Major Anti-Corruption Protests in Lebanon taking place; HARIRI RESIGNS!

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Exclusive: U.S. withholding $105 million in security aid for Lebanon - sources


Exclusive: U.S. withholding $105 million in security aid for Lebanon - sources
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. President Donald Trump’s administration is withholding $105 million in security aid for Lebanon, two U.S. officials said on Thursday, two days after the resignation of Lebanese Prime Minister Saad al-Hariri.

FILE PHOTO: Demonstrators wave Lebanese flags during a protest in Beirut, Lebanon, October 31, 2019. REUTERS/Goran Tomasevic/File Photo

The State Department told Congress on Thursday that the White House budget office and National Security Council had decided to withhold the foreign military assistance, the two officials said, speaking on condition of anonymity.

The officials did not say why the aid was blocked. One of the sources said the State Department did not give Congress a reason for the decision. :ohhh::whoo::aicmon:

The State Department declined to comment.

The administration had sought approval for the assistance starting in May, arguing that it was crucial for Lebanon, an important U.S. partner in the volatile Middle East, to be able to protect its borders. The aid included night vision goggles and weapons used in border security.

But Washington has also repeatedly expressed concern over the growing role in the Beirut government of Hezbollah, the armed Shi’ite group backed by Iran and listed as a terrorist organization by the United States.

Following Hariri’s resignation on Tuesday amid huge protests against the ruling elite, U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo urged Lebanon’s political leaders to help form a new government responsive to the needs of its people and called for an end to endemic corruption.

One U.S. official told Reuters he believed the security assistance was necessary for Lebanon, as it struggles with instability not just within its own government but in a turbulent region and houses thousands of refugees from war in neighboring Syria.

The official said it was especially important to strengthen Lebanon’s military, which he deemed one of the most capable institutions in the country now, largely because of support from Washington.

The official said drawing aid away from Lebanon could pave the way for Russia to move in. Russia has expanded its influence in Syria since Trump announced he was withdrawing U.S. forces from the northeastern part of the country.

Lebanon has been arguing with foreign donors over international aid for months. Before he resigned, Hariri failed to convince foreign donors to release $11 billion in assistance pledged at a Paris conference last year.

Reporting by Patricia Zengerle and Mike Stone; Editing by Mary Milliken and Daniel Wallis





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wsj.com
Protests Paralyze Lebanon’s Search for New Prime Minister
Nazih Osseiran and Sune Engel Rasmussen
5-6 minutes
BEIRUT—An upswell in Lebanon’s protests has paralyzed the search for a new prime minister, as political gridlock deepens the country’s economic crisis.

President Michel Aoun postponed Monday a series of meetings with members of parliament who appeared poised to name Saad Hariri as prime minister. Mr. Hariri had quit the same post in October in the face of growing protests, but re-emerged after Lebanon’s ruling parties failed to find an alternative compromise candidate acceptable to political elites and protesters.

Mr. Aoun’s decision came as clashes between security and protesters escalated over the weekend. The clashes were the most violent yet in the two-month standoff in cities across the small Mediterranean nation. In Beirut, dozens of protesters were injured this weekend after confrontations near Parliament Square with security forces who fired rubber bullets and tear gas.

The president’s delay has preserved a combustible status quo. Lebanon’s political elite have been reluctant to make concessions that would sacrifice long-held privileges. Protesters have called for a complete overhaul of the sectarian-based political system.

Since the country’s 1975-1990 civil war, Lebanon’s three top posts have been divided between the country’s main religious sects. The prime minister is always a Sunni, the president a Maronite Christian and the speaker of parliament a Shiite.

“Basically, they’re all warlords, and after the war, they put a suit on and took all the high positions in government,” said Karl Abu Mansour, a protester in Beirut who was among thousands who took to the streets over the weekend. “They are still trying to divide the pie but they don’t get it. It’s not their pie to divide anymore.”

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In Beirut, dozens of protesters were injured after confrontations with security forces who fired rubber bullets and tear gas. Photo: Hussein Malla/Associated Press
The two-month-long standstill has deepened a yearslong economic crisis in Lebanon. Faced with a dollar shortage, banks have imposed unofficial capital controls to stem the outflow of foreign currency. Some banks have limited dollar withdrawals to $200 a week.

The economic crisis has posed particular challenges for local businesses, many of which have stopped paying full salaries.

It has also affected the country’s health sector. Private and public hospitals can’t pay staff, largely because the government hasn’t paid money it owes them. Meanwhile the lack of dollars has made imports of medicine and equipment more expensive. Hospitals are already missing certain equipment for bone and heart surgeries, said Sleiman Haroun the head of Lebanon’s Syndicate of Private Hospitals.

“People are not having the operations they need to have done because of this,” he said.

A former minister in Mr. Hariri’s last cabinet, who declined to be named, said the country’s politicians were in “denial of the gravity of the situation.”

Hezbollah, Iran’s main ally in Lebanon, is the most powerful political and military force in the country. But a government dominated by Hezbollah, which is considered a terrorist group by Washington., would likely invite international sanctions.

Mr. Hariri, a Sunni Muslim business tyc00n, is widely accepted by Lebanon’s international partners, particularly the U.S., France and Saudi Arabia.

“They need him to unlock the billions in loans we expect from abroad,” said Sami Atallah Director of the Lebanese Center for Policy Studies.

Earlier this month, Samir Khatib, a Lebanese businessman who appeared poised to become the next designated prime minister after being nominated by Mr. Hariri, withdrew his candidacy after Lebanon’s highest Sunni authority, Grand Mufti Abdellatif Deryan, told him that Mr. Hariri was the only consensus candidate.

Write to Sune Engel Rasmussen at sune.rasmussen@wsj.com

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