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Lebanon: Call For Full COVID-19 Lockdown Met With Rejection

Health workers take swab samples from passengers who arrived at Beirut international airport on its re-opening day following the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) outbreak, in Beirut, Lebanon July 1, 2020. REUTERS/Aziz Taher
Health workers take swab samples from passengers who arrived at Beirut international airport on its re-opening day following the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) outbreak, in Beirut, Lebanon July 1, 2020. REUTERS/Aziz Taher
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Lebanon: Call For Full COVID-19 Lockdown Met With Rejection

Health workers take swab samples from passengers who arrived at Beirut international airport on its re-opening day following the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) outbreak, in Beirut, Lebanon July 1, 2020. REUTERS/Aziz Taher
Health workers take swab samples from passengers who arrived at Beirut international airport on its re-opening day following the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) outbreak, in Beirut, Lebanon July 1, 2020. REUTERS/Aziz Taher

Lebanon registered an unprecedented increase in Covid-19 infections, as the daily number of cases exceeded 1,000 for the first time since the outbreak of the virus in February.

The situation prompted the minister of Health in the caretaker government, Hamad Hassan, to call for a complete lockdown for two weeks to alleviate pressure on the health sector.

However, the minister’s proposal was not favored by the National Committee for Covid-19 (NCC), which said that several measures could be applied before full closure. Those include closing towns that register a high number of Covid-19 cases and imposing fines on those who do not comply with the sanitary measures.

Speaking during a news conference, Hassan stressed that a complete lockdown “seems necessary to maintain the process of virus tracking and traceability and to allow public and private hospitals to accommodate cases in light of the high death rate recorded in the past two weeks.”

While he emphasized the need for private hospitals to open “special departments for Covid-19, regardless of the profit and loss criteria,” Hassan pointed out that government hospitals in the north, Beirut and the south were facing the biggest challenge given the large number of infections recorded in these areas.

Regarding the decision to open schools at the end of September, Hassan said the decision went to the Minister of Education, pointing to “health recommendations related to postponing the start of the academic year.”

In this context, Minister of Education in the caretaker government, Tarek Al-Majzoub, said that if the spread of the virus required distance learning, Lebanon would follow this approach.

“If the health situation improves, we will proceed with the blended learning,” he added.

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Three Algerians Charged in Kidnapping of Opposition Figure in France

Amir Boukhors (social media)
Amir Boukhors (social media)
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Three Algerians Charged in Kidnapping of Opposition Figure in France

Amir Boukhors (social media)
Amir Boukhors (social media)

Three men, including an employee at the Algerian consulate in France, were indicted in Paris on suspicion of involvement in the April 2024 kidnapping of Amir Boukhors, an opponent of the Algerian regime, judicial sources told AFP on Saturday.

The three men were charged Friday in Paris with kidnapping and unlawful detention in relation to a terrorist organization, as well as participation in a criminal terrorist conspiracy, according to the National Anti-Terrorism Prosecutor’s Office (PNAT).

Later, a French judge ruled that all three be placed in pre-trial detention.

One of the suspects works for an Algerian consulate in France. While he holds a service passport rather than a diplomatic one, the issue of diplomatic immunity is expected to be addressed during the proceedings, a source close to the case told AFP.

Boukhors, a well-known critic of the Algerian regime, had previously survived two serious attacks — one in 2022 and another on the evening of April 29, 2024, according to his lawyer, Eric Plouvier.

The kidnapping, which initially fell under the jurisdiction of the Créteil prosecutor’s office, was later taken over by PNAT in February 2025.

“This shift to an anti-terror investigation shows that a foreign power, Algeria, did not hesitate to carry out violent acts on French soil — acts of intimidation and terror that threaten lives,” Plouvier said, calling the case a “state affair.”

Neither of the suspects’ attorneys responded to AFP requests for comment.

Boukhors’ name also surfaced in a separate probe by the Paris prosecutor’s office.

In that case, a French Economy Ministry employee was indicted in December for allegedly providing confidential information about Algerian dissidents — including Boukhors — to an Algerian national working at the Algerian consulate in Créteil.

According to sources, some of the individuals targeted in that investigation later became victims of violence, death threats, or abduction attempts.

The latest developments between the two countries coincided with the statements of French President Emmanuel Macron, who said last Friday he is “confident” on the release of French-Algerian writer Boualem Sansal, sentenced to five years in prison in Algeria.

Sansal’s case is under “special attention” by Algerian authorities, Macron commented during a visit to the Paris Book Festival, adding that the evolution of the case makes him confident that the writer would soon be released.

“I am confident because I know that there is particular attention. I am simply waiting for the results,” Macron said.

He added, “Our strongest wish is for the Algerian authorities to make the decision that will allow him to regain his freedom, receive treatment, and return to writing.”

Observers believe that the decision to charge the three Algerian men in France would disrupt the fresh efforts to revive bilateral relations between Paris and Algiers, particularly following the March 31 phone call between Macron and Algerian President Abdelmadjid Tebboune, who voiced their willingness to repair relations and after French Foreign Minister Jean-Noël Barrot said last week that ties with Algeria were back to normal.