Judge Close to Lebanese President 'Rebels' Against General Prosecutor

Judge Ghada Aoun.
Judge Ghada Aoun.
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Judge Close to Lebanese President 'Rebels' Against General Prosecutor

Judge Ghada Aoun.
Judge Ghada Aoun.

Caretaker Lebanese Justice Minister Marie Claude Najm tasked the Judicial Inspection Authority to carry out an assessment of judges in wake of Mount Lebanon state prosecutor Ghada Aoun's rejection of her dismissal by the the discriminatory Public Prosecutor, Judge Ghassan Oweidat.

Oweidat had dismissed her from investigating alleged financial crimes committed by a money exchange service.

The case has sparked widespread debate, significantly since Aoun is close to President Michel Aoun.

Najm stressed after Saturday's meeting that she would not take a position with or against any political party, saying she was exercising her legal duties.

She remarked that the people believe that the judiciary is divided and affiliated with political powers. This in turn is dividing the people.

She added that she had tasked the Judicial Inspection Authority two weeks ago to carry out an assessment of judges, urging it to go ahead with the case because the situation was no longer tolerable.

Oweidat had on Friday ordered that the money exchange service case be restricted to three general prosecutors. Judge Aoun would consequently be excluded from the case.

She, however, remained defiant. Hours after his order, she personally showed up at the exchange service , along with state security members, to raid the office.

Amid the raid, supporters of President Aoun's Free Patriotic Movement gathered outside the office in a show of support.

The owner of the exchange service called on the army and Internal Security Forces to intervene because "a judge, along with partisan supporters, were vandalizing private property."

Former General Prosecutor Judge Hatem Madi told Asharq Al-Awsat that he was not opposed to the involvement of the Judicial Inspection Authority, noting however, that it was not part of its jurisdiction to determine whether the general prosecutor was right to dismissing a state prosecutor from a case.

The entire affair has sparked heated debate in the country.

FPM lawyers condemned the affair as an attempt to tarnish Judge Aoun's image, saying the entire issue was politically motivated.

They defended the judge for "daring to tackle corruption cases and cracking down on corrupt figures."

The Mustaqbal Movement said the affair was "very dangerous and marked a precedent not witnessed during the civil war or even during Syria's hegemony over Lebanon."

It accused Judge Aoun of being selective in opening corruption cases, saying she chooses to prosecute opponents while turning a blind eye to other violations.



US Airstrikes Killed 12 People in Yemen’s Capital

Yemenis watch a damaged vehicle at Farwah popular market which Houthis said it was struck by US airstrikes in Sanaa, Yemen, Monday, April 21, 2025. (AP Photo)
Yemenis watch a damaged vehicle at Farwah popular market which Houthis said it was struck by US airstrikes in Sanaa, Yemen, Monday, April 21, 2025. (AP Photo)
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US Airstrikes Killed 12 People in Yemen’s Capital

Yemenis watch a damaged vehicle at Farwah popular market which Houthis said it was struck by US airstrikes in Sanaa, Yemen, Monday, April 21, 2025. (AP Photo)
Yemenis watch a damaged vehicle at Farwah popular market which Houthis said it was struck by US airstrikes in Sanaa, Yemen, Monday, April 21, 2025. (AP Photo)

US airstrikes targeting Yemen’s capital killed 12 people and wounded 30 others, the Houthi group said early Monday.
The deaths mark the latest in America’s intensified campaign of strikes targeting the Houthis. The US military’s Central Command declined to answer questions about the strike or discuss civilian casualties from its campaign.
The Houthis described the strike as hitting the Farwa neighborhood market in Sanaa’s Shuub district. That area has been targeted before by the Americans.
Footage aired by the Houthis' al-Masirah satellite news channel showed damage to vehicles and buildings in the area, with screaming onlookers holding what appeared to be a dead child. Others wailed on stretchers heading into a hospital
Strikes overnight into Monday also hit other areas of the country, including Yemen's Amran, Hodeida, Marib and Saada governorates.
The strikes come after US airstrikes hit the Ras Isa fuel port in Yemen last week, killing at least 74 people and wounding 171 others.
The strikes follow the resumption of negotiations in Rome between the US and Iran over Tehran’s rapidly advancing nuclear program, which Washington has linked to its attacks in Yemen.
The US is targeting the Houthis because of the group’s attacks on shipping in the Red Sea, a crucial global trade route, and on Israel. The Houthis are the last militant group in Iran’s self-described “Axis of Resistance” that is capable of regularly attacking Israel.
The new US operation against the Houthis under Trump appears more extensive than attacks on the group were under President Joe Biden, an AP review found. The new campaign started after the group threatened to begin targeting “Israeli” ships again over Israel blocking aid from entering the Gaza Strip.
From November 2023 until this January, the Houthis targeted more than 100 merchant vessels with missiles and drones, sinking two of them and killing four sailors. That has greatly reduced the flow of trade through the Red Sea corridor, which typically sees $1 trillion of goods move through it. The Houthis also launched attacks targeting American warships without success.
Assessing the toll of the month-old US airstrike campaign has been difficult because the military hasn’t released information about the attacks, including what was targeted and how many people were killed. The Houthis, meanwhile, strictly control access to attacked areas and don’t publish complete information on the strikes, many of which likely have targeted military and security sites.