Berri Says No Negative Fallout on Lebanon from Change in Syria

Lebanon's Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri is pictured as Lebanon's newly elected parliament convenes for the first time to elect a speaker and deputy speaker in Beirut, Lebanon May 31, 2022. (Reuters)
Lebanon's Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri is pictured as Lebanon's newly elected parliament convenes for the first time to elect a speaker and deputy speaker in Beirut, Lebanon May 31, 2022. (Reuters)
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Berri Says No Negative Fallout on Lebanon from Change in Syria

Lebanon's Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri is pictured as Lebanon's newly elected parliament convenes for the first time to elect a speaker and deputy speaker in Beirut, Lebanon May 31, 2022. (Reuters)
Lebanon's Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri is pictured as Lebanon's newly elected parliament convenes for the first time to elect a speaker and deputy speaker in Beirut, Lebanon May 31, 2022. (Reuters)

Lebanon’s parliament Speaker Nabih Berri dismissed on Tuesday the possibility that Lebanon would be negatively affected by the regime change in Syria.

In remarks to Asharq Al-Awsat, he added that so far, it appears that Israel has benefited the most from the situation, followed by Türkiye.

Moreover, the ceasefire agreement, which was sponsored by the US and France, "fortified Lebanon from shakeups", he stressed.

He underscored the need to take further steps "that would increase Lebanon’s immunity and restore regular functioning at its institutions" - a reference to the presidential elections scheduled for January 9.

Hopes are high that a president will be elected after over two years of vacuum caused by differences between political powers over a candidate.

Berri said the elections will be held on time despite the changes in the region and calls for its postponement so that more consultations can be held over potential candidates.

"We will witness the election of a president during the next session. Lebanon will have a president on January 9," he vowed.

"I have an understanding with the quintet (which includes Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Qatar, the US and France) and I have not received any local or foreign request to delay the session," he went on to say.

Meanwhile, head of the Free Patriotic Movement MP Gebran Bassil said Iran-backed Hezbollah needs to focus on domestic issues in Lebanon and not the wider region, adding that he was against Army Commander Joseph Aoun running for the presidency.

A year of fighting between Hezbollah and Israel, which culminated in a tentative ceasefire brokered by the United States and France in November, saw more than 4,000 killed, thousands displaced and the Shiite group considerably weakened militarily with many of its leaders dead.

"It's a process whereby Hezbollah accepts that they are part of the Lebanese state and are not parallel to the state," Bassil told Reuters in an interview in Paris.

"We don't want their end. We want them to be partners in the Lebanese nation, equal to us in abiding by the rules and preserving the sovereignty of Lebanon. We agree with them on defending Lebanon and supporting the Palestinian cause, but politically and diplomatically, not militarily."

Bassil said the group should distance itself from the Iran-aligned "Axis of Resistance".

He was in Paris meeting French officials. He declined to say whether he met Donald Trump's regional envoy Massad Boulos, who accompanied the US president-elect to France last weekend.

Since the truce, Paris has increased efforts to discuss with the myriad key actors in Lebanon over how to break a political impasse after two years without a president or permanent government.

Bassil, who has enough lawmakers to block a candidate, said he was against the candidacy of Joseph Aoun, who diplomats say both the United States and France consider as a serious candidate.

He said Aoun's appointment would be against the constitution and that he did not have consensus among all the Lebanese factions.

"We are against him because we don't see him as being fit for the presidency," Bassil said. "We need candidates who can bring the Lebanese together," he added, declining to name one.



Kurdish Fighters Leave Northern City in Syria as Part of Deal with Central Government

A first contingent of Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) fighters leave Aleppo, headed for SDF-controlled northeastern Syria, in Aleppo, Syria, 04 April 2025. (EPA)
A first contingent of Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) fighters leave Aleppo, headed for SDF-controlled northeastern Syria, in Aleppo, Syria, 04 April 2025. (EPA)
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Kurdish Fighters Leave Northern City in Syria as Part of Deal with Central Government

A first contingent of Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) fighters leave Aleppo, headed for SDF-controlled northeastern Syria, in Aleppo, Syria, 04 April 2025. (EPA)
A first contingent of Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) fighters leave Aleppo, headed for SDF-controlled northeastern Syria, in Aleppo, Syria, 04 April 2025. (EPA)

Scores of US-backed Kurdish fighters left two neighborhoods in Syria’s northern city of Aleppo Friday as part of a deal with the central government in Damascus, which is expanding its authority in the country.

The fighters left the predominantly Kurdish northern neighborhoods of Sheikh Maksoud and Achrafieh, which had been under the control of Kurdish fighters in Aleppo over the past decade.

The deal is a boost to an agreement reached last month between Syria’s interim government and the Kurdish-led authority that controls the country’s northeast. The deal could eventually lead to the merger of the main US-backed force in Syria into the Syrian army.

The withdrawal of fighters from the US-backed and Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) came a day after dozens of prisoners from both sides were freed in Aleppo, Syria’s largest city.

Syria’s state news agency, SANA, reported that government forces were deployed along the road that SDF fighters will use to move between Aleppo and areas east of the Euphrates River, where the Kurdish-led force controls nearly a quarter of Syria.

Sheikh Maksoud and Achrafieh had been under SDF control since 2015 and remained so even when forces of ousted President Bashar al-Assad captured Aleppo in late 2016. The two neighborhoods remained under SDF control when forces loyal to current interim President Ahmed al-Sharaa captured the city in November, and days later captured the capital, Damascus, removing Assad from power.

After being marginalized for decades under the rule of the Assad family rule, the deal signed last month promises Syria’s Kurds “constitutional rights,” including using and teaching their language, which were banned for decades.

Hundreds of thousands of Kurds, who were displaced during Syria’s nearly 14-year civil war, will return to their homes. Thousands of Kurds living in Syria who have been deprived of nationality for decades under Assad will be given the right of citizenship, according to the agreement.

Kurds made up 10% of the country’s prewar population of 23 million. Kurdish leaders say they don’t want full autonomy with their own government and parliament. They want decentralization and room to run their day-to day-affairs.