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PM Diab: Lebanon is ‘Days Away’ from Social Explosion

FILE PHOTO: Hassan Diab talks to the media after being named Lebanon's new prime minister, at the presidential palace in Baabda, Lebanon December 19, 2019. REUTERS/Mohamed Azakir
FILE PHOTO: Hassan Diab talks to the media after being named Lebanon's new prime minister, at the presidential palace in Baabda, Lebanon December 19, 2019. REUTERS/Mohamed Azakir
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PM Diab: Lebanon is ‘Days Away’ from Social Explosion

FILE PHOTO: Hassan Diab talks to the media after being named Lebanon's new prime minister, at the presidential palace in Baabda, Lebanon December 19, 2019. REUTERS/Mohamed Azakir
FILE PHOTO: Hassan Diab talks to the media after being named Lebanon's new prime minister, at the presidential palace in Baabda, Lebanon December 19, 2019. REUTERS/Mohamed Azakir

Lebanon is a few days away from a "social explosion", caretaker Prime Minister Hassan Diab said on Tuesday, calling on the international community to save the country.

Diab, in a speech after a meeting with several ambassadors and representatives of diplomatic missions in Beirut, also said his government could not re-start talks with the International Monetary Fund and only a new cabinet could do that.

"This government does not have the right to resume negotiations with the IMF to implement the recovery plan set by the cabinet, for this entails obligations on the next government that it may not endorse," the state-run National News Agency quoted Diab as saying.

Pointing to the conditions set by the international community to provide Lebanon with assistance, Diab said that “linking aid for Lebanon to the formation of a government largely endangers the lives of the Lebanese and the Lebanese entity.”

“The pressures exercised and the siege imposed on Lebanon do not affect the corrupt, but rather threaten the Lebanese people,” he said, pointing to the increasing number of Lebanese, mainly youths, who escape the crisis at home.

Lebanon has been grappling with an unprecedented economic and financial crisis since October 2019, exacerbated by the colossal Beirut port explosion in August last year, and the COVID-19 pandemic.

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Syria’s Reconciliation Committee Prioritizes Stability after Anger Over Prisoner Releases

Member of the High Committee for National Reconciliation Hassan Soufan and the spokesperson for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (Facebook)
Member of the High Committee for National Reconciliation Hassan Soufan and the spokesperson for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (Facebook)
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Syria’s Reconciliation Committee Prioritizes Stability after Anger Over Prisoner Releases

Member of the High Committee for National Reconciliation Hassan Soufan and the spokesperson for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (Facebook)
Member of the High Committee for National Reconciliation Hassan Soufan and the spokesperson for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (Facebook)

Syria’s High Committee for National Reconciliation has defended recent controversial prisoner releases, saying the decision aims to preserve national stability amid ongoing tensions.

Committee member Hassan Soufan confirmed that several officers recently freed had voluntarily surrendered in 2021 at the Iraqi border and in the Al-Sukhna region, under a formal request for safe conduct.

Speaking at a press conference in Damascus on Tuesday, Soufan addressed public backlash following the releases and acknowledged the deep pain felt by victims’ families.

“We fully understand the anger and grief of the families of martyrs,” he said. “But the current phase requires decisions that can help secure relative stability for the coming period.”

The controversy erupted after the Ministry of Interior announced on Sunday the release of dozens of detainees in Latakia, many of whom were arrested during the “Deterrence of Aggression” operation, which contributed to the fall of the Assad regime.

Among those involved in the mediation effort was Fadi Saqr, a former commander in the regime’s National Defense Forces, who has been accused of war crimes, including involvement in the Tadamon massacre in southern Damascus.

Soufan explained that the released officers had undergone investigation and were found not to have participated in war crimes. “Keeping them imprisoned no longer serves a national interest,” he said. “It has no legal justification.”

He stressed that Syria is in a delicate phase of national reconciliation, in which balancing justice and peace is critical.

“There are two parallel tracks - transitional justice and civil peace - and today, the priority is civil peace, as it lays the groundwork for all other strategic efforts,” he said.

Soufan added that the committee has requested expanded powers from the Syrian president, including the authority to release detainees not proven guilty and to coordinate directly with state institutions.

He insisted that the aim is not to bypass justice, but to prevent further bloodshed. “Vengeance and retribution are not paths to justice,” he said. “They allow real criminals to slip away while deepening divisions.”

While affirming that transitional justice remains essential, Soufan noted that it should focus on top perpetrators of atrocities, not individuals who merely served under the regime. “Justice means accountability for those who planned and carried out major crimes, not blanket punishment.”