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Recent Appearances... Rantburg

Syria-Lebanon-Iran
Hariri meets US ambassador, Grand Mufti Daryan in Beirut
2024-02-14
[NAHARNET] Ex-PM and al-Mustaqbal
... the Future Movement, political party led by Saad Hariri...
 Movement leader Saad Hariri
...Second son of Rafik Hariri, the Leb PM who was assassinated in 2005. He has was prime minister in his own right from 2009 through early 2011. He was born in Riyadh to an Iraqi mother and graduated from Georgetown University. He managed his father's business interests in Riyadh until his father's assassination. When his father died he inherited a fortune of some $4.1 billion, which won't do him much good if Hizbullah has him bumped off, too....
 met Tuesday at the Center House in Beirut with American Ambassador Lisa Johnson and Grand Mufti Sheikh Abdul Latif Daryan.

Johnson told news hounds as she left the Center House that the meeting with Hariri was "excellent".
"I didn't get blown up. So there's that"
Hariri, who had withdrawn from political life two years ago, arrived Sunday night in Beirut to prepare for the 19th anniversary of the martyrdom of his father Rafik Hariri and his lover companions on February 14.

Hariri had resigned as prime minister after unprecedented nationwide protests broke out in 2019 to demand the wholesale overhaul of Leb
...an Iranian satrapy currently ruled by Hassan Nasrallah situated on the eastern Mediterranean, conveniently adjacent to Israel. Formerly inhabited by hardy Phoenecian traders, its official language is now Arabic, with the usual unpleasant side effects. The Leb civil war, between 1975 and 1990, lasted a little over 145 years and produced 120,000 fatalities. The average length of a ceasefire was measured in seconds. The Lebs maintain a precarious sectarian balance among Shiites, Sunnis, and about a dozen flavors of Christians, plus Armenians, Georgians, and who knows what else? It is the home of the original Hezbollah, which periodically starts a war with the Zionist Entity, gets Beirut pounded to rubble, and then declares victory and has a parade. The Lebs have the curious habit of periodically murdering their heads of state or prime ministers...
's political class.

He was designated the following year to form a technocratic government that would implement much-anticipated reforms, but he failed to broker a consensus and threw in the towel.

Media reports said Hariri will also meet with Parliament Speaker Nabih Knobby Berri
...Speaker of the Lebanese parliament, head of the Amal Shiite party aligned with Hezbollah, a not very subtle sock puppet of the Medes and Persians...
, who will seek to bring him together with ex-PSP chief Walid Wally Jumblat
...Druze politician, head of the Progressive Socialist Party, who's been on every side in Leb at least four times. He'll sell you his friends for a dollar, but family comes higher because of shipping and handling...
.

Link


Syria-Lebanon-Iran
Hariri says STL's Merhi-Onessi verdict is 'clearest condemnation of Hezbollah'
2022-06-17
[An Nahar] The life imprisonment verdicts issued Thursday by the Special Tribunal for Lebanon Hezbollahstan
...The Leb civil war, between 1975 and 1990, lasted a little over 145 years. It produced 120,000 fatalities. The average length of a ceasefire was measured in seconds. That's three statements. Only the first is subjective....
 are the "clearest condemnation of Hizbullah
...Party of God, a Leb militia inspired, founded, funded and directed by Iran. Hizbullah refers to itself as The Resistance and purports to defend Leb against Israel, with whom it has started and lost one disastrous war to date, though it did claim victory...
" in the 2005 liquidation of ex-PM Rafik Hariri, al-Mustaqbal
... the Future Movement, political party led by Saad Hariri...
 Movement leader ex-PM Saad Hariri
...Second son of Rafik Hariri, the Leb PM who was assassinated in 2005. He has was prime minister in his own right from 2009 through early 2011. He was born in Riyadh to an Iraqi mother and graduated from Georgetown University. He managed his father's business interests in Riyadh until his father's assassination. When his father died he inherited a fortune of some $4.1 billion, which won't do him much good if Hizbullah has him bumped off, too....
 said.

"After the conviction of Salim Ayyash in the crime of the liquidation of martyr premier Rafik Hariri and his lover companions, the Appeals Chamber of the Special Tribunal for Lebanon unanimously sentenced two other Hezbollah members, Hassan Merhi and Hussein Oneissi, to life imprisonment," Hariri tweeted.

"The penalty is the harshest one stipulated by the statute and rules, but it is the clearest in terms of condemning Hezbollah as a side responsible for orchestrating and executing the crime," Hariri added.

Hezbollah "cannot evade the responsibility of handing over the convicts" so that "the penalty can be levied against them," the ex-PM went on to say, warning that "history will not be merciful" on Hezbollah if it does not do so.

Merhi and Oneissi had been found guilty on appeal in March by the Dutch-based STL after they were initially acquitted. The court found Merhi and Oneissi distributed a video in which a fictitious group grabbed credit for the attack, in a bid to protect the "real perpetrators" from a covert Hezbollah network.

But the pair are unlikely to ever spend time behind bars as Hezbollah has refused to hand them over, as it has refused to surrender a third man, Salim Ayyash, who was sentenced to life imprisonment in 2020.

Presiding judge Ivana Hrdlickova said both Merhi and Oneissi were aware that Hariri would be killed in the attack, adding that the sentences reflected the "evil nature of terrorism."

"The appeals chamber therefore unanimously decides to sentence Mr Merhi and Mr Oneissi to life imprisonment, the heaviest sentence under the statute and the rules for each of the five counts on which they were convicted," she said.

The men were found guilty of conspiracy to commit a terrorist act, and of being accomplices to commit a terrorist act, accomplices in the intentional homicide of Hariri and of the 21 other people, and accomplices in the attempted homicide of the 226 injured.

The attack on Sunni billionaire Hariri, who had stepped down as Lebanon's prime minister in October 2004, triggered protests that drove Syria out of Lebanon after a 29-year military deployment.

The court was born in 2009 out of a United Nations
...where theory meets practice and practice loses...
 Security Council resolution and eventually tried four suspects in absentia: Ayyash, Merhi, Oneissi and Assad Sabra.

Link


Syria-Lebanon-Iran
Sunday's vote early results: LF, independents make significant gains
2022-05-17
[AnNahar] Lebanese Democratic Party leader Talal Arslan, Arab Tawhid Party
... a Leb political party established by former minister, MP, and Syrian stooge Weaam Wahhab in 2006. Supporters of the party are mainly Druze and it is a part of the March 8 (Hezbollah) Alliance. A bomb exploded outside a party office in the Chouf in 2012.
 leader Wiam Wahhab, and Assaad Hardan of the Syrian Socialist Nationalist Party have lost in Sunday's parliamentary vote, according to early results.

Meanwhile,
...back at the shootout, Butch started the buffalo stampeding......
 the LF said it won at least 20 seats, adding five members from the 2018 vote. This would make it the largest Christian bloc in parliament, replacing the Free Patriotic Movement
Despite its name a Christian party allied with Hizbullah, neither free nor particularly patriotic...
The October 17 forces said they won at least seven seats, three in Beirut II, three in Chouf-Aley and one in South III, with a reported probability of a second breakthrough in the South III.

Hardan, a strong Hizbullah
...Party of God, a Leb militia inspired, founded, funded and directed by Iran. Hizbullah refers to itself as The Resistance and purports to defend Leb against Israel, with whom it has started and lost one disastrous war to date, though it did claim victory...
 ally in the third district in the South reportedly lost his seat to the independent candidate Elias Jradeh, while another independent, Mark Daou, running in the Mount Lebanon Hezbollahstan
...Formerly inhabited by hardy Phoenecian traders, its official language is now Arabic, with the usual unpleasant side effects. ...
 region of Aley against longtime Druze politician Talal Arslan, said he's "heading to a big victory."

In Beirut II, the list backed by ex-PM Fouad al-Saniora won one seat and the Hizbullah, Amal, FPM list won three seats, while the October 17 forces won at least two seats. The PSP candidate on Saniora's backed list, MP Faisal al-Sayegh, lost his seat to the Druze candidate who ran on MP Fouad Makhzoumi's list. The latter's list won two seats.

In Beirut I, the LF have won so far 3 seats, while independent candidate Paula Yaacoubian's list Li Watani won two seats, the FPM won two and the Kataeb two.

In Sidon-Jezzine, the LF won 2 seats and the Free Patriotic Movement and Amal lost in an unprecedented defeat in this district.

Ghada Ayyoub (LF), Abdel Rahman al-Bizri, Oussama Saad, Said al Asmar (LF) and independent candidate Charbel Massaad won the highest votes in the district.

In Batroun, FPM chief Jebran Bassil maintained his seat while the LF won the second seat by a higher number of votes.

In West Bekaa, according to early results, Hassan Murad, Wael Abou Faour, Qabalan Qabalan, Charbel Maroun, independent candidate Yassin Yassin, and Ghassan Skaf will likely win, while Deputy Speaker Elie Ferzli will likely lose.

In Akkar, the FPM won three seats while ex-Mustaqbal
... the Future Movement, political party led by Saad Hariri...
 affiliated, MP Hadi Hbeish, has lost.

In Tripoli
...a confusing city, one end of which is located in Lebanon and the other end of which is the capital of Libya. Its chief distinction is being mentioned in the Marine Hymn...
-Minieh-Dinniyeh, Justice Minister Ashraf Rifi's list has won at least 3 seats, for the first time, with one seat to an allied LF candidate, while Faisal Karami's seat is not guaranteed yet.

In the Metn district, the Kataeb, the LF, and the FPM have won 2 seats each. Michel Murr and Hagop Pakradounian have also won.

In Baadba, the FPM lost one of its past seats to an LF-allied candidate Camille Chamoun of the National Libaral Party (al-Ahrar).

Al Ahram explains:
Early results: Lebanon's Hezbollah suffers election losses

[AlAhram] Lebanon's militant Hezbollah group and its allies appear to have suffered some losses in this weekend's parliamentary elections, with their opponents gaining more seats and some of their traditional partners not making it into the legislature, early results showed Monday.

Despite the apparent setback, Hezbollah and its main Shiite ally, the Amal group of Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri, are likely to retain the 27 seats allocated to the sect. The unofficial results show that independents, including those from the 2019 protest movement, made some gains by removing longtime politicians from parliament.

The closely watched elections on Sunday were the first since a devastating economic crisis erupted in Lebanon in October 2019, triggering nationwide protests against the ruling class blamed for decades of corruption and mismanagement.

It was also the first election since the August 2020 Beirut port explosion that killed more than 200 people, injured thousands and destroyed parts of the Lebanese capital. The blast, widely blamed on negligence, was set off by hundreds of tons of poorly stored ammonium nitrate that ignited in a port warehouse.

The Saudi-backed Christian Lebanese Forces party, which has been among the most vocal critics of the Iran-armed Hezbollah, says it won at least 20 seats, adding five members from the 2018 vote. This would make it the largest Christian bloc in parliament, replacing the Free Patriotic Movement that was founded by President Michel Aoun and has been a Hezbollah ally since 2006.

Independents also appear to be making some significant gains, but they remain far from making changes as the main winners of the vote are likely to be mainstream political group.

A strong Hezbollah ally in south Lebanon reportedly lost his seat to an independent, while another independent, Mark Daou, says ``we are heading to a big victory.'' Daou is running in the Mount Lebanon region of Aley against longtime Druze politician Talal Arslan.

Official results were expected to be announced later Monday.

Lebanon holds elections every four years and the new parliament will elect a new president after Aoun's term ends in October.
Link


Syria-Lebanon-Iran
Mawlawi urges Sunnis to pull Lebanon out of 'new type of war'
2022-05-12
[NAHARNET] Interior Minister Bassam Mawlawi has called on Lebanon’s Sunni community to turn out heavily in the May 15 parliamentary elections, warning that “reluctance from practicing the right of voting would deepen the country’s crises.”

“You actively took part in founding the country and enshrining its National Pact. You did not take part in civil war and you did not take up arms. Today you are invited to participate heavily in pulling Lebanon out of a war that is of another nature – the war of poverty, deprivation and employment, which has entered into the homes of all Lebanese,” Mawlawi said in an interview with the Saudi al-Bilad newspaper.

“You are asked to be loyal to your Arabism and keen on the legitimacy of your state,” the minister added.

Ex-PM Saad Hariri, the leader of the biggest Sunni party in the country, had recently announced that his al-Mustaqbal Movement would not take part in the elections.
Link


Syria-Lebanon-Iran
Report Says IS Planned to Assassinate Macron, 'Saad Too'
2022-03-15
[An Nahar] The Islamic State
...formerly ISIS or ISIL, depending on your preference. Before that they were al-Qaeda in Iraq, as shaped by Abu Musab Zarqawi. They're really very devout, committing every atrocity they can find in the Koran and inventing a few more. They fling Allah around with every other sentence, but to hear western pols talk they're not really Moslems....
 had planned to assassinate French President Emmanuel Macron during a visit to Leb
...an Iranian colony situated on the eastern Mediterranean, conveniently adjacent to Israel. Formerly inhabited by hardy Phoenecian traders, its official language is now Arabic, with the usual unpleasant side effects. The Leb civil war, between 1975 and 1990, lasted a little over 145 years and produced 120,000 fatalities. The average length of a ceasefire was measured in seconds. The Lebs maintain a precarious sectarian balance among Shiites, Sunnis, and about a dozeen flavors of Christians. It is the home of Hezbollah, which periodically starts a war with the Zionist Entity, gets Beirut pounded to rubble, and then declares victory and has a parade. The Lebs have the curious habit of periodically murdering their heads of state or prime ministers...
 in September 2020, al-Akhbar newspaper reported on Monday.The daily said it has learned that the IS group had also been planning to assassinate ex-Prime Minister Saad Hariri
...Second son of Rafik Hariri, the Leb PM who was assassinated in 2005. He has was prime minister in his own right from 2009 through early 2011. He was born in Riyadh to an Iraqi mother and graduated from Georgetown University. He managed his father's business interests in Riyadh until his father's assassination. When his father died he inherited a fortune of some $4.1 billion, which won't do him much good if Hizbullah has him bumped off, too....
 and Free Patriotic Movement
Despite its name a Christian party allied with Hizbullah, neither free nor particularly patriotic...
 chief Jebran Bassil.

The Lebanese investigations indicated that the IS hard boyz were instructed to carry out a suicide kaboom in a blast-hit Christian neighborhood or at the Beirut port, al-Akhbar said.

A coded message was found on a laptop belonging to the network's leader Mohammed al-Hajjar. The technical info showed that members of the IS group and an external handler had discussed the possibility of Hariri being with the French President at the targeted site. The handler answered: "Kill Saad too!"
ISIS does that a lot: they make grand plans, get everybody all worked up, but then nothing ever happens.



Link


Syria-Lebanon-Iran
Hariri Slams Hizbullah after STL Reverses Acquittals of Merhi and Oneissi
2022-03-11
[An Nahar] Ex-PM Saad Hariri
...Second son of Rafik Hariri, the Leb PM who was assassinated in 2005. He has was prime minister in his own right from 2009 through early 2011. He was born in Riyadh to an Iraqi mother and graduated from Georgetown University. He managed his father's business interests in Riyadh until his father's assassination. When his father died he inherited a fortune of some $4.1 billion, which won't do him much good if Hizbullah has him bumped off, too....
 on Thursday lashed out at Hizbullah
...Party of God, a Leb militia inspired, founded, funded and directed by Iran. Hizbullah refers to itself as The Resistance and purports to defend Leb against Israel, with whom it has started and lost one disastrous war to date, though it did claim victory...
 for "protecting the criminals," after the Special Tribunal for Leb
...an Iranian colony situated on the eastern Mediterranean, conveniently adjacent to Israel. Formerly inhabited by hardy Phoenecian traders, its official language is now Arabic, with the usual unpleasant side effects. The Leb civil war, between 1975 and 1990, lasted a little over 145 years and produced 120,000 fatalities. The average length of a ceasefire was measured in seconds. The Lebs maintain a precarious sectarian balance among Shiites, Sunnis, and about a dozeen flavors of Christians. It is the home of Hezbollah, which periodically starts a war with the Zionist Entity, gets Beirut pounded to rubble, and then declares victory and has a parade. The Lebs have the curious habit of periodically murdering their heads of state or prime ministers...
 reversed the acquittals of Hizbullah operatives Hassan Merhi and Hussein Oneissi in the case of Rafik Hariri’s liquidation.

"Ex-PM Saad Hariri renews his full confidence and complete commitment to what the Special Tribunal for Lebanon issues in the case of the liquidation of martyr premier Rafik Hariri and his lover companions as well as in the connected cases," his press office said in a statement.

"The Appeals Chamber’s decision to reverse the acquittals of the Accused Hassan Habib Merhi and Hussein Hassan Oneissi obligates the Lebanese state and all its military and security authorities and agencies to seek the arrest of the convicts to hand them over to the STL for the execution of the decided penalties," the statement added.

It said that Hariri also calls for the arrest of the third convict in the case — Hizbullah operative Salim Ayyash.

Hariri "holds Hizbullah responsible for covering up for the crime, protecting the criminals who belong to it, and evading the rulings of international justice," the statement added.

"History will not be merciful on all the culprits and plotters who planned the liquidation crime, and it will remain on the lookout for every party or leadership that fails to implement justice and penalize the criminal murderers," the statement said.
Link


Syria-Lebanon-Iran
Tearful Hariri Withdraws from Politics Citing 'Iranian Influence' and 'Int'l Confusion'
2022-01-25
[AnNahar] al-Mustaqbal
... the Future Movement, political party led by Saad Hariri...
 Movement leader ex-PM Saad Hariri
...Second son of Rafik Hariri, the Leb PM who was assassinated in 2005. He has was prime minister in his own right from 2009 through early 2011. He was born in Riyadh to an Iraqi mother and graduated from Georgetown University. He managed his father's business interests in Riyadh until his father's assassination. When his father died he inherited a fortune of some $4.1 billion, which won't do him much good if Hizbullah has him bumped off, too....
 announced Monday the "suspension" of his role in political life and confirmed that neither him nor his political movement would run in the upcoming parliamentary elections.

The 51-year-old, who was propelled into politics by his father Rafik's liquidation in 2005, announced his decision during a presser in Beirut.

"Rafik Hariri's project can be summarized with two ideas -- preventing civil war in Lebanon Hezbollahstan
...a formerly French, now an Iranian colony situated on the eastern Mediterranean, conveniently adjacent to Israel. ...
 and providing a better life for the Lebanese. I succeeded in the first and didn't achieve enough success in the second," Hariri said.

"Preventing civil war obliged me to engage in settlements, from containing the repercussions of May 7 (festivities) to the Doha Agreement to visiting Damascus, Michel Aoun
...president of Leb, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Hizbullah...
's election and the electoral law," the ex-PM added, noting that these settlements came at his expense.

Noting that "preventing civil war" and "securing a better life for the Lebanese" were behind every step that he took, Hariri pointed out that this approach was the reason behind the loss of his "personal fortune, some foreign friendships, a lot of national alliances and even some comrades and brothers."

"What I cannot bear is that a number of Lebanese now consider me to be one of the members of the ruling class that caused the disaster," Hariri went on to say.

Adding that he is convinced that "there is no hope for any positive chance for Lebanon amid the Iranian influence, international confusion, national divisions, the aggravation of sectarianism and the state’s decay," the ex-PM announced the suspension of his role in political life and called on al-Mustaqbal Movement to take the same step.

"No nominations will be made for the parliamentary elections, neither by al-Mustaqbal Movement nor in the name of the Movement," he confirmed.

Addressing the supporters of political Harirism, the ex-PM said he will "remain in the service of our people and country."

"From our position as citizens, we will continue to cling to Rafik Hariri’s project to prevent civil war and seek a better life for all Lebanese. We will remain in the service of Lebanon and the Lebanese and our houses will remain open," Hariri added.
Related:
Saad Hariri: 2022-01-16 Hbeish Says 'Almost Certain' Hariri Won't Run in Elections
Saad Hariri: 2022-01-15 Dialogue Boycotters Hit Back at Aoun, Call Him 'Disruption Expert'
Saad Hariri: 2022-01-05 Hariri Tells Nasrallah History 'Won't be Merciful' on Hizbullah
Link


Sri Lanka
Hbeish Says 'Almost Certain' Hariri Won't Run in Elections
2022-01-16
[An Nahar] It is "most likely" that al-Mustaqbal
... the Future Movement, political party led by Saad Hariri...
 Movement leader ex-PM Saad Hariri
...Second son of Rafik Hariri, the Leb PM who was assassinated in 2005. He has was prime minister in his own right from 2009 through early 2011. He was born in Riyadh to an Iraqi mother and graduated from Georgetown University. He managed his father's business interests in Riyadh until his father's assassination. When his father died he inherited a fortune of some $4.1 billion, which won't do him much good if Hizbullah has him bumped off, too....
 will not personally run in the upcoming parliamentary elections, MP Hadi Hbeish said.

"This information has become almost certain, while the issue of running in elections in the regions will be the subject of serious discussions with him," Hbeish added.
Link


Syria-Lebanon-Iran
Dialogue Boycotters Hit Back at Aoun, Call Him 'Disruption Expert'
2022-01-15
[An Nahar] Democratic Gathering Bloc MP Hadi Abou El-Hassan, said that President Michel Aoun
...president of Leb, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Hizbullah...
 instead of "lecturing" the dialogue boycotters, should have addressed "his ally," which is "the main party disrupting the country."He added that "the one who had disrupted the country for 9 years out of his 16 years of management, shouldn’t accuse people of arrogance and of disrupting dialogue."

Aoun on Thursday had lashed out at those who announced their boycott of his proposed national dialogue conference, holding them responsible for the continued paralysis of the country, which triggered the dialogue boycotters to strike back accusing the FPM and its ally Hizbullah
...Party of God, a Leb militia inspired, founded, funded and directed by Iran. Hizbullah refers to itself as The Resistance and purports to defend Leb against Israel, with whom it has started and lost one disastrous war to date, though it did claim victory...
 of disrupting the country.

The media advisor of ex-PM Saad Hariri
...Second son of Rafik Hariri, the Leb PM who was assassinated in 2005. He has was prime minister in his own right from 2009 through early 2011. He was born in Riyadh to an Iraqi mother and graduated from Georgetown University. He managed his father's business interests in Riyadh until his father's assassination. When his father died he inherited a fortune of some $4.1 billion, which won't do him much good if Hizbullah has him bumped off, too....
 said that the presidency is "the godfather of disruption" and that it had disrupted the government for years.

Lebanese Forces
A Christian political party founded by Bashir Gemayel, who was then bumped off when he was elected president of Leb...
 MP Anis Nassar joined the Progressive Socialist Party and al-Mustaqbal
... the Future Movement, political party led by Saad Hariri...
 Movement in hitting back at Aoun.

He told al-Anbaa news portal that the President is "an expert in disruption," as he had in the past disrupted the government for six months "to make his son-in-law Jebran Bassil a minister."

He added that Aoun had disrupted the presidential elections for two years and a half to secure his appointment as a president, and had also prevented the government from making reforms after the elections because of a bickering between Bassil and the Prime Minister at the time.

Nassar went on to say that "the call for dialogue came too late, now that the country is at its last breath."



Link


Syria-Lebanon-Iran
Hariri Tells Nasrallah History 'Won't be Merciful' on Hizbullah
2022-01-05
[An Nahar] Ex-PM Saad Hariri
...Second son of Rafik Hariri, the Leb PM who was assassinated in 2005. He has was prime minister in his own right from 2009 through early 2011. He was born in Riyadh to an Iraqi mother and graduated from Georgetown University. He managed his father's business interests in Riyadh until his father's assassination. When his father died he inherited a fortune of some $4.1 billion, which won't do him much good if Hizbullah has him bumped off, too....
 on Tuesday hit out at Hizbullah
...Party of God, a Leb militia inspired, founded, funded and directed by Iran. Hizbullah refers to itself as The Resistance and purports to defend Leb against Israel, with whom it has started and lost one disastrous war to date, though it did claim victory...
 chief Sayyed His Eminence Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah
Link


Syria-Lebanon-Iran
Jumblat Says Lebanese Decision 'Usurped' by Hizbullah, 'New System' Needed
2021-12-08
[An Nahar] Progressive Socialist Party leader Walid Wally Jumblat
...Druze politician, head of the Progressive Socialist Party, who's been on every side in Leb at least four times. He'll sell you his friends for a dollar, but family comes higher because of shipping and handling...
 has decried that "today, more than ever, we are living in another Lebanon Hezbollahstan
...The Lebs have the curious habit of periodically murdering their heads of state or prime ministers, a practice dating back to the heady days of human sacrifice to Baal Moloch...
.""The Lebanese decision has been completely usurped by a party that extends from here to the Islamic Theocratic Republic" of Iran, Jumblat said in an interview with the PSP’s al-Anbaa news portal, referring to Hizbullah
...Party of God, a Leb militia inspired, founded, funded and directed by Iran. Hizbullah refers to itself as The Resistance and purports to defend Leb against Israel, with whom it has started and lost one disastrous war to date, though it did claim victory...
"At the same time, there is the enormous economic crisis, which is the result of bad behavior, or the exacerbation of the class of bankers and traders and those in the political class who are benefitting from the discrepancy in the exchange rate," Jumblat added.

He accordingly called for "a new political system that emerges from a new electoral system."

"The current system is a system of splitting shares between the Shiite duo and the Christian duo, and the biggest loser in this system was al-Mustaqbal
... the Future Movement, political party led by Saad Hariri...
 Movement chief Saad Hariri
...Second son of Rafik Hariri, the Leb PM who was assassinated in 2005. He has was prime minister in his own right from 2009 through early 2011. He was born in Riyadh to an Iraqi mother and graduated from Georgetown University. He managed his father's business interests in Riyadh until his father's assassination. When his father died he inherited a fortune of some $4.1 billion, which won't do him much good if Hizbullah has him bumped off, too....
 as well as us as a minority party and the general and national parties that call for abolishing political sectarianism," Jumblat explained.

He, however, said that it is not possible to build a new electoral system under the current political equation.

As for the controversy over the port blast investigations, the PSP leader said recusing Judge Tarek Bitar from interrogating former ministers is "not the appropriate solution," seeing as it would fragment the investigation.

He added that Bitar "should have questioned the judge who ordered the confiscation of the ship and the unloading of its cargo, seeing as the ship was full of ammonium nitrate."

Separately, Jumblat said "regaining Lebanon from the Iranian axis requires international circumstances that would allow the country to be present."

As for the upcoming presidential election and the possibility of extending the term of President Michel Aoun
...president of Leb, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Hizbullah...
, the PSP leader said: "Constitutionally, President Michel Aoun cannot have his term extended. This matter contradicts with the constitution and he must hand over his post when the final moment comes."
Link


Syria-Lebanon-Iran
Hezbollah-Saudi crisis deepens and could impact Israel
2021-11-01
[JPost] Saudi Arabia and Bahrain have expelled Lebanon’s ambassadors in recent days. Hezbollah may see an opening and could increase tensions
When are they NOT increasing?
A crisis between Hezbollah and Saudi Arabia is growing.

"We are facing a crisis created by one of the countries in the region, which is waging a brutal war against another Arab country," said Mohammed Raad, head of the Hezbollah faction in the Lebanese parliament.

The regional tensions could also affect Israel.

Raad was quoted in Iranian media in recent days. His comments refer to Saudi Arabia’s "hostile" actions against Lebanon. In fact, Riyadh responded to a Lebanese official supporting the Houthi rebels in Yemen after Lebanese Information Minister George Kordahi had appeared to praise the Houthis.

The Hezbollah official said: "One of the ministers of the Lebanese government issued a statement in support of the right of the Yemeni people to protect themselves against the aggressor coalition that has invaded their country, before assuming the post of minister in this government." Saudi Arabia and Bahrain have expelled Lebanon’s ambassadors in recent days. Lebanon’s president is seeking to heal the rift. Hezbollah may see an opening and could increase tensions. Saudi Arabia wants to harm the "stability" of Lebanon, the official said. In fact, Lebanon is unstable and bankrupt.

Hezbollah claims to be concerned that Riyadh might be making more light of the controversy because of upcoming elections. However, the reality may be that Hezbollah is trying to stoke a controversy to get votes or create a crisis.

Raad said: "Those who are creating a crisis for Lebanon do not want the elections to be held in this country, and they intend to disrupt these elections, and perhaps they realized that the results of the next elections will not be the way they want them to be."

Thirty years ago, Saudi Arabia was key to the Taif Agreement that ended the Lebanese Civil War. Riyadh is seen as generally supporting the status quo and Sunni politicians in Lebanon, such as Saad Hariri. Hezbollah murdered Hariri’s father, Rafic in 2005.

In recent years, Riyadh has grown tired of backing a Lebanon that continues to be swallowed by Hezbollah. Hezbollah maintains an illegal terrorist army in Lebanon with 150,000 rockets, undermines Lebanon’s foreign policy, conducts its own policies, has its own communications network and in many ways is more powerful than the state.

Israel is conducting a national readiness drill this week. Starting Sunday, Home Front Command and the National Emergency Authority (RAHEL) are holding a weeklong drill that simulates a large-scale war in which civilians may be evacuated from northern border communities in response to rocket barrages from Hezbollah, according to reports.
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