Paris: Lebanon’s Elections Will Be Held On Time Despite Differences Over Law

A woman shows her ink-stained finger after casting her vote during the parliamentary election in Beirut, Lebanon, May 6, 2018. - Reuters
A woman shows her ink-stained finger after casting her vote during the parliamentary election in Beirut, Lebanon, May 6, 2018. - Reuters
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Paris: Lebanon’s Elections Will Be Held On Time Despite Differences Over Law

A woman shows her ink-stained finger after casting her vote during the parliamentary election in Beirut, Lebanon, May 6, 2018. - Reuters
A woman shows her ink-stained finger after casting her vote during the parliamentary election in Beirut, Lebanon, May 6, 2018. - Reuters

Paris has informed Lebanese leaders that the parliamentary polls would be held on time in May 2022, before the end of the current parliament’s mandate, stressing that the dispute over the electoral law would not hinder the elections, which are the mandatory path to re-establishing the authority In Lebanon, a European diplomatic source told Asharq Al-Awsat.

The official noted that the international support group was currently studying taking a supportive stance for Paris’ insistence on holding the parliamentary elections on time, which would include a direct warning to the ruling authorities of the serious political damage to Lebanon if the elections were postponed.

He noted that the current election law, which is still valid, will be adopted if an agreement was not reached over a new law. However, the source stressed that some parties’ call for early parliamentary polls were only attempts of intimidation, as the current parliament’s term ends in only 11 months.

The same source considered that holding the elections on time should come in parallel with efforts to provide the minimum factors of stability for the Lebanese to avoid a social explosion. This would require the formation of a government that adopts the reforms included in French President Emmanuel Macron’s initiative to save Lebanon.

“Such a government would be capable of negotiating with the IMF to provide a dose of support that would secure the required oxygen for the state,” according to the European diplomatic official.

Moreover, the source underlined that the French support for the Lebanese army was aimed at helping the military institution and other security forces to assume their role in maintaining stability.

In this context, Paris is preparing to hold an international conference to support the military institution while waiting for the formation of the government as a condition for Lebanon to receive aid that contributes to alleviating the suffering of the citizens.

Meanwhile, local parliamentary sources told Asharq Al-Awsat that Hussein Khalil, the political aide to Hezbollah Secretary-General Hassan Nasrallah, had contacted the head of the Free Patriotic Movement, Gibran Bassil, in the past hours, in preparation for a meeting to take place at any moment, bringing them together with Speaker Nabih Berri’s political assistant, MP Ali Hassan Khalil.

Accordingly, the negotiations to form a government enter a crucial stage with the tripartite meeting. Observers are waiting to see whether white smoke will rise from this meeting or will Bassil continue with his game of buying time.



Germany Hands Syrian Doctor Life for Torturing Assad Critics

Syrian doctor Alaa M., accused of crimes against humanity, arrives for his judgment in the security room of the Higher Regional Court in Frankfurt am Main, Germany, 16 June 2025. (EPA)
Syrian doctor Alaa M., accused of crimes against humanity, arrives for his judgment in the security room of the Higher Regional Court in Frankfurt am Main, Germany, 16 June 2025. (EPA)
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Germany Hands Syrian Doctor Life for Torturing Assad Critics

Syrian doctor Alaa M., accused of crimes against humanity, arrives for his judgment in the security room of the Higher Regional Court in Frankfurt am Main, Germany, 16 June 2025. (EPA)
Syrian doctor Alaa M., accused of crimes against humanity, arrives for his judgment in the security room of the Higher Regional Court in Frankfurt am Main, Germany, 16 June 2025. (EPA)

A Syrian doctor who had practiced in Germany was sentenced to life in prison by a German court on Monday for crimes against humanity and war crimes after he was found guilty of torturing dissidents in Syria.

The 40-year-old, identified only as Alaa M. in accordance with German privacy laws, was found guilty of killing two people and torturing another eight during his time working in Syria as a doctor at a military hospital and detention center in Homs in 2011 and 2012.

The court said his crimes were part of a systematic attack against people protesting against then-President Bashar al-Assad that precipitated the country's civil war.

Assad was toppled in December. His government denied it tortured prisoners.

Alaa M. arrived in Germany in 2015, after fleeing to Germany among a large influx of Syrian refugees, and became one of roughly 10,000 Syrian medics who helped ease acute staff shortages in the country's healthcare system.

He was arrested in June 2020, and was handed a life sentence without parole, the Higher Regional Court in Frankfurt said in a statement.

The defendant had pleaded not guilty, saying he was the target of a conspiracy.

German prosecutors have used universal jurisdiction laws that allow them to seek trials for suspects in crimes against humanity committed anywhere in the world.

They have targeted several former Syrian officials in similar cases in recent years.

The plaintiffs were supported by the European Center for Constitutional and Human Rights.

ECCHR lawyer Patrick Kroker called Monday's ruling "a further step towards a comprehensive reckoning with Assad's crimes".

Judges found that the doctor caused "considerable physical suffering" as a result of the torture inflicted on his victims, which included serious beatings, mistreating wounds and inflicting serious injury to the genitals of two prisoners, one of whom was a teenage boy.

Two patients died after he gave them lethal medication, the court statement said.

Monday's ruling can be appealed.