Report: Berri Ready to Request Central Bank Governor for Loan to Pay Military Salaries

Speaker Nabih Berri has expressed his disappointment with the failure to pay the salaries of military officials, highlighting the need to urgently resolve this issue, reported al-Joumhouria newspaper on Monday.

His visitors on Sunday reported him as saying that he is “willing to request the Central Bank governor to pay the wages should all efforts to resolve the case fail.”

The loan will be paid back to the bank at a later time, he added.

Furthermore, he criticized “those who reject to tackle the issue”, saying that they are pushing towards “the slow suicide of the state.”

High-ranking military sources meanwhile told the daily that the case of the salaries should not be subject to the same political meddling of other national issues.

This issue should not fall victim to sectarian and petty interests, they warned.

To that end, they urged the political powers to take action to solve the problem “because the salaries of military officials is a red line.”

“The morale of the military personnel should not be targeted, because such a violation targets the whole country,” they stressed.

The sources said that L.L. 118 billion are needed to pay the salaries, adding that “these funds are available, but the paralysis of state institutions are thwarting the payments.”

They warned that Army Commander General Jean Qahwaji will not remain silent over the failure to pay the wages.

Finance Minister Ali Hassan Khalil had carried out on Sunday a series of contacts to “resolve this issue in a manner that would not force his ministry to commit a violation,” reported al-Joumhouria.

An Nahar daily on Monday reported that Berri, Prime Minister Tammam Salam, Khalil, and former general secretary of the government Suheil Bouji are devising a decree that would order the payment of the salaries without having to call cabinet to session to address it.

The military have not received their salaries for the month of October which drew the ire of the army.

Lebanon has been without a head of state since President Michel Suleiman's six-year term ended in May last year.

The Baabda Palace vacuum has caused the parliament's paralysis and huge differences among cabinet members.

The government assumed the responsibilities of the head of state in his absence but sharp differences have stopped it short of taking important decisions.

M.T.

D.A.