Spotlight
Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu on Tuesday urged all parties to overcome the problems in Lebanon so that the Lebanese people do not have to “pay the price of regional bargains.”
Çavuşoğlu stated in a joint press conference with his Lebanese counterpart Abdallah Bou Habib that “we feel sad over the Lebanon-Gulf crisis,” and hoped for solving the row through negotiations. “Turkey is ready to do its part,” he affirmed.
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Central Bank Governor Riad Salameh will make a shellshock monetary-judicial revelation in the next few days that will change the course of the legal disputes, LBCI television reported.
A judicial spokesman in Luxembourg meanwhile said that judicial authorities these have launched a “criminal lawsuit” related to Salameh and his companies and assets. A spokesman for Salameh for his part said that the governor has not been notified of any lawsuit against him in Luxembourg, declining to give further comments.
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Intensive efforts are being made to reach a solution for the suspension of Cabinet sessions and the results might appear in the next few days, informed sources said.
“There are four proposals that are being discussed to agree on a solution that would lead to resuming Cabinet’s sessions,” the sources told MTV.
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The press office of Prime Minister Najib Miqati denied Tuesday news about solving the political crisis by dismissing port blast investigator Judge Tarek Bitar in order to resume the Cabinet sessions in return.
“The prime minister refutes these news,” the statement said, adding that Miqati’s solution map stresses that “there shouldn’t be any political interference with the judiciary’s work.”
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President Michel Aoun will visit Qatar on November 30 at the head of a Lebanese delegation to take part in the opening ceremony of a sport event, al-Joumhouria newspaper reported on Tuesday.
“Aoun is expected to hold political meetings on the sidelines of the visit, which carries significant indications amid the diplomatic crisis between Lebanon, Saudi Arabia and some Gulf countries, although the visit’s nature is sport-linked,” the daily added.
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Head of the Free Patriotic Movement Jebran Bassil asked Monday why Central Bank Governor Riad Salameh hasn’t been prosecuted in Lebanon yet.
“Is it acceptable for Salameh to be prosecuted and interrogated in many European countries but not in Lebanon?” Bassil questioned in a tweet.
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President Michel Aoun on Monday said “efforts are underway to address the situation that erupted between Lebanon, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and a number of Gulf countries.”
He added that the efforts are based on “Lebanon’s keenness to establish the best relations with the brotherly Arab countries, especially KSA and the Gulf nations.”
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Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri has reportedly called on the political parties to show unity in order to “rescue” the port blast probe as well as President Michel Aoun’s tenure and the whole country.
“Let them vote for the formation of a (parliamentary) panel of inquiry, which would solve 80% of Lebanon’s current problem, and this is what the parliament speaker told to the Maronite patriarch, who expressed his delight and support,” sources close to Berri told al-Joumhouria newspaper in remarks published Monday.
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Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan Al Saud has urged the Lebanese political class to put an end to Hizbullah’s “hegemony.”
Bin Farhan affirmed that KSA is not willing to communicate with the Lebanese government “for the time being.”
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A “scenario” is being prepared to dismiss port blast lead investigator Judge Tarek Bitar, MTV said.
The TV channel learned that to dismiss Bitar, Prime Minister Najib Miqati is relying on two lawsuits against the state filed by ex-PM Hassan Diab and ex-minister Nouhad al-Mashnouq.
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