonds, dates and cereals.
“These rains will bring a breath of fresh air” to the south, said agronomist Mohamed Taher Srairi.
“But it has not rained elsewhere, and the country remains under a heavy structural drought.”
The unusual rainfall resulted from a tropical air mass shifting northward, according to Lhoussaine Youabd, spokesman for Morocco’s General Directorate of Meteorology.
Experts say climate change is making extreme weather, such as storms and droughts, more frequent and intense.
Morocco is one of the world’s most water-stressed nations, with frequent droughts affecting a third of the population employed in agriculture.
Near areas of the northwest African country lashed by the weekend’s rain, water levels in dams have risen and groundwater is expected to replenish.
The four Draa Oued Noun dams, which supply areas impacted by the floods in the Ouarzazate region, saw water levels increase by 19 percent to 191 million cubic meters, according to Youssef Ben Hamou, director of the agency managing the barrages.
The region of Ouarzazate, located in Morocco’s south, sits between the Atlantic Ocean, the Atlas Mountains and the Sahara.
Water levels of the large Ouarzazate dam climbed to 69 million cubic meters, roughly 70 percent of its capacity, while levels at the Fask dam rose by 10 million cubic meters in just 24 hours.
“The rains have proved to be a boon for the region, because these reserves will be able to ensure drinking water supply which remains a priority,” said Ben Hamou.
Mohamed Jalil, a water resources consultant, said the downpours would help to replenish soil saturation levels, although that usually requires rainfall over time after a long drought.
“This will bring respite to the oases, particularly for agriculture,” he said.
The psychological impact of the long-awaited rains was also significant, he said, especially after a harsh, dry summer.
The massive rainfall had “brought hope” to the drought-hit area, he said.
The Moroccan government has pledged financial aid to the flooded areas.
During a visit to Ouarzazate this week, Agriculture Minister Mohammed Sadiki announced the allocation of $4.1 million to repair damaged infrastructure, support agriculture and help those affected by the floods.
Although no further downpours are expected in the immediate future, climatologists warn that Morocco must better prepare for weather disasters driven by global warming.
Moroccans should be ready “for new phenomena whose frequency and violence are unknown, given the effects of climate change,” said Mohamed Said Karrouk, a climatology professor at Hassan II University in Casablanca.


Iran upping repression of women 2 years after Mahsa Amini’s death: UN experts

Updated 13 September 2024
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Iran upping repression of women 2 years after Mahsa Amini’s death: UN experts

  • Iranian Kurdish Mahsa Amini died while in custody, sparking nationwide protests
  • UN experts say repression had stepped up noticeably since April in fresh update

Geneva: UN experts accused Iran Friday of “intensifying” its repression of women two years after Mahsa Amini’s death in custody, which sparked nationwide protests, including an apparent pattern of sentencing women activists to death.
Amini, 22, was an Iranian Kurdish woman who died three days after her arrest in Tehran in September 2022 for allegedly breaching Iran’s dress code which requires women to wear a headscarf.
Two years on, “Iran has intensified its efforts to suppress the fundamental rights of women and girls and crush remaining initiatives of women’s activism,” the independent UN fact-finding mission on Iran warned in a statement.
The UN Human Rights Council appointed the experts to investigate the deadly crackdown on nationwide protests that rocked Iran after Amini’s death.
“Although mass protests have subsided, the unabated defiance of women and girls is a continuous reminder that they still live in a system that relegates them to ‘second class citizens’,” said the experts, who do not speak on behalf of the United Nations.
In a fresh update, they said repression had stepped up noticeably since April.
State authorities had “increased repressive measures and policies” through the so-called “Noor Plan,” which encourages sanctioning rights violations against women and girls who flout the mandatory hijab, they said.
“Security forces have further escalated pre-existing patterns of physical violence, including beating, kicking, and slapping women and girls who are perceived as failing to comply with the mandatory hijab laws and regulations,” the team said in a statement.
They also warned that state authorities had enhanced surveillance for hijab compliance, including in private spheres like vehicles, and with a range of tools, including drones.
At the same time, a new “Hijab and Chastity” bill, which is in the final stages of approval, provides for harsher penalties for women who do not wear the mandatory hijab — including soaring fines, long prison sentences and travel bans.
In their statement, the experts expressed particular concern about “an apparent new pattern of sentencing to death of women activists... following their convictions for national security offenses.”
“Over the last two years, the death penalty and other domestic criminal law provisions, in particular those related to national security, have been used as instruments to terrorize and deter Iranians from protesting and expressing themselves freely,” they said.


Tunisians set to protest against authoritarianism ahead of upcoming presidential election

Updated 13 September 2024
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Tunisians set to protest against authoritarianism ahead of upcoming presidential election

  • Newly-formed ‘Tunisian Network for the Defense of Rights and Freedoms’ hopes to draw attention to what it has called a surge in authoritarianism

TUNIS: Tunisians are expected to take to the streets on Friday to denounce the tumult that’s plagued the country’s upcoming election, with candidates arrested, kicked off the ballot or banned from politics for life.
The newly-formed “Tunisian Network for the Defense of Rights and Freedoms” hopes to draw attention to what it has called a surge in authoritarianism.
“Protesting this Friday is a reaction to the violation of rights and freedoms we’re seeing in Tunisia today. The other reason is seeing some citizens being deprived of their right to run in the presidential vote,” said Mohieddine Lagha, Secretary-General of the Tunisian League for Human Rights.
The North African country’s Independent High Authority for Elections has sparred with judges over which candidates will be allowed to appear on the ballot in the October 6 election.
The commission’s detractors have accused it of lacking independence and acting on behalf of President Kais Saied, who appoints its members.
The commission has rejected organizations that have applied to be election observers, and it has said it will not add three candidates to the ballot who won court appeals challenging the authority’s earlier rejections.
That includes former health minister Abdellatif Mekki, a former member of the Islamist movement Ennahda now running with his own party, Work and Accomplishment. Mekki was arrested in July on charges his attorneys said were political and banned from politics for life.
A court ordered the election authority to put him on the ballot last month, and his candidacy was reinstated for a second time earlier this week. ISIE dismissed the first court’s ruling and has not commented on the most recent one.
“We called for a large participation of the population in this protest as we’re hoping to pressure for a massive mobilization,” Ahmed Neffati, Mekki’s campaign manager, said.
“Tunisians won’t let go of their right for a free and democratic election,” he added.
Despite expectations of a barely-contested vote, Saied has upended Tunisian politics in recent months. Last month he sacked the majority of his cabinet, and his critics decried a wave of arrests and gag orders on leading opposition figures as politically driven.
The International Crisis Group last week said Tunisia was in a “deteriorating situation,” and Human Rights Watch called on the election commission to reinstate the candidates.
“Holding elections amid such repression makes a mockery of Tunisians’ right to participate in free and fair elections,” said Bassam Khawaja, the group’s deputy Middle East and North Africa director.