A "wanted" poster graffiti in Beirut. (Credit: João Sousa/L'Orient Today/file)
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Cabinet is scheduled to convene tomorrow for an “urgent meeting” to discuss the appointment of lawyers to represent Lebanon’s interests in the French proceedings against Banque du Liban (BDL) governor Riad Salameh. Caretaker Justice Minister Henri Khoury said he will hold a press conference today to discuss the replacement of Lebanon’s legal representatives in the French case. Last Friday, cabinet refused to approve two criminal lawyers previously appointed by Khoury. Khoury was asked to suspend his boycott of cabinet meetings and attend tomorrow’s session. Last Tuesday, a French court said it will issue a ruling on a restitution request for tens of millions of euros worth of assets linked to Salameh, seized under suspicions that they were acquired with embezzled BDL funds. Salameh is currently the target of an Interpol red notice, filed at the French judiciary’s request after he missed a hearing in Paris scheduled for May 16. While calls for the central bank chief’s resignation have multiplied since Lebanon received the red notice, Salameh continues to deny any wrongdoing and said he intends to appeal the decision.
A Saudi citizen was kidnapped in Beirut on Sunday, caretaker Minister of Interior Bassam Mawlawi tweeted yesterday. The Saudi newspaper Okaz tweeted that the kidnapped man works for the Saudia airline in Beirut and that “the kidnappers …demanded — via a call issued from the southern suburbs of Beirut — a ransom of $400,000” for his release. The man was reportedly kidnapped in a neighborhood near the airport road in Beirut. Mawlawi said Lebanon will work “on liberating any citizens who are exposed to any harm on Lebanese soil.”
The majority of public administration employees participated in the first day of a two-week strike yesterday to demand improved compensation, League of Public Administration Employees member Ibrahim Nahal told L'Orient Today. Nahal noted that some employees, such as those in the health sector, were compelled to continue working. “We are demanding the minimum,” Nahal said, noting that employees have been unable to reach their workplaces due to unaffordable transportation costs. The striking employees are demanding improvements to their transportation allowances, healthcare coverage and wages. Public employees across different sectors, whose salaries plummeted with the lira’s depreciation, have repeatedly observed strikes to demand improvements to their working conditions and compensation.
Caretaker Environment Minister Nasser Yassin announced the start of a one-month period of public consultation for an Environmental and Social Impact Assessment (EIA) Report on offshore exploration drilling activities. UK-based engineering and environmental consultancy RSK Environment prepared the report on TotalEnergies’ planned oil and gas exploration of Block 9, off the southern Lebanese coast. The consultancy invites the public “to review and comment” on the draft report, noting that comments will be forwarded to the Lebanese Petroleum Administration (LPA) and Environment Ministry. The consultancy also announced two “public consultation meetings” to discuss the project, scheduled for tomorrow and Thursday. Last October, Lebanon and Israel reached an agreement on their maritime border delineation, clearing the way for the offshore blocs’ exploration.
Maronite Patriarch Bechara al-Rai visited the Vatican yesterday ahead of his scheduled meeting with French President Emmanuel Macron today. Yesterday, Rai met with Pietro Parolin, cardinal and secretary of state of the Holy See. Caretaker Foreign Minister Abdallah Bou Habib said last Monday that the Vatican “insists on "the need to hold the presidential election as soon as possible.” The state-run National News Agency said that, during his meeting with Macron, Rai intends to discuss the presidential election and the status of Syrian refugees in Lebanon. In an interview with al-Hadath news channel last Wednesday, Free Patriotic Movement leader Gebran Bassil emphasized Christians’ role in the election of a president, traditionally a Maronite, while denying French support for any particular candidate.
Nearly 200 people staged a protest in Abdeh, Akkar governorate, on Monday afternoon against the repatriation of the body of a former militiaman with the South Lebanon Army (SLA) who died in Israel. The body of Mounir al-Cheikh is currently being kept in a hospital morgue in northern Lebanon while a decision is being made over where to put it, according to the Lebanese Red Cross. The SLA was formed in 1976 by soldiers who defected from the Lebanese Army. The SLA later received support from Israel, notably in the wake of the June 1982 invasion of Lebanon as part of Operation Peace in Galilee. After the withdrawal of Israeli troops from southern Lebanon in 2000, many SLA fighters settled in Israeli territory. On Monday, demonstrators in Abdeh blocked the highway to prevent the passage of the convoy transporting Cheikh's body.
In case you missed it, here’s our must-read story from yesterday: “Sixteen Lebanese died in the Turkey quake. How do their families feel about Erdogan's reelection?”
Compiled by Abbas Mahfouz