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Morning Brief

Lebanon-Gulf rift, IMF talks progress, priest’s sex abuse case goes to trial: All you need to know today

Here’s what happened yesterday and what to expect today, Tuesday, Nov. 9

Lebanon-Gulf rift, IMF talks progress, priest’s sex abuse case goes to trial: All you need to know today

Arab League envoy Houssam Zaki meets with Prime Minister Najib Mikati in Beirut. (Credit: Dalati and Nohra)

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The Arab League appeared yesterday to back the resignation of Lebanons information minister after his comments criticizing Saudi Arabias involvement in the Yemen war spurred an escalating diplomatic rift with Gulf countries. Speaking at a news conference in Beirut on Monday, Assistant Secretary-General of the Arab League Houssam Zaki, who led the delegation, said Information Minister George Kurdahi’s resignation “could have defused the crisis” and could be a starting point for a “détente” between Lebanon and the Gulf. Zaki met with Prime Minister Najib Mikati, President Michel Aoun, Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri and Foreign Minister Abdallah Bou Habib on the trip, which aimed to find a solution to the mounting tensions. The row has prompted Saudi Arabia to recall its ambassador and halt imports from Lebanon, while several of its Gulf allies have also taken punitive actions.

Prime Minister Najib Mikati said that a revised financial recovery plan would be complete by the end of the month, adding that unified financial figures have been handed to the International Monetary Fund. Talks between Lebanon and the IMF, which aimed to secure billions of dollars in financial aid, broke down last year because the central bank, banks and politicians could not agree with the previous government on the scale of losses in the financial system. However, it was not immediately clear what figures Lebanon had provided this time. Mikati also maintained that the central bank was now “cooperating fully” with Lazard, the advisory firm that helped draft the previous financial recovery plan before talks with the IMF stalled. The premier has until Lebanon’s parliamentary elections next year to establish a recovery plan, at which point a new government must be formed.

The trial of Maronite priest Mansour Labaki, accused of rape and sexually assaulting minors, opened Monday morning in Caen in northern France. The 81-year-old priest was already convicted by the Vatican in 2013 of sexually abusing at least three children. Labaki was tried in absentia and faces a sentence of 20 years’ imprisonment. An international arrest warrant was issued against Labaki in 2016; however, Lebanon did not extradite him. Labaki’s lawyer on Monday requested for the trial to be postponed, which was rejected by the court.

In the latest attack on the Beirut port explosion probe, officials implicated in the investigation filed additional lawsuits on Monday seeking to undermine previous judicial decisions. Former ministers and sitting MPs Ali Hassan Khalil and Ghazi Zeaiter filed a suit before the Public Prosecution in a bid to invalidate a decision issued by Civil Court of Cassation judges not to inform Beirut blast investigator Judge Tarek Bitar of a request submitted by the plaintiffs to have him removed from the case, which would have forced a suspension of the proceedings. Meanwhile, former Minister Youssef Fenianos filed a lawsuit to remove Judge Rosine Hujaili at the Beirut Court of Appeals, who was responsible for looking into requests to dismiss Bitar. The probe into the Beirut port explosion was suspended once again last week after Fenianos, who Bitar has summoned for questioning, filed a complaint before the Court of Appeals seeking to remove the judge. 

Want to get the Morning Brief by email? Click here to sign up.The Arab League appeared yesterday to back the resignation of Lebanon’s information minister after his comments criticizing Saudi Arabia’s involvement in the Yemen war spurred an escalating diplomatic rift with Gulf countries. Speaking at a news conference in Beirut on Monday, Assistant Secretary-General of the Arab League Houssam...