عربي English Türkçe اردو فارسى
Logo
Latest News
Arab World

Lebanon Maronite Patriarch Says No Party Should Resort to Violence

Lebanese Maronite Patriarch Bechara Boutros Al-Rai speaks after meeting with President Michel Aoun at the presidential palace in Baabda, Lebanon July 15, 2020. Dalati Nohra/Handout via REUTERS
Lebanese Maronite Patriarch Bechara Boutros Al-Rai speaks after meeting with President Michel Aoun at the presidential palace in Baabda, Lebanon July 15, 2020. Dalati Nohra/Handout via REUTERS
TT
TT

Lebanon Maronite Patriarch Says No Party Should Resort to Violence

Lebanese Maronite Patriarch Bechara Boutros Al-Rai speaks after meeting with President Michel Aoun at the presidential palace in Baabda, Lebanon July 15, 2020. Dalati Nohra/Handout via REUTERS
Lebanese Maronite Patriarch Bechara Boutros Al-Rai speaks after meeting with President Michel Aoun at the presidential palace in Baabda, Lebanon July 15, 2020. Dalati Nohra/Handout via REUTERS

Lebanon's Maronite Patriarch Bechara Boutros Al-Rai, the top Christian cleric, said on Sunday the country's judiciary should be free of political interference and sectarian "activism" amid rising tensions over a probe into last year's blast at Beirut port.

Rai also said that it was unacceptable for any party to resort to threats or violence after last week's deadly unrest around the investigation - which was Lebanon's worst street bloodshed in more than a decade and stirred memories of the ruinous 1975-1990 civil war.

"We must free the judiciary from political interference, sectarian and partisan political activism and respect its independence according to the principle of separation of powers," he said in his sermon, Reuters reported.

"No one is above the law and judiciary."

The inquiry into the Aug. 4, 2020 explosion, which killed more than 200 people and devastated swathes of Beirut, has made little headway amid pushback from powerful political factions, with Hezbollah chief Hassan Nasrallah saying Judge Tarek Bitar -- the lead investigator -- is biased and politicized.

Seven were killed on Thursday as crowds were on their way to a protest against Bitar in a demonstration called by the Iran-backed Hezbollah group and it the Amal movement.

The violence added to concerns over the stability of a country that is awash with weapons and grappling with an economic meltdown.

"The democratic system has afforded us peaceful means for freedom of expression whether in support or opposition so it's not acceptable that any party should resort to threats or violence and setting up party checkpoints or tribal ones to get what they want through force," said Rai.

"We refuse to put vengeance in the place of justice?" he said.

He added that Lebanon's Council of Ministers must meet, take decisions and respect authority.

Hezbollah blamed the Christian Lebanese Forces party for the deaths on Thursday, an accusation the head of that party, Samir Geagea, denied.

On Thursday, the army initially said rounds were fired on at protesters as they passed through the Teyouneh traffic circle dividing Christian and Shi'ite Muslim neighbourhoods. It later said there had been an "altercation and exchange of fire" as protesters were on their way to the demonstration.

Most Viewed

 
 
Arab World

Sudan’s RSF Advances Could Trigger New Refugee Exodus, UNHCR Chief Warns 

Women displaced from el-Fasher stand in line to receive food aid at the newly established El-Afadh camp in al-Dabba, in Sudan's Northern State, Nov. 16, 2025. (AP)
Women displaced from el-Fasher stand in line to receive food aid at the newly established El-Afadh camp in al-Dabba, in Sudan's Northern State, Nov. 16, 2025. (AP)
TT
TT

Sudan’s RSF Advances Could Trigger New Refugee Exodus, UNHCR Chief Warns 

Women displaced from el-Fasher stand in line to receive food aid at the newly established El-Afadh camp in al-Dabba, in Sudan's Northern State, Nov. 16, 2025. (AP)
Women displaced from el-Fasher stand in line to receive food aid at the newly established El-Afadh camp in al-Dabba, in Sudan's Northern State, Nov. 16, 2025. (AP)

Advances by paramilitary Rapid Support Forces in Sudan could trigger another exodus across the country's borders, UN High Commissioner for Refugees, Filippo Grandi, told Reuters.

The RSF took over Darfur's city of el-Fasher in late October in one of its biggest gains of the 2-1/2-year war with Sudan's army. This month, advances have continued eastward into the Kordofan region and they seized the country's biggest oil field.

Most of the estimated 40,000 people that the United Nations says have been displaced by the latest violence in Kordofan - a region comprised of three states in central and southern Sudan - have sought refuge within the country, Grandi said, but that could change if violence spreads to a large city like El Obeid.

"If that were to be - not necessarily taken - but engulfed by the war, I am pretty sure we would see more exodus," said Grandi in an interview from Port Sudan late on Monday.

"We have to remain...very alert in neighboring countries in case this happens," he said.

MILLIONS HOMELESS

Already, the war has uprooted nearly 12 million people, including 4.3 million who have fled across borders to Chad, South Sudan and elsewhere, in the world's biggest displacement crisis. However, some have returned to the capital Khartoum, which is now back in Sudanese army control.

Humanitarian workers lack resources to help those fleeing, many of whom have been raped, robbed or bereaved by the violence, said Grandi, who met with survivors who fled mass killings in el-Fasher.

"We are barely responding," said Grandi, referring to a Sudan response plan, which is just a third funded largely due to Western donor cuts. UNHCR lacks resources to relocate Sudanese refugees from an unstable area along Chad's border, he said.

FAMILIES TORN APART BY CONFLICT

Most of those who trekked hundreds of kilometers from el-Fasher and Kordofan to Sudan’s al-Dabba camp on the banks of the Nile north of Khartoum, which Grandi visited last week, are women and children. Their husbands and sons were killed or conscripted along the way.

Some mothers said they disguised their sons as girls to protect them from being abducted by fighters, Grandi said.

"Even fleeing is difficult because people are continuously stopped by the militias," he said.

Grandi began his UNHCR career in Khartoum in the 1980s, when Sudan sheltered refugees from other African wars. He is on his last trip as UNHCR chief before his term ends this month. A successor has yet to be named from over a dozen candidates.

Arab World

International Court Sentences Sudanese Militia Leader to 20 Years in Prison for Darfur Atrocities

Ali Muhammad Ali Abd al-Rahman, a leader of the Sudanese Janjaweed militia, at the International Criminal Court, ICC, in The Hague, Netherlands, Tuesday, Dec. 9, 2025. (AP Photo/Peter Dejong, Pool)
Ali Muhammad Ali Abd al-Rahman, a leader of the Sudanese Janjaweed militia, at the International Criminal Court, ICC, in The Hague, Netherlands, Tuesday, Dec. 9, 2025. (AP Photo/Peter Dejong, Pool)
TT
TT

International Court Sentences Sudanese Militia Leader to 20 Years in Prison for Darfur Atrocities

Ali Muhammad Ali Abd al-Rahman, a leader of the Sudanese Janjaweed militia, at the International Criminal Court, ICC, in The Hague, Netherlands, Tuesday, Dec. 9, 2025. (AP Photo/Peter Dejong, Pool)
Ali Muhammad Ali Abd al-Rahman, a leader of the Sudanese Janjaweed militia, at the International Criminal Court, ICC, in The Hague, Netherlands, Tuesday, Dec. 9, 2025. (AP Photo/Peter Dejong, Pool)

Judges at the International Criminal Court sentenced a leader of the feared Sudanese Janjaweed militia to 20 years imprisonment Tuesday for war crimes and crimes against humanity committed in the catastrophic conflict in Darfur more than 20 years ago.

At a hearing last month, prosecutors sought a life sentence for Ali Muhammad Ali Abd–Al-Rahman who was convicted in October of 27 counts of war crimes and crimes against humanity that included ordering mass executions and bludgeoning two prisoners to death with an ax in 2003-2004, The Associated Press said.

“He committed these crimes knowingly, wilfully, and with, the evidence shows, enthusiasm and vigor,” prosecutor Julian Nicholls told judges at the sentencing hearing in November.

Abd-Al-Rahman, 76, stood and listened, but showed no reaction as Presiding Judge Joanna Korner passed the sentence.

Arab World

Hamas Reports ‘More Serious’ Talks on Phase Two of Gaza Deal

A young girl walks through the site of an Israeli airstrike in Deir al-Balah on December 9, 2025, which resulted in a Palestinian man being killed. (Photo by BASHAR TALEB / AFP)
A young girl walks through the site of an Israeli airstrike in Deir al-Balah on December 9, 2025, which resulted in a Palestinian man being killed. (Photo by BASHAR TALEB / AFP)
TT
TT

Hamas Reports ‘More Serious’ Talks on Phase Two of Gaza Deal

A young girl walks through the site of an Israeli airstrike in Deir al-Balah on December 9, 2025, which resulted in a Palestinian man being killed. (Photo by BASHAR TALEB / AFP)
A young girl walks through the site of an Israeli airstrike in Deir al-Balah on December 9, 2025, which resulted in a Palestinian man being killed. (Photo by BASHAR TALEB / AFP)

Hamas sources say negotiations over the second phase of the Gaza ceasefire agreement have entered a “more serious” stage, amid intensified efforts by mediators and growing US pressure on Israel to advance the process.

The sources told Asharq Al-Awsat that Hamas is awaiting confirmation from mediators on the start of the next round of indirect talks, expected once Washington and Tel Aviv finalize understandings. They anticipate discussions could begin late this month or early next month.

Recent days have seen multiple bilateral and trilateral meetings between Hamas leaders and mediators in Doha, Cairo, and Istanbul, alongside continuous communications. Additional sessions are being planned.

According to the sources, Israel now has “no valid justification” to delay the transition to phase two, despite the ongoing search for the remains of the last Israeli hostage in Gaza. Israel insists the body must be recovered before any progress, while mediators acknowledge the difficulty of the operation.

They noted that Egyptian engineering teams have helped retrieve all remains except one, whose recovery remains extremely challenging. Search efforts resumed this week in eastern Zaytoun neighborhood after coordination between Israel and the mediators.

Hamas and other Palestinian factions are preparing for a “comprehensive national meeting” in Cairo aimed at resolving core issues, including the governance of Gaza, administration of public services, and the future of factional weapons. Fatah representatives are expected to participate.

Sources say current discussions include clear proposals on the deployment and mandate of an international stabilization force, as well as the handling of armed factions’ weapons, “not through forced disarmament,” but via a Palestinian consensus backed by mediators. Hamas considers transferring Gaza’s administration to an agreed technocratic committee the “easiest” step and says it is ready to implement it immediately.

They also report growing convergence among Hamas, other factions, and Arab mediators on a formula allowing weapons to be held by a Palestinian authority under guarantees preventing their transfer to Israel or the United States. This would form part of a defined political process on the future of the Palestinian issue. Hamas has proposed a long-term truce of at least ten years, during which weapons use would be frozen under binding guarantees.

US President Donald Trump is expected to meet Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at month’s end to discuss Gaza and the transition to phase two. Former UK Prime Minister Tony Blair has also held talks with Israeli and Palestinian officials on Gaza governance as part of preparations for a proposed “Peace Council” he is expected to help lead under the ceasefire framework.