By: Sammi Ibrahem,Sr
America made its decision: saving Lebanon will not be free … … fulfilling the demands of the demonstrators and a new political system in order to pressure the party!
In a move expected to overshadow the upcoming government – in one form or another – with President Michel Aoun’s willingness to start parliamentary consultations on Monday, the American newspaper “The National” revealed that the US Assistant Secretary of State for Political Affairs David Hill is preparing to visit Lebanon next week. In the details reported by the newspaper, Hill, who previously served as his country’s ambassador to Lebanon, will be the highest-ranking US official to visit Beirut since the outbreak of the October 17 uprising.
Hill’s visit to the Middle East will not be confined to Beirut alone, but he will go to Iraq, which is witnessing widespread protests and floundering after the resignation of Prime Minister Adel Abdul-Mahdi, a step that carries many indications, especially since many link the variables between the American-Iranian conflict and the fate of The Lebanese and Iraqi arenas.
Reading Hill’s visit cannot take place in isolation from Washington’s decision to release the estimated US $ 105 million in military aid months after unjustified suspension on the one hand, and the Bloomberg Agency report on Foreign Minister Mike Pompeo’s intervention “personally” to release economic aid to Lebanon With a value of $ 115 million on the other hand, where diplomatic sources say that Pompeo has been following the situation in Lebanon with interest since his visit to Beirut last April, “So he decided to provide support for the situation in Lebanon, especially in the economic and financial fields, after reaching the abyss.”
Hill’s visit also comes after the failure of the Lebanese political class to attract financial support from the international community, with economists warning of an economic meltdown. In this regard, the newspaper quoted Assistant Secretary of State for Near East Affairs David Schenker, who represented his country at the meeting of the International Support Group for Lebanon, as saying that the parties that attended the meeting agreed to provide technical advice to Lebanese institutions, as it would refrain from providing a financial rescue package or financial support The two were requested by Saad Hariri, the caretaker head of government, without serious reform measures. “There will be no aid package or rescue package,” Schenker said, adding: “Lebanon will not be saved from the financial turmoil in it.”
Limited aid .. What about the government?
In an interview with the Associated Press, Schenker said that the group is considering sending limited humanitarian aid to Lebanon, to reduce the suffering of the population, without specifying its time or size.
For his part, US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo told reporters in Washington that “the responsibility lies with the Lebanese people in order to press for a new political order.” Pompeo said his country is ready to help the Lebanese “reform their economy and government.”
Despite the US escalation in the level of sanctions against “Hezbollah”, where it is reported that the US State Department intends to disclose today the inclusion of new names “close to the party” on the list of sanctions, Schenker insisted that his country does not set conditions at the level of parties that can Participates in the new government.
“So far, we have committed to focusing on a set of principles, which do not include the name of the prime minister, the finance minister, nor the party they belong to, nor the religion they embrace, but rather their ability to carry out reforms,” Schenker commented.
What do analysts expect from Hill’s visit?
For his part, Assistant Professor at Washington University, Firas Maksad, stressed that saving Lebanon financially will not be free, saying: “The United States insists on pledging all future assistance to Lebanon by forming a government that is able to meet the demands of the protesters to undertake meaningful reforms,” adding: “It will be delivered David Hill has this strict message to Beirut officials. ” “The American approach combines American values related to supporting the peoples’ rightful demands, and its more urgent geopolitical goals centered on pressure on Iran’s allies, including Hezbollah, “he added.
Breaking news
The US Treasury will impose new sanctions on Lebanese personalities
Al Arabiya reported that the US Treasury Department will impose sanctions on Lebanese people accused of money laundering and tax evasion. On Friday, the Ministry will announce the names of the persons involved in these crimes.
It quoted more than one source as saying that the US administration, and within its policy to hold people close to Hezbollah designated terrorist on the lists of the State Department and the Treasury, is putting names on the sanctions lists periodically after confirming their involvement and support for or close to Hezbollah.
The administration of US President Donald Trump takes a firm line with regard to holding everyone accountable for logistical assistance to Hezbollah, and do not hesitate to put them on the sanctions lists, to prohibit dealing with them banking and to freeze their bank accounts.
This comes at a time when a US official confirmed to Al-Arabiya and Al-Hadath that the American Assistant Secretary of State, former ambassador to Lebanon David Hill, will visit Beirut next to his visit to Baghdad next week.
The official said that Hill will carry a clear and strong message on his shoulders to Lebanese officials, namely that the administration will not provide financial support to save Lebanon from an imminent economic collapse until after the formation of a government that responds to the demands of the Lebanese people who took to the streets demanding to fight corruption and form a government of technocrats.
It seems that this American position is consistent with the position of European and regional countries that no money should be given to the current Lebanese government until after taking radical economic reforms and forming a government that represents the demands of the demonstrators.
Canada called thousands of Lebanese to immigrate to it .
The talk about the Canadian embassy opening the doors of immigration to the Lebanese caused a great stir in the public opinion, which necessitated the visit of the head of the “Land Movement” Talal Doueihy to the Maronite Patriarch Mar Bechara Boutros Al-Rahi to limit the return of immigration.
Douaihy reports, in an interview with MTV, that “a large number of Lebanese, the vast majority of whom are Christians, have received calls from the immigration administration offices located in various Canadian regions to inform the thousands of Lebanese, who had previously applied to leave Lebanon, that they had accepted it a few days ago.”
He revealed that “Canada had contacts with 6000 Lebanese Christian citizens”, expressing his fear of the “suspicious backgrounds behind this step, especially that it affects various social groups, and the worst is that it includes in particular the brains and energies that the country needs in this economic and living circumstance Difficult”.
Al-Duwaihi pointed out that “this matter led me to conduct an urgent visit to the patriarch, the shepherd, who responded to my request and took a decisive stance on this level.”
An international report on the level of corruption in Lebanon … This is what it says!
A new international report on the level of corruption revealed that the countries of Lebanon, Jordan and Palestine lead the countries of the Middle East and North Africa in terms of the number of citizens who were offered bribes in exchange for selling their votes in the elections.
The report issued by Transparency International included a survey in which 6600 citizens from 6 Arab countries participated: Lebanon, Jordan, Palestine, Sudan, Tunisia and Morocco, to be a expression of the population blocs in the largest geographical regions in the region.
The report showed that 47 percent of Lebanese participants were offered a bribe in exchange for their votes, 26 percent in Jordan, and 12 percent in Palestine.
Also, 28 percent of the Lebanese respondents said that they were threatened with the intention of pushing them to vote for a party, and this percentage decreases to 4 percent in Palestine and 3 percent in Jordan.
The sectors that received the most bribes were the police, and the Lebanese police came first, with 36 percent of the Lebanese surveyed paying bribes for police services.
On the level of public utilities services, Lebanon topped the list again, at a rate of 51 percent of respondents who said they used mediators to facilitate access to public services such as electricity and water, then Jordan and Palestine at a rate of 21 percent each.
