Aoun Warns Against Stirring Up Sectarian Tensions, Paris Disturbed by Govt Performance

Lebanon’s Foreign Minister Nassif Hitti meets with the French Ambassador on Wednesday (Dalati & Nohra)
Lebanon’s Foreign Minister Nassif Hitti meets with the French Ambassador on Wednesday (Dalati & Nohra)
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Aoun Warns Against Stirring Up Sectarian Tensions, Paris Disturbed by Govt Performance

Lebanon’s Foreign Minister Nassif Hitti meets with the French Ambassador on Wednesday (Dalati & Nohra)
Lebanon’s Foreign Minister Nassif Hitti meets with the French Ambassador on Wednesday (Dalati & Nohra)

Lebanon’s President Michel Aoun warned on Thursday of an “atmosphere of civil war” during recent unrest and what he described as attempts to stir up sectarian tensions amid an unprecedented financial crisis, Reuters reported.

The president was speaking at a “national gathering” that he called for “to protect civil peace”, but which was boycotted by opponents including former Prime Minister Saad al-Hariri and other ex-premiers who described it as “a waste of time.”

“We touched the atmosphere of civil war in a worrying way. Movements replete with sectarian tensions were launched in a suspicious manner,” Aoun said, as quoted by Reuters.

Other opposition figures refused to attend the meeting, including former Minister Sleiman Franjieh, the head of the Lebanese Forces Party, Samir Geagea, the president of the Kataeb party, MP Sami Gemayel and others.

Meanwhile, opposition political sources rued out that the “national gathering” would have effects that would change the country’s political scene.

In remarks to Asharq Al-Awsat, the sources noted that the problem lied in the fact that Prime Minister Hassan Diab’s government has failed, until now, to meet its promises, which is negatively reflecting on the internal situation.

The sources added that Paris expressed discontent over the performance of Diab’s government, which has “failed to employ the French embrace to make a qualitative leap that would put it on the path of recovery.”

They also stressed that the influential European parties were not satisfied with the role assumed by the president of the Free Patriotic Movement, MP Gibran Bassil, who is the target of criticism on all levels, even by a number of European ambassadors accredited to Lebanon.

“These ambassadors see Bassil’s performance as an obstacle that delays translating the government’s pledges into concrete steps,” according to the sources.

They revealed that Paris has decided a while ago to freeze its contacts with the Lebanese government and almost lost hope in Lebanon’s ability to implement the reforms approved in the CEDRE conference, which would affect the course of negotiations between the country and the International Monetary Fund (IMF).

“Paris is disappointed because Lebanon did not respond to the reform and administrative conditions that it undertook before the CEDRE participants,” the sources emphasized.



Iraq Holds Kurdish Government Legally Responsible for Continued Oil Smuggling

Kurdish protesters block the road in front of trucks carrying oil in the Arbat area near Sulaymaniyah, Iraq February 23, 2025. REUTERS/Ako Rasheed/File Photo
Kurdish protesters block the road in front of trucks carrying oil in the Arbat area near Sulaymaniyah, Iraq February 23, 2025. REUTERS/Ako Rasheed/File Photo
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Iraq Holds Kurdish Government Legally Responsible for Continued Oil Smuggling

Kurdish protesters block the road in front of trucks carrying oil in the Arbat area near Sulaymaniyah, Iraq February 23, 2025. REUTERS/Ako Rasheed/File Photo
Kurdish protesters block the road in front of trucks carrying oil in the Arbat area near Sulaymaniyah, Iraq February 23, 2025. REUTERS/Ako Rasheed/File Photo

Iraq's oil ministry said on Thursday it holds the Kurdish regional government (KRG) legally responsible for the continued smuggling of oil from the Kurdish region outside the country.

The ministry reserves the right to take all legal measures in the matter, it added.

Control over oil and gas has long been a source of tension between Baghdad and Erbil, Reuters reported.

Iraq is under pressure from the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries to cut output to compensate for having produced more than its agreed volume. OPEC counts oil flows from Kurdistan as part of Iraq's quota.

In a ruling issued in 2022, Iraq's federal court deemed an oil and gas law regulating the oil industry in Iraqi Kurdistan unconstitutional and demanded that Kurdish authorities hand over their crude oil supplies.

The ministry said the KRG’s failure to comply with the law has hurt both oil exports and public revenue, forcing Baghdad to cut output from other fields to meet OPEC quotas.

The ministry added that it had urged the KRG to hand over crude produced from its fields, warning that failure to do so could result in significant financial losses and harm the country’s international reputation and oil commitments.

Negotiations to resume Kurdish oil exports via the Iraq-Türkiye oil pipeline, which once handled about 0.5% of global oil supply, have stalled over payment terms and contract details.