Lebanon

BEIRUT (AP) — There can be no financial bailout for Lebanon, a senior U.S. official said Saturday, calling on the country’s political leaders to heed popular calls for change, real reform and an end to endemic corruption.

David Hale, U.S. undersecretary of state for political affairs, said the U.S. and its allies will respond to “systemic reforms with sustained financial support.” He also called for a thorough and transparent investigation into the Aug. 4 blast that killed nearly 180 people and wounded thousands.

BEIRUT, Aug 15 (NNN-NNA) – Hezbollah Leader, Sayed Hassan Nasrallah, announced that, Israel will pay a heavy price, if investigations by the Lebanese judicial system prove that Israel stands behind the explosions at Beirut’s port, al-Manar local TV channel reported.

Nasrallah made the remarks in a televised speech, saying that, the whole Lebanese population and Lebanese parties, not only Hezbollah, will retaliate, if the blasts were an attack.

BEIRUT (Reuters) - A senior U.S. official called on Saturday for a “thorough, transparent and credible” investigation into this month’s Beirut port blast that killed 172 people and injured 6,000.

“We can never go back to an era in which anything goes at the port or the borders of Lebanon that had to contribute to this situation,” David Hale, U.S. Under-Secretary of State for Political Affairs, said.

14 Aug 2020; MEMO: Lebanon’s central bank Governor Riad Salameh and his family own a total of $100 million in overseas assets, a report by the Organised Crime and Corruption Reporting Project (OCCRP) and its Lebanese partner Daraj claims.

14 Aug 2020; MEMO: Lebanon’s parliament agreed yesterday to a two-week state of emergency in Beirut giving the army new powers, ten days after a massive blast rocked the capital killing nearly 200 and injuring thousands more.

The order grants the army new sweeping powers to deal with the aftermath of the explosion but has prompted human rights groups to warn of a potential crackdown on protesters and activists.

BEIRUT (Reuters) - Only the Lebanese people and their representatives can decide the country’s future, Iran’s foreign minister said on a visit to Beirut on Friday, following the massive blast at the city’s port that killed 172 people and prompted the government to resign.

Iran backs Lebanon’s powerful armed movement Hezbollah, which along with its allies helped form the outgoing government. The United States classifies Hezbollah as a terrorist group.

BEIRUT (AP) — Lebanon’s judicial investigation of the Beirut port explosion started with political wrangling over the naming of a lead investigator, military threats to jail leakers and doubts over whether a panel appointed along sectarian lines could be fully impartial.

So for many Lebanese, their greatest hope for credible answers about the blast that wrecked much of their capital may lie with outsiders: the French forensic police who have joined the probe and FBI investigators are expected to take part.

13 Aug 2020; MEMO: Several former and current ministers will be questioned by a Lebanese prosecutor over the explosion in Beirut’s port last week, Agence France Presse reports.

Questioning is set to start with the former Minister of Public works, Ghazi Al Aridi, who served in the position between 2009 and 2013, and will include several of his successors.

BEIRUT (Reuters) - Lebanon’s parliament speaker called on Thursday for quickly forming a new government in the first legislative session since the catastrophic explosion that killed 172 people last week and pushed the cabinet to resign.

Security forces were heavily deployed in the capital Beirut, stopping protesters from reaching a conference centre where MPs convened. Many Lebanese are furious at a long entrenched political class they blame for the blast, accusing them of endemic corruption, mismanagement and negligence.

BEIRUT (AP) — In the southern Lebanese town of Haris, a newlywed couple is living in one of Safy Faqeeh’s apartments for free. He’s never met them before, and they aren’t on a honeymoon. Their apartment in Beirut was wrecked when last week’s massive explosion wreaked destruction across the capital.

Faqeeh is one of hundreds of Lebanese who have opened their homes to survivors of the Aug. 4 blast.