Implicit Understanding to Dissociate Cabinet Session from Aoun-Berri Crisis

Lebanon’s President Michel Aoun talks to Prime Minister Saad al-Hariri during the cabinet meeting in Baabda near Beirut, Lebanon December 5, 2017. REUTERS/Mohamed Azakir
Lebanon’s President Michel Aoun talks to Prime Minister Saad al-Hariri during the cabinet meeting in Baabda near Beirut, Lebanon December 5, 2017. REUTERS/Mohamed Azakir
TT
20

Implicit Understanding to Dissociate Cabinet Session from Aoun-Berri Crisis

Lebanon’s President Michel Aoun talks to Prime Minister Saad al-Hariri during the cabinet meeting in Baabda near Beirut, Lebanon December 5, 2017. REUTERS/Mohamed Azakir
Lebanon’s President Michel Aoun talks to Prime Minister Saad al-Hariri during the cabinet meeting in Baabda near Beirut, Lebanon December 5, 2017. REUTERS/Mohamed Azakir

The Lebanese Cabinet is holding its first session this year amid an ongoing dispute between President Michel Aoun and Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri over a decree to promote a number of officers, who graduated from the military academy in 1994, without the approval of the finance minister.

Sources noted that there was an implicit understanding to dissociate the Cabinet session from the crisis, especially that officials close to the speaker have pointed last week that any escalation would lead Berri’s Amal Bloc ministers to boycott ministerial sessions.

Amal Movement MP and Agriculture Minister Ghazi Zeaiter told Asharq al-Awsat that ministers representing Amal would participate in Thursday’s Cabinet session at the Baabda Palace, saying: “We are calling for the implementation of the Constitution and the law to overcome the current problem and avoid falling into new problems.”

A number of deputies, who met with Berri on Wednesday, quoted him as saying that the situation “is still the same” with regards to the officers’ decree, reaffirming the need to “abide by the laws and Constitution” to resolve this matter.

The Lebanese speaker underlined “the necessity to take care of people’s problems”, saying: “The time has come to secure electricity, water, medicine and all services across the country.”

The Cabinet is expected to discuss on Thursday an agenda of 43 items, mainly the request of the Defense Ministry to refer the events of Arsal, al-Qaa and Ras Baalbek to the Judicial Council and give the Justice Minister permission to sign a cooperation agreement with Iran for the exchange of convicts between Beirut and Tehran.

Meanwhile, sources at the Baabda Palace told Asharq al-Awsat that there were no developments regarding the officers’ decree issue, noting that it was up to the ministers themselves to raise this matter during the Cabinet session, as it was not included in the agenda.

As for the awaited bid by Prime Minister Saad al-Hariri to contain the crisis, sources in the Future Movement confirmed the presence of such initiative, pointing out that its content is “confidential” and its results “are not guaranteed.”

However, sources in Aoun’s Free Patriotic Movement (FPM) stressed that the dispute was not confined to Aoun and Berri, noting that Hariri was an essential part of it because he signed the decree and therefore supported the position of the president.



Algeria Agrees with Italy to Tackle Terrorism, Migration at Summit

Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni shakes hands with Algerian President Abdelmadjid Tebboune during the Italy-Algeria summit at Villa Doria Pamphilj in Rome, Italy, July 23, 2025. REUTERS/Remo Casilli
Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni shakes hands with Algerian President Abdelmadjid Tebboune during the Italy-Algeria summit at Villa Doria Pamphilj in Rome, Italy, July 23, 2025. REUTERS/Remo Casilli
TT
20

Algeria Agrees with Italy to Tackle Terrorism, Migration at Summit

Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni shakes hands with Algerian President Abdelmadjid Tebboune during the Italy-Algeria summit at Villa Doria Pamphilj in Rome, Italy, July 23, 2025. REUTERS/Remo Casilli
Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni shakes hands with Algerian President Abdelmadjid Tebboune during the Italy-Algeria summit at Villa Doria Pamphilj in Rome, Italy, July 23, 2025. REUTERS/Remo Casilli

Italy and Algeria agreed to work together to fight terrorism and control migration during an intergovernmental meeting in Rome on Wednesday, documents showed, while companies signed off on deals on sectors including energy and telecommunications.

Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni met Algerian President Abdelmadjid Tebboune at the 17th-century Villa Doria Pamphili, after a trip to Algiers by Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani in March.

Algeria is Rome's leading trading partner in Africa, with trade worth almost 14 billion euros ($16.4 billion) while Rome's investments there amount to 8.5 billion, Italy said.

According to a document seen by Reuters, a memorandum will be signed between Italy and Algeria on fighting terrorism and its financing. The document did not say which threats the countries were focused on.

The two nations will also agree on a plan to coordinate the search and rescue operations for migrants who attempt the dangerous sea crossing from North Africa to Europe. Meloni's right-wing government was elected in 2022 on a mandate to curb migrant arrivals.

On the business side, Italian energy group Eni this month signed a production sharing contract with oil and gas company Sonatrach worth $1.3 billion to explore and develop hydrocarbons in Algeria.

A document said the two companies will sign an additional agreement on the sidelines of the summit to strengthen their cooperation.

Eni buys gas from Sonatrach under a long-term contract that has made the north African country one of the key fuel suppliers for Italy after Rome severed ties with Russia's Gazprom following Moscow's invasion of Ukraine.

A separate deal will involve Submarine cable company Sparkle, a unit of Telecom Italia (TIM), which is set to be sold to a consortium led by Italy's Treasury later this year.

Sparkle will sign a preliminary agreement with Algerie Telecom for a new subsea cable connecting the two countries.

"Algeria is a strategic partner, and we are working hard to make this partnership ever broader, stronger and more diversified," Foreign Minister Tajani said during a speech at a business forum with over 400 companies from the two nations.