Foreign Minister Abdallah Bou Habib welcomed by his Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov, in Moscow, Nov. 22, 2021. (Credit: Evgenia Novozhenina / AFP)
On Thursday evening, the Lebanese Ministry of Foreign Affairs condemned, via an official statement, the Russian military intervention in Ukraine, siding with the Western powers, despite the cordial relations between Beirut and Moscow.
“Lebanon strongly condemns the invasion of Ukrainian territory and calls on Russia to immediately stop its military operations, withdraw its forces, and resort to dialogue and negotiations,” read the statement issued Thursday, a strong position that has raised the ire of a portion of the Lebanese political class.
"Wasn't neutrality and the call for a peaceful resolution of the conflict through dialogue more beneficial for Lebanon than bias?" asked Education Minister Abbas Halabi, close to the Progressive Socialist Party of Walid Jumblatt.
For his part, Labor Minister Mustapha Bayram, who is close to Hezbollah, felt that the "document violates the principle of neutrality advocated by the government," (although his political camp has been accused by rivals of flouting this principle by getting involved in regional conflicts) and denounced the fact that "there have been no discussions on this subject.”
The pro-Syrian Druze leader and head of the Lebanese Democratic Party Talal Arslan, for his part, considered that this text "does not express the position of Lebanon, which is proud of its historical relations with Russia."
"This communiqué smells of hamburgers," Faysal Abdel Sater, an analyst close to Hezbollah contacted by L'Orient-Le Jour, said in reference to the nod made by the Lebanese diplomatic class to Washington.
"Once again, Lebanon is submitting to the American will without taking into consideration its own interests, while Russia is doing so much for Lebanon," he said.
Beyond the differences regarding the diplomatic interests of Lebanon, the communiqué has rekindled the tension still latent between the President of the Republic Michel Aoun and the Speaker of Parliament Nabih Berri.
"The communiqué was drafted without consulting the head of the legislature," a person close to Ain el-Tineh told L'Orient-Le Jour. "We have enough issues of discord in Lebanon," he added.
According to L’Orient’s political columnist, Mounir Rabih, the text was indeed drafted in consultation between Foreign Minister Abdallah Bou Habib, President Aoun and Prime Minister Najib Mikati. The prime minister’s office and that of the president did not respond to our newspaper's requests for an interview, but according to a source close to the prime minister, the latter is working to contain this new controversy.
Moscow objects, the West satisfied
The Lebanese diplomatic communiqué has also made Moscow fume.
The Russian embassy issued a statement yesterday, expressing its "surprise" at the Lebanese position. According to it, the statement "violates the policy of distancing," while Moscow has not "spared its efforts to contribute to the recovery and stability of Lebanon."
Bou Habib had met on Thursday with the Russian ambassador to explain the official position and the commitment of Lebanon to good relations with Russia. According to information confirmed by L’Orient’s political columnist, Mikhail Bogdanov, Vladimir Putin's special envoy for the Middle East, questioned, not without irony, the Lebanese ambassador to Russia during a gathering they attended on Thursday evening: "Didn't your Minister of Foreign Affairs ask for our help in solving Lebanon's internal problems a few months ago?"
Bou Habib had indeed visited Moscow last November. During his visit, he had received Russian satellite images of the double explosion in the port of Beirut in August 2020, essential to the investigation underway for almost two years. The head of diplomacy received yesterday the ambassadors of France and Germany in Beirut Anne Grillo and Andreas Kindl, who "thanked him for the statement," hoping that Lebanon will maintain this position. The two diplomats wanted Beirut to adopt the draft resolution presented on the war in Ukraine at the UN Security Council, but Bou Habib explained that Lebanon will abstain.
Defending himself against the outcry, the Minister of Foreign Affairs, who is close to the president's camp, said yesterday that the Lebanese position emanates from "the country's commitment to international law" and is not directed against Russia or any other friendly country.
'Shoot me'
"This is surely the result of American pressure," Abdel Sater said.
In some circles, it is claimed that the official Lebanese position is part of the head of state's desire to reach out to Washington in the hope that the United States will lift the sanctions against his son-in-law, the leader of the Free Patriotic Movement (FPM) and member of parliament Gebran Bassil. But the latter denied the allegations yesterday.
"If I was looking to make a deal on the sanctions, I would have done so before they were imposed on me and not after," he wrote on his Twitter account.
"I'm not stupid or an agent like you," he concluded in a message he signed with his initials, addressing his critics, but without naming them.
In the evening, LBCI reported that Bassil had spoken by phone with the Russian ambassador in Beirut and told him that the FPM "has nothing to do with the [Foreign Ministry’s] communiqué" and that the party respects the principle of distancing itself from the conflicts in the region and in the world.
It is for the same reasons of complacency towards the United States that Michel Aoun's opponents suspect him of having done an about-face on the issue of the demarcation of the maritime border with Israel. In a recent interview with the pro-Hezbollah daily al-Akhbar, the president downgraded Lebanon's claims, saying that "Line 23 is our maritime border,” which would mean Lebanon is giving up ground from its original claim, Line 29.
However, the head of state has strongly denounced accusations that he has made concessions to Israel.
The fact remains that the pro-Western stance of Lebanese diplomacy may harm relations, already weakened in recent months, between the FPM and the party of Hassan Nasrallah.
"Hezbollah is annoyed by the Minister of Foreign Affairs, whose positions are influenced by the Americans and the Emiratis, on issues such as Yemen and Ukraine," said Abdel Sater.
"The minister must be held accountable," he said.
Yesterday, at the end of the cabinet meeting, Bou Habib said that he alone was responsible.
"Shoot me only when it comes to the official communiqué of the Ministry. I am equipped with a bulletproof vest," he said, in a bid to keep Lebanon, or perhaps the head of state, shielded from the repercussions of the case.
This article was originally published in French in L'Orient-Le Jour.