Lebanon blast victim’s brother William Noun freed after outcry

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By Najia Houssari - arabnews.com -- BEIRUT: Families of victims of the Beirut port explosion blocked roads in Beirut and Jbeil on Saturday in protest at the arrest of their spokesman, William Noun, by Lebanon’s national security agency. Pressure by protesters, politicians and activists led to his release after 24 hours in detention. Noun was arrested after a televised statement last Thursday in which he expressed indignation at the obstruction of the investigation into the port explosion in 2020 that claimed the life of his brother Joe, a fireman. The massive blast, triggered when a large amount of ammonium nitrate stored in a warehouse exploded, caused at least 218 deaths and up to $15 billion in property damage. In his statement, Noun criticized an attempt to appoint a substitute judge for investigator Tarek Bitar, who was removed from the case a year ago, and threatened to “blow up the Justice Palace.” His arrest was based on a judicial notice issued by Beirut Attorney General, Judge Zaher Hamadeh. Noun’s house was also raided by state security personnel searching for explosive material.

A political observer told Arab News that Hamadeh has boasted of his ties with Hezbollah and the Amal Movement. Hamadeh was a judicial investigator in the case of Imam Moussa Al-Sadr’s disappearance and has been touted as a possible replacement for Bitar in the port explosion probe, the observer said. Neither the President of the Higher Judicial Council Souheil Abboud nor the General Prosecutor Ghassan Ouweidat attended a council meeting on Saturday. In a statement, those present defended Hamadeh’s decision to arrest Noun, and condemned what they described as “an attack on the judge’s work and dignity.” Families of the victims gathered in front of the state security headquarters, vowing to remain until Noun was released.

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Top Iran diplomat says talks with Saudis could restore ties

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BEIRUT (AP) by BASSEM MROUE , Associated Press -- — Talks between regional rivals Iran and Saudi Arabia are continuing and could eventually restore diplomatic relations that were severed years ago, Iran’s foreign minister said Friday. Hossein Amirabdollahian told reporters in Beirut that he met with Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan Al Saud during a conference in Jordan last month. The meeting was the highest-level encounter between the two countries since they cut relations seven years ago. Sunni powerhouse Saudi Arabia and Iran, which is majority Shiite, have been at odds since Iran’s 1979 Islamic Revolution, but relations worsened after Riyadh in 2016 executed a leading Shiite cleric, Nimr al-Nimr, setting off protests in both countries and souring diplomatic relations. In Tehran, demonstrators set fire to the Saudi Embassy.

Direct talks were launched in April 2021, brokered by Iraq, in a bid to improve ties. The mere existence of a dialogue was seen as important, even if the only notable result so far has been Iran reopening the country’s representative office to the Organization of Islamic Cooperation in the Saudi city of Jeddah. “There was an agreement in our points of view to continue with the Saudi-Iran dialogue in what would eventually normalize relations between the two countries,” Amirabdollahian said about the December meeting in Jordan. Amirabdollahian said the hope is that, eventually, we will reach an agreement on “reopening diplomatic missions and embassies in Riyadh and Tehran." The Iranian diplomat also praised recent contacts between Syrian and Turkish officials saying such talks could positively impact both countries. Turkish and Syrian defense ministers held talks in Moscow in late December, the first ministerial-level meeting between Damascus and Ankara since relations broke down with the start of the Syrian civil war more than 11 years ago.

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Lebanon fails to intercept Israel drone

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by middleeastmonitor.com -- The Lebanese army announced today it had failed to intercept an Israeli drone flown over Lebanon's southern airspace, a statement revealed. It added that a patrol was inspecting a separate incident in the south when a "drone belonging to the Israeli enemy violated Lebanese airspace," prompting soldiers to shoot in its direction. A Lebanese security source told Reuters they failed to shoot it down. It comes after the Lebanese army said earlier this week that an Israeli drone and gunboat violated the Lebanese air space and maritime border, Anadolu News Agency reports. An Israeli army drone violated the Lebanese airspace "from opposite the town of Ramyah towards the town of Marwahin for 20 minutes," the Lebanese Army said in a Monday's statement. Lebanon says Israel violates its airspace and territorial waters on an almost daily basis and had called on the UN to intervene to stop these violations, especially with regard to the Israeli bombing of Syria from Lebanese airspace.

Could one famous Lebanese-American's Ralph Nader radical idea to save Lebanon work?

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By James Zogby -- thenationalnews.com -- Without exaggeration, Ralph Nader is one of the transformational figures in recent US history. Because of efforts he helped lead, we drive safer cars, have cleaner water and air, and have a range of safety protections in our homes and places of work. It wasn’t easy. To build the movement for change, he had to confront major US corporations, banks and powerful political lobbies, all of whom had entrenched interests in maintaining the status quo. I also know Mr Nader to be a deeply committed Arab American of Lebanese descent who is a tireless advocate for justice for Arabs and against discrimination here in the US. For months now, he and I have been discussing the continuing crisis in Lebanon and what, if anything, can be done to pull the country back from the abyss and create viable institutions that can provide needed services and earn public trust.

I am prompted to share some of his ideas after reading a lengthy paper recently released by the American Task Force on Lebanon and the Middle East Institute titled “US-Lebanon Relations: Setting a New International Framework for a More Responsive Government". Both groups have established a record of making valuable contributions to US foreign policy discussion. But while their diagnosis of the problems facing Lebanon are on target, some of the recommendations they offer leave me confounded. The ATFL-MEI report correctly begins with the ominous warning: “Lebanon is on a tragic trajectory, never before seen in its history … Lebanon’s failings can be attributed to endemic corruption by the political class and the ‘state within a state’ impunity of Hezbollah.” This is all true, but then, without even a hint of irony, the report continues: “Lebanon’s leaders must take the necessary risks to reverse their country from falling into the abyss of an economic and political meltdown.” It then goes on to make specific and needed reforms for the Lebanese government, parliament, ministries and political parties to implement.

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Beat the traffic: While Beirut politicians cling to motorcades, a European diplomat opts for a bike

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by arabnews.com -- LONDON: While Lebanese politicians typically travel in multi-car motorcades, at least one European diplomat is beating the heavy Beirut traffic by getting on a bike. In a message posted on Twitter on Thursday, Hans Peter van der Woude, the Dutch ambassador to Lebanon, posted a photo of himself wearing a helmet and standing next to an e-bike as he prepared to set off for a meeting. The photo sparked an online debate about the country’s traffic problems, with many people praising him as an “example” for everyone to follow. “Setting a great example. Drive safely,” one user wrote.

Another asked the envoy whether he feels safe cycling around the busy streets of the capital. “I felt really comfortable on a bicycle in traffic,” van der Woude replied. “Just because drivers are not used to cyclists, they are more careful. One has to be vigilant though, like everyone in Lebanese traffic.” He added that he completes his journeys really quickly compared with people in cars, who often get stuck in traffic jams. Nasser Yassin, Lebanon’s environment minister, retweeted the envoy’s photo, thanked him and said the government backs the use of non-motorized transport options, also known as “soft mobility.” “We are supporting initiatives that will promote soft mobility in Beirut and other cities; but we need to work more with municipalities and others to create the right environment for soft mobility in our cities,” he wrote.

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Minister Sejaan Azzi: حمايةٌ من دون بَدَل أتعاب

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سجعان قزي

@AzziSejean

مطالبةُ السيدِ حسن نصرالله، أمينِ عامّ حزبِ الله، برئيسٍ "يَحمي ظهرَ المقاومةِ الإسلاميّةِ" تُذَكّرنا بمطالبةِ الميليشياتِ المسلَّحةِ الدولةَ سنةَ 1992، إذ لَحظَ اتفاقُ الطائف جَمعَ سلاحِ الميليشيات عمومًا، لكنَّ الجمعَ أتى جُزئيًّا وانتِقائيًّا فاستثْنى كليًّا سلاحَ حزب الله. وما خلا الجانبَ المسيحيَّ، لم يَعترِض على ذلك أركانُ اتّفاقِ الطائف وواضِعوه والحَريصون عليه، لا بل غَطَّوا بقاءَ هذا السلاحِ وسَوَّقوه في العالـمَين العربيِّ والدوليّ، وفتحوا لحزبِ الله قنواتِ اتصالٍ متعدِّدةً وجعلوه شريكًا مضارِبًا في القرارِ والسلطةِ والمفاوضاتِ الديبلوماسيّة. لا يضيعُ خطأٌ في الزمان.

مع الميليشياتِ القديمةِ كنّا نَعرِفُ أين يَبدأُ صدرُها وأين يَنتهي ظَهرُها. لكن أين ظهرُ مقاومةِ حزبِ الله ليحميَه الرئيسُ الجديد؟ الحدودُ مفتوحةٌ. هل تَبدأُ مقاومتُه من البقاعِ والضاحيّةِ الجنوبيّة؟ مِن الحدودِ الجنوبيّةِ ومزارعِ شِبعا؟ من حقولِ الطاقةِ في البحرِ ومدى الـمُسيَّرات في الجوّ؟ وأين تنتهي؟ في إيران وسوريا والعراق واليَمن ودولِ الخليجِ وما بعدَ "بابِ الـمَندِب"؟ في الجليلِ وغَزّة والقُدس وحيفا وما بعدَ حيفا؟

وَرطةُ لبنان أنَّ كلًّا من مكوّناتِه الكبرى اخْتلقَ "معتَقدًا" لا يُمسُّ وتَحصّنَ وراءَه كمرجِعٍ يُعبّر عن معيارِ وجودِه في الفَلَكِ اللبنانيّ. الشيعةُ ابتكروا "المقاومةَ الإسلاميّةَ" وقد صارت مجازيّة. المسيحيّون طرحوا "حقوقَ المسيحيّين" وقد أضْحت أيضًا مَجازيّة. والسُنّةُ استَحْدثوا "اتّفاقَ الطائف" وقد أصبحَ كذلك مجازيًّا. جَعلت هذه المكوّناتُ أو فئاتٌ أساسيةٌ منها هذه "المعتقداتِ الفئويّةَ" محورَ انتمائِها وعلاقتِها بالدولةِ اللبنانيةِ المركزيّة، عِوضَ أن يكونَ الانتماءُ إلى الكيانِ اللبنانيِّ مُحرَّرًا من أيِّ قيدٍ أو شرط. للوهلةِ الأولى نَظُن أنّنا أمامَ مسارٍ وطنيٍّ إيجابيٍّ، إذ صارت الفئاتُ اللبنانيّةُ تَشترِطُ ولاءَها للبنانَ بتأمينِ مطالبِها الذاتيّة، بينما كانت تاريخيًّا تَرهَنُ ولاءَها للكيانِ اللبنانيّ بتأمينِ مصالحِ دولٍ عربيّةٍ وأجنبيّةٍ فيه. لكنْ ما إِن تَحُفُّ بورقةِ "المطالبِ الذاتيّةِ" حتى تَكتشِفَ أنّها غِلافٌ يُخبِّئ تحتَه مطالبَ الدولِ الخارجيّةِ نفسِها مع زيادةِ إيران إلى اللائحة.

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