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MORNING BRIEF

No cabinet action on Salameh, puppies burnt alive, former minister dies: Everything you need to know to start your Tuesday

Here’s what happened yesterday and what to expect today, Tuesday, May 23:

No cabinet action on Salameh, puppies burnt alive, former minister dies: Everything you need to know to start your Tuesday

Muslim men pray along an a pavement by a public beach in Lebanon's southern city of Saida on May 21, 2023. Lebanese activists on May 21 protested at a beach in the coastal city of Saida after a woman said she was harassed there over her allegedly indecent bathing suit. Defying a municipality ban on their demonstration, dozens of protesters, mostly women, gathered briefly in the Sunni Muslim-majority conservative city. (Credit: Mahmoud Zayyat/AFP)

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Lebanon’s top prosecutor Ghassan Oueidat summoned Banque du Liban (BDL) governor Riad Salameh for a hearing on Wednesday amid mounting international legal pressure against the central bank chief, a senior judicial source told L’Orient Today. A consultative cabinet meeting on Monday to address Salameh’s role at the head of the BDL in light of his international prosecution adjourned without issuing a statement — while L’Orient Today’s correspondent reported that disagreements between ministers on the issue led the cabinet to leave it in the judiciary’s hands. However, a cabinet meeting was scheduled for Friday. Caretaker Justice Minister Henri Khoury yesterday called for Salameh’s resignation, echoing similar statements by caretaker Interior Minister Bassam Mawlawi, Deputy Prime Minister Saade Chami and 10 MPs. Khoury claimed that Salameh’s prosecution could negatively impact Lebanon’s monetary situation while the Association of Banks in Lebanon in a statement yesterday denied that any links with European banks were severed due to the investigation. Last week, Interpol issued a red notice for Salameh at the French judiciary’s request after his absence from a hearing in Paris investigating alleged corruption. A hearing is scheduled for today in Paris to discuss the restitution of seized assets linked to Salameh worth tens of millions of euros, thought to have been acquired through allegedly embezzled BDL funds. Salameh has repeatedly denied wrongdoing and said he would appeal the red notice — which he can only do once he is under arrest, according to a French lawyer representing the parties suing Salameh in France.

“The issue of Hezbollah's weapons, in particular, requires a broad national understanding,” caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati told UN special envoy Joanna Wronecka yesterday, a day after the party conducted a military demonstration in South Lebanon. Mikati added that Hezbollah’s technically illegal weapons “must be among the priorities of the coming phase.” On Sunday, Hezbollah celebrated the 23rd anniversary of the liberation of South Lebanon from Israeli occupation with a military demonstration involving artillery mortars, drones and exercises with reportedly live ammunition. Hezbollah executive council chairman Hashem Safieddine told journalists at the event that the party “is there to protect Lebanon and its sovereignty.” Kataeb leader Sami Gemayel, meanwhile, criticized the demonstration as “a message of defiance” to the Lebanese, Arab and international community while Tripoli MP Ashraf Rifi saw it as an attempt to “intimidate.”

Fires broke out between Kfar Abida and Eede in Batroun and in a landfill just south of Saida, L’Orient Today’s correspondents in the areas reported. Wind conditions and high temperatures yesterday increased fire risk in some areas of the country, according to Dr. George Mitri, ​​director of the Land and Natural Resources Program at the University of Balamand. The Lebanese Civil Defense announced it had dispatched personnel and equipment to combat the fire in North Lebanon. Meanwhile, the fire south of Saida covered the city in smoke and foul odors, causing school closures and at least three hospitalizations, the head of Labib Medical Center in Saida Dr. Moeen Abu Daher, confirmed to L'Orient Today. As Lebanon’s summer fire season approaches, the country is at increased risk of wildfires due to climate change, including at higher altitudes where previous years saw few fires.

“We are in need of rethinking education and the laws” on animal abuse, Baalbeck-Hermel governor Bachir Khodr tweeted, reacting to a video circulating on social media of six puppies being burned alive. Khodr claimed that a child who can be seen in the video had started the fire, which was already burning at the start of the recording, while an investigation to determine their involvement has yet to be completed. He added last night that the boy and his father had been summoned to a local police station on orders of the general prosecutor for environmental affairs in the Bekaa. “I don’t know why and what is this phenomenon,” activist and BETA member Helena Husseini told L'Orient Today, as yesterday’s video was the second this month to show dogs being burned. Earlier this month, Husseini said that the number of abandoned animals was “on the rise.” Cases of animal abuse regularly cause outrage in Lebanon. In August 2017, an animal protection law was enacted which penalizes animal abuse with a sentence of up to two years in prison and a fine of up to LL50 million. Authorities, who are often accused of laxity, have been hesitant to enforce the law, though the alleged perpetrator behind the video circulating earlier this month has been arrested and a man was sentenced to jail time in 2018 for torturing dogs.

The Vatican insists on "the need to hold the presidential election as soon as possible," caretaker Foreign Affairs Minister Abdallah Bou Habib said in a statement during his visit to Rome. Lebanon has been without a president since the end of Michel Aoun’s term on Oct. 31. Eleven attempts to elect a president have failed and no 12th session has yet to be scheduled. Last March after a visit to Vatican City, caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati said he delivered a letter to Pope Francis explaining how the Vatican could support Lebanon, including interventions with the international community. Pope Francis then stressed the need for “solidarity among Lebanese officials” to elect a president while Vatican Secretary Cardinal Pietro Parolin said they were ready “to support Lebanon in all fields possible.”

Former Deputy Prime Minister and economist Elias Saba died on Monday at age 91. Saba was born in Kfarhata and served as MP for the Koura district of North Lebanon. Between October 1970 and May 1972, he served as defense minister and finance minister under former Prime Minister Saeb Salam, during the presidency of Sleiman Frangieh. From Oct. 21, 2004, to April 18, 2005, Saba also served as finance minister under former Prime Minister Omar Karami.

In case you missed it, here’s our must-read story from yesterday:Another year without a government: A glance back in numbers

Compiled by Abbas Mahfouz


Correction: A previous version of this article erroneously referred to Bachir Khodr as the mayor of Baalbeck. He is the governor of Baalbeck-Hermel. 

Want to get the Morning Brief by email? Click here to sign up.Lebanon’s top prosecutor Ghassan Oueidat summoned Banque du Liban (BDL) governor Riad Salameh for a hearing on Wednesday amid mounting international legal pressure against the central bank chief, a senior judicial source told L’Orient Today. A consultative cabinet meeting on Monday to address Salameh’s role at the head of the BDL...