BEIRUT: Lebanese lawmakers on Friday extended the army chief’s mandate, averting a military power vacuum as the country faces spillover of the Israel-Hamas war without a president or a fully functioning government.
Parliament approved delaying the retirement of senior officers at the head of the military and security services for one year, Lebanon’s official National News Agency said.
Army chief Joseph Aoun was set to retire on January 10, 2024, while the second most senior military position is already vacant.
Lebanon has been without a president for more than a year and its government is operating in a caretaker capacity as political deadlock paralyzes decision-making.
No group in parliament holds an outright majority that would allow the election of a new head of state.
Around 80,000 Lebanese serve in the army, which is seen as a key pillar of the country’s stability.
The force is also deployed in the country’s south, which has seen deadly exchanges of fire, mainly between the Israeli army and the Iran-backed Hezbollah movement, since the Israel-Hamas war began in October.
Lebanon is navigating a devastating economic crisis that has plunged most of the population into poverty, according to the United Nations, and the cash-strapped military struggles to even maintain its own equipment.
The head of one of Lebanon’s top security agencies retired in March without a replacement, while the central bank governor’s mandate expired in July, without a clear successor.
![]()
Lebanon parliament extends army chief’s job, avoiding vacuum
Short Url
https://arab.news/nxgbd
Lebanon parliament extends army chief’s job, avoiding vacuum
- Parliament approved delaying the retirement of senior officers at the head of the military and security services for one year
- Army chief Joseph Aoun was set to retire on January 10, 2024
Turkiye holds military funeral for Libyan officers killed in plane crash
ANKARA: Turkiye held a military funeral ceremony Sunday morning for five Libyan officers, including western Libya’s military chief, who died in a plane crash earlier this week.
The private jet with Gen. Muhammad Ali Ahmad Al-Haddad, four other military officers and three crew members crashed on Tuesday after taking off from Ankara, Turkiye’s capital, killing everyone on board. Libyan officials said the cause of the crash was a technical malfunction on the plane.
Al-Hadad was the top military commander in western Libya and played a crucial role in the ongoing, UN-brokered efforts to unify Libya’s military.
The high-level Libyan delegation was on its way back to Tripoli, Libya’s capital, after holding defense talks in Ankara aimed at boosting military cooperation between the two countries.
Sunday’s ceremony was held at 8:00 a.m. local time at the Murted Airfield base, near Ankara, and attended by the Turkish military chief and the defense minister. The five caskets wrapped in their national flag were then loaded onto a plane to be returned to Libya.
The bodies recovered from the crash site were kept at the Ankara Forensic Medicine Institute for identification. Justice Minister Yilmaz Tunc told reporters their DNA was compared to family members who joined a 22-person delegation that arrived from Libya after the crash.
Tunc also said Germany was asked to help examine the jet’s black boxes as an impartial third party
Libya plunged into chaos after the country’s 2011 uprising toppled and killed longtime dictator Muammar Qaddafi. The country split, with rival administrations in the east and west, backed by an array of rogue militias and different foreign governments.
Turkiye has been the main backer of Libya’s government in the west, but has recently taken steps to improve ties with the eastern-based government as well.
The private jet with Gen. Muhammad Ali Ahmad Al-Haddad, four other military officers and three crew members crashed on Tuesday after taking off from Ankara, Turkiye’s capital, killing everyone on board. Libyan officials said the cause of the crash was a technical malfunction on the plane.
Al-Hadad was the top military commander in western Libya and played a crucial role in the ongoing, UN-brokered efforts to unify Libya’s military.
The high-level Libyan delegation was on its way back to Tripoli, Libya’s capital, after holding defense talks in Ankara aimed at boosting military cooperation between the two countries.
Sunday’s ceremony was held at 8:00 a.m. local time at the Murted Airfield base, near Ankara, and attended by the Turkish military chief and the defense minister. The five caskets wrapped in their national flag were then loaded onto a plane to be returned to Libya.
The bodies recovered from the crash site were kept at the Ankara Forensic Medicine Institute for identification. Justice Minister Yilmaz Tunc told reporters their DNA was compared to family members who joined a 22-person delegation that arrived from Libya after the crash.
Tunc also said Germany was asked to help examine the jet’s black boxes as an impartial third party
Libya plunged into chaos after the country’s 2011 uprising toppled and killed longtime dictator Muammar Qaddafi. The country split, with rival administrations in the east and west, backed by an array of rogue militias and different foreign governments.
Turkiye has been the main backer of Libya’s government in the west, but has recently taken steps to improve ties with the eastern-based government as well.
Latest updates
© 2025 SAUDI RESEARCH & PUBLISHING COMPANY, All Rights Reserved And subject to Terms of Use Agreement.