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Lebanon’s Mikati Reports Slow Progress Towards Forming Govt

Lebanese Prime Minister-designate Najib Mikati holding talks with President Michel Aoun (NNA)
Lebanese Prime Minister-designate Najib Mikati holding talks with President Michel Aoun (NNA)
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Lebanon’s Mikati Reports Slow Progress Towards Forming Govt

Lebanese Prime Minister-designate Najib Mikati holding talks with President Michel Aoun (NNA)
Lebanese Prime Minister-designate Najib Mikati holding talks with President Michel Aoun (NNA)

Lebanese Prime Minister-designate Najib Mikati said on Thursday that slow progress has been achieved toward forming a Cabinet, stressing that donor states would not help the country unless it helped itself.

“Today’s meeting was a positive step forward,” Mikati said after meeting Aoun.

“Today we made progress ... even if the progress was slow. But we are persevering, and insistent on forming the government,” he noted.

Mikati said there was one message: “If you Lebanese aren’t helping each other, you want us to help you?”

“This is where I started my meeting with his Excellency the President and I told him the government must be formed.”

Earlier on Monday, Mikati said he had hoped for a quicker pace in the formation of the government and that his efforts would not be open-ended.

According to Reuters, Lebanon has been without a government since Prime Minister Hassan Diab quit in the aftermath of the catastrophic Aug. 4, 2020, port explosion, with politicians failing to agree even as the country has been paralyzed by a major financial crisis.

While Western donors have provided humanitarian aid to Lebanese - a conference hosted by France on Wednesday raised $370 million - they have demanded Lebanese leaders set about reforms before assistance is directed to the state.

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SOHR: Document Reveals Assad Family Smuggled Millions to Moscow

The historic Hotel Ukraina in central Moscow (Wikipedia)
The historic Hotel Ukraina in central Moscow (Wikipedia)
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SOHR: Document Reveals Assad Family Smuggled Millions to Moscow

The historic Hotel Ukraina in central Moscow (Wikipedia)
The historic Hotel Ukraina in central Moscow (Wikipedia)

A confidential document obtained by the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR) has revealed massive money smuggling operations carried out via Syrian Airlines to Moscow.
The operations are described as among the most corrupt financial transfers orchestrated by the now-defunct Syrian regime.
According to the document, the majority of the funds stem from profits made through the production and trade of Captagon, a highly lucrative illicit drug.
The head of SOHR, Rami Abdel Rahman, told Asharq Al-Awsat that the most recent transfer took place just four days before Syrian President Bashar al-Assad fled to Moscow in December of last year.
Rami Abdel Rahman also affirmed that the leaked document underscores the “deep involvement of the former Syrian regime in illegal activities.”
He added that further investigations could uncover a vast network of secret financial operations used to transfer large sums of money from Syria to Russia and other countries under official cover and without oversight.
“The regime, led by the ousted Assad and his brother, spearheaded drug-related investments, particularly through the production, promotion, and export of Captagon,” Abdel Rahman told Asharq Al-Awsat.
He explained that one key route involved a small port near the Afamia chalets on Syria's coast, which previously belonged to Rifaat al-Assad, the brother of late former President Hafez al-Assad.
From there, shipments were sent via smugglers to Italian ports, where collaborating traders distributed the drugs globally.
A Syrian source based in Russia, closely monitoring the regime’s activities and investments there, said the content of the leaked document is not new but that its official confirmation adds weight to prior claims.
“Western media had previously reported on the regime’s money-smuggling operations, which led to some loyalists being added to international sanctions lists, particularly regime-linked businessmen like Mudalal Khouri,” the source, who requested anonymity, told Asharq Al-Awsat.
Sanctions were also imposed on individuals accused of money laundering for the regime.
The source confirmed that the operations were conducted using Syrian Airlines flights to Moscow.
“There were dozens of such flights, each loaded with hard currency—mostly US dollars and €500 euro notes,” the source said.
The money was reportedly delivered directly from the airport to the Syrian regime's embassy in Moscow, where it was distributed to loyalist businessmen.
These funds were then invested in Russian and Belarusian banks, real estate, and commercial properties. Some of the money was also used to establish companies in both countries.
The operations were allegedly overseen by Mohammed Makhlouf, the maternal uncle of Assad.