Lebanon

04 June 2021; MEMO: Lebanon's central bank today said depositors with accounts active as of October 2019 would be able to withdraw up to $400 a month plus the equivalent amount in local currency, Reuters reported.

Lebanese banks had locked depositors out of their dollar accounts and blocked transfers abroad since the country was gripped by a financial crisis in late 2019.

26 May 2021; MEMO: The Secretary-General of Lebanon's Hezbollah movement, Sayyid Hassan Nasrallah, said yesterday that any violations of Jerusalem and holy sites belonging to Muslims and Christians therein would lead to a regional war.

BEIRUT (AP) — Auto magnate-turned-fugitive Carlos Ghosn is campaigning to clear his name, and hopes a visit by French investigators to his home in exile in Lebanon will be his first real opportunity to defend himself since the bombshell arrest that transformed him from a visionary to a prisoner overnight.

(Reuters) --- A U.N. tribunal set up to prosecute those behind the 2005 assassination of Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik Hariri has run out of funding amid Lebanon's economic and political crisis, threatening plans for future trials, people involved in the process said.

Closing the tribunal would dash the hopes of families of victims in the Hariri murder and other attacks, but also those demanding that a U.N. tribunal bring to justice those responsible for the Beirut port blast last August that killed 200 and injured 6,500.

BEIRUT, May 21 (NNN-NNA) – The Lebanese army, yesterday, thwarted an attempt to smuggle 125 Syrian refugees by sea, in the area opposite to the Arida village, in northern Lebanon, a statement by the army reported.

A patrol of the Lebanese army intercepted a boat that was carrying refugees several kilometres away from the shore.

The arrested were referred to judicial authorities for further investigations and legal procedures.

Lebanon’s security forces also thwarted earlier this month, the smuggling of 40 Syrian refugees by sea to Cyprus.

BEIRUT (AP) — Ever since their last war in 2006, Israel and Lebanon’s powerful Hezbollah militia have constantly warned that a new round between them is inevitable. Yet once again, a potential trigger has gone unpulled.

Hezbollah’s shadow loomed large during Israel and Hamas’ two-week battle, with the possibility it could unleash its arsenal of missiles - far more powerful than Hamas’ - in support of the Palestinians.

(Reuters) --- Lebanon's foreign minister asked the president to be relieved of his duties on Wednesday, the presidency said, after his comments in a television interview strained ties with traditional Gulf Arab allies and donors.

Charbel Wehbe, who is a minister in the caretaker government, suggested on Monday that Gulf states had supported the rise of Islamic State, among other disparaging comments.

Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Kuwait and Bahrain summoned Lebanon's ambassadors and issued formal complaints.

(Reuters) --- The European Union is drawing up sanctions on politicians in Lebanon seen as blocking the formation of a government, readying the bloc's first penalties on its Middle Eastern ally in frustration at the ruling elite's mismanagement, diplomats said.

Led by former colonial power France, the bloc is seeking to ramp up pressure on Lebanon's squabbling politicians, after 10 months of crisis that has left Lebanon facing financial collapse, hyperinflation, electricity blackouts, and fuel and food shortages.

07 May 2021; MEMO: France's Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian arrived in the Lebanese capital, Beirut, yesterday and met with President Michael Aoun as part of efforts to end months of political deadlock hindering the formation of a new government.

The minister said on Twitter that the visit is an expression of France's solidarity with the Lebanese people, and that France will deal firmly with those hindering the formation of a new Lebanese government.

07 May 2021; MEMO: Lebanese President Michel Aoun has asked French Foreign Minister, Jean-Yves Le Drian, for help to recover funds which have been smuggled out of the country, in an effort to begin reforms and prosecute those who have misused public resources.