Lebanon’s Adib in Baabda Monday to Propose Government Lineup

PM-designate Mustapha Adib met Aoun last week (NNA)
PM-designate Mustapha Adib met Aoun last week (NNA)
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Lebanon’s Adib in Baabda Monday to Propose Government Lineup

PM-designate Mustapha Adib met Aoun last week (NNA)
PM-designate Mustapha Adib met Aoun last week (NNA)

Lebanon’s Prime Minister-designate, Mustapha Adib, is expected to visit President Michel Aoun in Baabda Palace on Monday to propose his government lineup, informed sources said, adding that the PM is optimistic that the cabinet would be formed soon.

The sources said French Ambassador Pierre Dukan, a member of the French team concerned with President Emmanuel Macron’s initiative on Lebanon, is expected to visit Beirut this week to follow up with Lebanese officials on means to agree on unified figures on the country’s financial losses to present them to the IMF as soon as the government is formed.

Hezbollah and the Amal Movement, which is headed by Speaker Nabih Berri, would not participate in the new government if they fail to name their ministers and take the finance portfolio, said the sources.

In a statement on Sunday, Berri’s office said the Speaker has informed Adib that Amal will not be participating in the next government on the proposed foundations.

It added that Berri also told Adib his party was ready to cooperate to the “fullest extent to serve Lebanon’s stability and finances, implement reforms and rescue its economy.”

The statement said the problem is not with the French, but rather internal.

“One slogan was launched for the government: specialization in exchange for [potential ministers] not being aligned with parties and not affiliated with parliamentary [blocs], vetoes on ministries, inviting support from abroad and without holding consultations,” the statement said.

On Sunday, head of the Free Patriotic Movement MP Gebran Bassil received separate telephone calls from Macron and Adib.

For his part, Maronite Patriarch Bechara al-Rahi said that from now on, “we cannot accept a cabinet similar to its predecessors,” describing the country’s political system as mired in an epidemic of selfishness, financial corruption and quotas at the expense of public money and the people of Lebanon.

Rahi’s statement came at a religious sermon during the 40-day memorial service dedicated to the Aug. 4 Beirut Port victims.

Greek Orthodox Archbishop Elias Audi also lashed out at political leaders.



G7 Leaders Endorse Israel-Hezbollah Ceasefire and Insist Israel Follow International Law

 From left, Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken, French Foreign Minister Jean-Noël Barrot, Canada's Foreign Minister Melanie Joly, Italian Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani, Japanese Foreign Minister Takeshi Iwaya, German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock, Britain's Foreign Office Political Director Christian Turner, and European Union foreign policy chief Josep Borrell pose for a family photo at the G7 of foreign Ministers in Fiuggi, some 70 kilometers south-east of Rome, Tuesday, Nov. 26, 2024. (AP)
From left, Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken, French Foreign Minister Jean-Noël Barrot, Canada's Foreign Minister Melanie Joly, Italian Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani, Japanese Foreign Minister Takeshi Iwaya, German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock, Britain's Foreign Office Political Director Christian Turner, and European Union foreign policy chief Josep Borrell pose for a family photo at the G7 of foreign Ministers in Fiuggi, some 70 kilometers south-east of Rome, Tuesday, Nov. 26, 2024. (AP)
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G7 Leaders Endorse Israel-Hezbollah Ceasefire and Insist Israel Follow International Law

 From left, Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken, French Foreign Minister Jean-Noël Barrot, Canada's Foreign Minister Melanie Joly, Italian Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani, Japanese Foreign Minister Takeshi Iwaya, German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock, Britain's Foreign Office Political Director Christian Turner, and European Union foreign policy chief Josep Borrell pose for a family photo at the G7 of foreign Ministers in Fiuggi, some 70 kilometers south-east of Rome, Tuesday, Nov. 26, 2024. (AP)
From left, Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken, French Foreign Minister Jean-Noël Barrot, Canada's Foreign Minister Melanie Joly, Italian Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani, Japanese Foreign Minister Takeshi Iwaya, German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock, Britain's Foreign Office Political Director Christian Turner, and European Union foreign policy chief Josep Borrell pose for a family photo at the G7 of foreign Ministers in Fiuggi, some 70 kilometers south-east of Rome, Tuesday, Nov. 26, 2024. (AP)

Foreign ministers from the world’s industrialized countries said Tuesday they strongly supported an immediate ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah and insisted that Israel comply with international law in its ongoing military operations in the region.

At the end of their two-day summit, the ministers didn’t refer directly to the International Criminal Court and its recent arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his former defense minister over crimes against humanity.

Italy had put the ICC warrants on the official meeting agenda, even though the G7 was split on the issue. The US, Israel’s closest ally, isn’t a signatory to the court and has called the warrants “outrageous.”

However, the EU’s chief diplomat Josep Borrell said all the other G7 countries were signatories and therefore obliged to respect the warrants.

In the end, the final statement adopted by the ministers said Israel, in exercising its right to defend itself, “must fully comply with its obligations under international law in all circumstances, including international humanitarian law.”

And it said all G7 members — Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the United Kingdom and the United States – “reiterate our commitment to international humanitarian law and will comply with our respective obligations.” It stressed that “there can be no equivalence between the terrorist group Hamas and the State of Israel.”

The ICC warrants say there's reason to believe Netanyahu used “starvation as a method of warfare” by restricting humanitarian aid and intentionally targeted civilians in Israel’s campaign against Hamas in Gaza — charges Israeli officials deny.