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World Bank Looking to Free up Emergency Funds for Lebanon, Managing Director Says

A plume of smoke billows following an Israeli air strike on the village of Khiam in southern Lebanon near the border with Israel on October 7, 2024. (AFP)
A plume of smoke billows following an Israeli air strike on the village of Khiam in southern Lebanon near the border with Israel on October 7, 2024. (AFP)
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World Bank Looking to Free up Emergency Funds for Lebanon, Managing Director Says

A plume of smoke billows following an Israeli air strike on the village of Khiam in southern Lebanon near the border with Israel on October 7, 2024. (AFP)
A plume of smoke billows following an Israeli air strike on the village of Khiam in southern Lebanon near the border with Israel on October 7, 2024. (AFP)

The World Bank is looking to free up emergency funds for Lebanon, potentially including up to $100 million through the use of special clauses in existing loan deals, its managing director of operations told Reuters.

The Washington-based development lender currently has $1.65 billion in loans to the country including a $250 million loan approved this week to help connect dispersed renewable energy projects in the country.

Amid fighting across southern Lebanon, the bank was currently discussing ways in which it could help support the economy, including through the use of so-called Contingent Emergency Response Component (CERCs) clauses.

"We can use our existing portfolio and free up some money for really critical, short-term liquidity needs," Anna Bjerde said.

CERCs are present in around 600 of the bank's existing projects, globally, and allow it to redirect funds that have yet to be disbursed, if requested to by a government, for example after a health or natural disaster, or during conflict.

Lebanon has yet to make such a request, Bjerde said.

After a year of exchanges of fire between Hezbollah and Israel mostly limited to the frontier region, the conflict has significantly escalated in Lebanon.

Hezbollah fired rockets at Israel's third largest city Haifa on Monday, while Israeli forces looked poised to expand ground raids into south Lebanon on the first anniversary of the Gaza war, which has spread conflict across the Middle East.

Lebanon's government could choose to use an existing social protection program that was put in place during the COVID-19 pandemic that allows for financial support to be sent to individuals, Bjerde said.

"It has the benefit of being totally digital so you can reach people, plus it can be verified a bit... so we will also probably use that to top up the social safety net for those that are particularly affected."

Up to 1 million people have been internally displaced in the country, she added: "So it's important we focus on that".

Lebanon's finance ministry and economy ministry did not immediately respond when asked for comment.

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Türkiye Will Do ‘Whatever It Takes’ If Syria Govt Cannot Address Kurd Militia Issue, FM Says

Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan attends a press conference following a meeting of foreign Ministers on developments in Syria in Aqaba, Jordan, 14 December 2024. (EPA)
Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan attends a press conference following a meeting of foreign Ministers on developments in Syria in Aqaba, Jordan, 14 December 2024. (EPA)
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Türkiye Will Do ‘Whatever It Takes’ If Syria Govt Cannot Address Kurd Militia Issue, FM Says

Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan attends a press conference following a meeting of foreign Ministers on developments in Syria in Aqaba, Jordan, 14 December 2024. (EPA)
Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan attends a press conference following a meeting of foreign Ministers on developments in Syria in Aqaba, Jordan, 14 December 2024. (EPA)

Türkiye will do "whatever it takes" to ensure its security if the new Syrian administration cannot address Ankara's concerns about US-allied Kurdish groups it views as terrorist groups, Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan said on Saturday.

Türkiye regards the YPG, the militant group spearheading the US-allied Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), as an extension of the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) militants who have fought an insurgency against the Turkish state for 40 years and are deemed terrorists by Ankara, Washington, and the European Union.

Hostilities have escalated since the toppling of Bashar al-Assad less than two weeks ago, with Türkiye and Syrian groups it backs seizing the city of Manbij from the SDF on Dec. 9. Assad's fall has left the Kurdish factions on the back foot as they seek to retain political gains made in the last 13 years.

In an interview with France 24, Fidan said Ankara's preferred option was for the new administration in Damascus to address the problem in line with Syria's territorial unity, sovereignty, and integrity, adding that the YPG should be disbanded immediately.

"If it doesn't happen, we have to protect our own national security," he said. When asked if that included military action, Fidan said: "Whatever it takes."

Asked about SDF commander Mazloum Abdi's comments about the possibility of a negotiated solution with Ankara, Fidan said the group should seek such a settlement with Damascus, as there was "a new reality" there now.

"The new reality, hopefully, they will address these issues, but at the same time, (the) YPG/PKK, they know what we want. We don't want to see any form of military threat to ourselves. Not the present one, but also the potential one," he added.

Ankara, alongside Syrian allies, has mounted several cross-border offensives against the YPG-led SDF in northern Syria, while repeatedly demanding that its NATO ally Washington halt support for the fighters.

The US-backed SDF played a major role defeating ISIS militants in 2014-2017 with US air support, and still guards its fighters in prison camps. US Secretary of State Antony Blinken warned that the extremist group would try to re-establish capabilities in this period.

Fidan said he didn't find the recent uptick in US troops in Syria to be the "right decision", adding the battle against ISIS was an "excuse" to maintain support for the SDF.

"The fight against ISIS, there is only one job: to keep ISIS prisoners in prisons, that's it," he said.

Fidan also said that the Hayat Tahrir al-Sham group, which swept into Damascus to topple Assad, had "excellent cooperation" with Ankara in the battle against ISIS and al-Qaeda in the past through intelligence sharing.

He also said Türkiye was not in favor of any foreign bases, including Russian ones, remaining in Syria, but that the choice was up to the Syrian people.