Lebanese Judiciary Orders Seizure of MP’s Assets

Police forces gather outside the parliament building in Downtown Beirut November 5, 2014. REUTERS/Jamal Saidi
Police forces gather outside the parliament building in Downtown Beirut November 5, 2014. REUTERS/Jamal Saidi
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Lebanese Judiciary Orders Seizure of MP’s Assets

Police forces gather outside the parliament building in Downtown Beirut November 5, 2014. REUTERS/Jamal Saidi
Police forces gather outside the parliament building in Downtown Beirut November 5, 2014. REUTERS/Jamal Saidi

The Lebanese judiciary ordered Thursday a provisional seizure of MP Hadi Hbeish’s assets in a case filed against him over his assault on Mount Lebanon Judge Ghada Aoun.

Judge Faisal Makki in Beirut issued Thursday an order on the provisional seizure of the assets belonging to Hbeish.

The seizure comes in light of the Lebanese state's case against the lawmaker to pay compensation to the state over his assault on Aoun.

Based on Makki’s decision, the state should be awarded LL500 million in damages in addition to another LL50 million.

Therefore, the judge ordered the provisional seizure of Hbeish’s immovable properties and cars.

In December, there was tension between Hbeish and Aoun after the arrest of Director-General of the Traffic and Vehicles Management Authority Hoda Salloum, who is a relative of the MP.

Following her arrest, Hbeish headed to the Justice Palace in Baabda where he launched a fierce verbal attack on Aoun for ordering Salloum’s arrest.

A video showed the lawmaker describing the judge as “a militiawoman and a symbol of corruption.”

Following the verbal assault, Aoun told a local television channel that “Salloum’s arrest was based on data and evidence,” and part of nationwide efforts to clamp down on corruption.

She then filed a complaint against the deputy over defamation and threats.

Hbeish said that Aoun had arrested Salloum unlawfully.



Berri to Asharq Al-Awsat: Resolution 1701 Only Tangible Proposal to End Lebanon Conflict

Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri and US envoy Amos Hochstein in Beirut. (AFP file)
Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri and US envoy Amos Hochstein in Beirut. (AFP file)
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Berri to Asharq Al-Awsat: Resolution 1701 Only Tangible Proposal to End Lebanon Conflict

Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri and US envoy Amos Hochstein in Beirut. (AFP file)
Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri and US envoy Amos Hochstein in Beirut. (AFP file)

Politicians in Beirut said they have not received any credible information about Washington resuming its mediation efforts towards reaching a ceasefire in Lebanon despite reports to the contrary.

Efforts came to a halt after US envoy Amos Hochstein’s last visit to Beirut three weeks ago.

Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri dismissed the reports as media fodder, saying nothing official has been received.

Lebanon is awaiting tangible proposals on which it can build its position, he told Asharq Al-Awsat.

The only credible proposal on the table is United Nations Security Council resolution 1701, whose articles must be implemented in full by Lebanon and Israel, “not just Lebanon alone,” he stressed.

Resolution 1701 was issued to end the 2006 July war between Hezbollah and Israel and calls for removing all weapons from southern Lebanon and that the only armed presence there be restricted to the army and UN peacekeepers.

Western diplomatic sources in Beirut told Asharq Al-Awsat that Berri opposes one of the most important articles of the proposed solution to end the current conflict between Hezbollah and Israel.

He is opposed to the German and British participation in the proposed mechanism to monitor the implementation of resolution 1701. The other participants are the United States and France.

Other sources said Berri is opposed to the mechanism itself since one is already available and it is embodied in the UN peacekeepers, whom the US and France can join.

The sources revealed that the solution to the conflict has a foreign and internal aspect. The foreign one includes Israel, the US and Russia and seeks guarantees that would prevent Hezbollah from rearming itself. The second covers Lebanese guarantees on the implementation of resolution 1701.

Berri refused to comment on the media reports, but told Asharq Al-Awsat that this was the first time that discussions are being held about guarantees.

He added that “Israel is now in crisis because it has failed to achieve its military objectives, so it has resorted to more killing and destruction undeterred.”

He highlighted the “steadfastness of the UN peacekeepers in the South who have refused to leave their positions despite the repeated Israeli attacks.”