Grafitti in Beirut. (Credit: João Sousa/L'Orient Today/File photo)
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The Foreign Ministry yesterday announced its decision to recall Lebanon’s ambassador to France, Rami Adwan, who was recently accused of rape and intentional violence. A charge d'affaires was appointed as head of mission on Wednesday, the statement said. The announcement comes after the ministry sent a delegation to France to investigate the accusations against Adwan made by two former embassy employees with whom he had intimate relationships. A lawyer representing Adwan said the ambassador denies the charges. In April, the Foreign Ministry recalled Lebanon’s ambassador to Ukraine, Ali Daher, amid an investigation into alleged embezzlement at the embassy there.
National Social Security Fund (NSSF) refunds for medications will increase for the first time since the start of the crisis on June 20, Director General Mohammad Karaki announced. The Health Ministry already increased drug prices but the NSSF only recently adopted new prices due to the expected windfall from the increase in salaries and minimum wage decided by the caretaker government last month. According to Karaki, beneficiaries can expect an average refund of “between 40 and 50 percent” on 3,000 listed medications, which mainly include treatments for serious, incurable and chronic diseases such as diabetes and cancer.
A Swiss judicial delegation is set to visit Lebanon as part of their investigation into Banque du Liban (BDL) governor Riad Salameh, a judicial source told AFP. “Lebanon has been informed by the Swiss authorities that a Swiss judicial delegation will shortly be traveling to Beirut to meet with Judge Charbel Abou Samra,” who is leading the local investigation, the judicial source said. Salameh faces two Interpol red notices as a result of the investigations into his alleged corruption in France and Germany. European judicial delegations visited Beirut three times this year, interviewing, among others, the central bank chief, his brother Raja Salameh and his former assistant Marianne Hoayek — who face a barrage of corruption charges from the Lebanese judiciary. In February, Swiss media reported that 12 banks in Switzerland were being investigated over suspicions that Salameh used them to deposit hundreds of millions of euros in allegedly embezzled BDL funds. Last March, France, Germany and Luxembourg seized more than a hundred million euros worth of assets over the same suspicions.
Jihad Azour has temporarily suspended his functions as a senior International Monetary Fund official ahead of Parliament’s presidential election session next Wednesday. Azour was only recently announced as a presidential contender for parties opposed to Hezbollah and Amal favorite, Marada Movement head Sleiman Frangieh. Azour’s backers positioned him as a consensus candidate while his opponents, notably Hezbollah, objected, considering him a “challenge candidate.” Wednesday’s election session will be the first since January and the 12th since the start of the election period two months before the end of Michel Aoun’s term on Oct. 31.
The union of municipalities in the region of Arkoub, Nabatieh governorate, called on residents in the area to join a protest today in solidarity with a local farmer who appeared to be confronting an Israeli bulldozer allegedly encroaching on his land in videos circulating on social media. The video shows Ismail Nasser protesting the advance of an Israeli bulldozer on his land in Kafr Shuba, located in Arkoub. United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) spokesman Andrea Tenetti told L’Orient Today that their peacekeepers were at the scene and attempted to quell tensions. Social media users lauded Nasser, reposting the video and stills of his confrontation with the bulldozer. According to the state-run National News Agency, Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri called Nasser to salute him for his “heroic and courageous stand in defense of his land.” Alleged breaches by Israel of the border have repeatedly caused tensions to rise. There are at least three recent incidents during which Lebanese shepherds were abducted by Israel for alleged border breaches. During a meeting last September, the Lebanese Army addressed with UNIFIL “the daily and repeated Israeli attacks on Lebanese sovereignty by land, sea and air.”
Lebanese Forces leader Samir Geagea, the Progressive Socialist Party (PSP) and others criticized authorities’ “permanent ban” of Kuwaiti journalist Fajr al-Said from Lebanon yesterday. Said, known for her stances against Hezbollah and in favor of normalization with Israel, discovered that she had been permanently banned by General Security from entering Lebanon when she arrived at the Beirut International Airport yesterday. In a video she shared on social media, she claimed to have been held for five hours of questioning before being allowed to return to Kuwait. A General Security statement released the same day confirmed the ban on Said without specifying why it was issued. Said considered the decision “a clear message” against her political views. Geagea considered the ban “an attack on Lebanon's values and its relations with Arab countries” while the PSP said it “undermines freedoms and diversity in Lebanon, as well as respect for journalists.”
In case you missed it, here’s our must-read story from yesterday: “Pockets full of cash, but not lira”
Compiled by Abbas Mahfouz