Nabih Berri to Asharq Al-Awsat: Lebanon Is Headed to Worse Situation if We Don't Immediately Address Crises

 Lebanese parliament Speaker Nabih Berri chairs a parliament meeting at the UNESCO Palace in the capital Beirut, on April 21, 2020. (AFP)
Lebanese parliament Speaker Nabih Berri chairs a parliament meeting at the UNESCO Palace in the capital Beirut, on April 21, 2020. (AFP)
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Nabih Berri to Asharq Al-Awsat: Lebanon Is Headed to Worse Situation if We Don't Immediately Address Crises

 Lebanese parliament Speaker Nabih Berri chairs a parliament meeting at the UNESCO Palace in the capital Beirut, on April 21, 2020. (AFP)
Lebanese parliament Speaker Nabih Berri chairs a parliament meeting at the UNESCO Palace in the capital Beirut, on April 21, 2020. (AFP)

Lebanon's parliament Speaker Nabih Berri warned the country would be headed to a worse situation if accumulating crises are not addressed.

In remarks to Asharq Al-Awsat, he said this week is "decisive" in determining the course of events.

He said attention would be focused on the constitutional council's decision over the appeal filed by the Free Patriotic Movement (FPM) over the parliamentary electoral law.

Officials and parties have been warning against the potential postponement of the elections that are set for March 2022. The Lebanese Forces (LF) has warned that it may take to the streets if the polls are delayed.

Berri noted the "major international interest" in Lebanon holding the elections.

"This is normal and it should also be normal and necessary for us to insist that they are held," he added.

He predicted that the constitutional council will announce its decision on Monday or Tuesday at most.

This in turn, will set in motion a new dynamic in the country regardless of whether the FPM appeal is accepted or not, he continued.

Moreover, Berri said that new efforts are underway to find solutions to problems, but the government crisis is still stalling.

He called for exerting serious efforts to resolve crises endured by the Lebanese people, "otherwise we will be confronted with a worse situation."

On Saturday, LF MP George Okais called on people to be ready to "head to the streets" should the elections be postponed or cancelled.

The elections are a "pivotal" junction and "necessary condition" to introduce change to the ruling authority in Lebanon, he added.

Any change takes place through elections, he remarked.

It is necessary to provide guarantees that the elections will be held, he went on to say.

The corrupt authority should be prevented from usurping the voice of the Lebanese people, urged the MP.

Okais warned against attempts to postpone the parliamentary and presidential elections, which are also set for 2022.

The LF opposes the extension of President Michel Aoun's term, he stressed

Mustaqbal MP Mohammed al-Hajjar warned that some sides are working on obstructing the parliamentary elections.

The movement insists that they be held on time, he stated.

"If they are not held, for whatever reason, then we will resign from parliament," he revealed.

The international community is using all its means to ensure that the polls are held because it wants to change the political class, he added.

Some sides claim that they want the elections be staged, but they are in fact working against them, he noted.

The FPM had on Saturday hoped that the constitutional council would approve its appeal.

The movement said it had appealed "flagrant legal and constitutional flaws" in the electoral law. It hoped the council would accept its appeal over an article that had deprived expatriates of their right to elect six lawmakers who would represent them at parliament.

The FPM stressed that it rejects any concession over these rights and that it deems any obstruction of state institutions as a form of blackmail

Furthermore, the movement had appealed the parliament's recommendation to hold the polls in March instead of May, as has been the case for years.

It also objected against allowing expatriates to vote for the entire 128-member legislature, instead of six seats allotted to them. It explained that such a move goes against a law that had dedicated the six seats to the expatriates. The seats represent all sects and form a new electoral district that is added to the ones designated to citizens residing in Lebanon.



One Syrian Security Member Killed in ISIS Attack in Raqqa

Syrian Internal Security vehicles patrol near Ain al-Arab in eastern Aleppo province after authorities said 20 suspects were arrested in connection with attacks on security checkpoints and facilities. (SANA file)
Syrian Internal Security vehicles patrol near Ain al-Arab in eastern Aleppo province after authorities said 20 suspects were arrested in connection with attacks on security checkpoints and facilities. (SANA file)
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One Syrian Security Member Killed in ISIS Attack in Raqqa

Syrian Internal Security vehicles patrol near Ain al-Arab in eastern Aleppo province after authorities said 20 suspects were arrested in connection with attacks on security checkpoints and facilities. (SANA file)
Syrian Internal Security vehicles patrol near Ain al-Arab in eastern Aleppo province after authorities said 20 suspects were arrested in connection with attacks on security checkpoints and facilities. (SANA file)

Syria's Interior Ministry said on Monday that one of its security personnel had been killed as its forces thwarted an attack by two ISIS militants on a command headquarters of the country's internal security forces in the city of Raqqa.

According to a ministry statement, two suicide attackers attempted to storm the facility. Security ‌personnel engaged the pair, ‌neutralizing one of them, ‌while ⁠the second detonated ⁠an explosive vest after being surrounded.

Three security personnel were also wounded in the attack, the statement added.

Earlier, the Syrian state news agency had cited the Interior Ministry's spokesperson as saying that preliminary information indicated at least ⁠two ministry personnel were killed in ‌a suicide attack on ‌a ministry camp in Raqqa.

In February, ISIS ‌declared a new phase of operations against ‌the government of President Ahmed al-Sharaa and has since carried out a spate of attacks, including one that killed four Syrian security personnel near ‌Raqqa.

Last year, Sharaa's government joined the US-led coalition fighting ISIS.

At the peak of its power during the Syrian civil war a decade ago, ISIS controlled around a quarter or more of Syria, before being driven out of the territory by a US-led coalition and other foes.


Dutch Court Jails ‘Assad Torturer’ for 26 Years for Torture, Rape

A demonstrator stands on a photograph of President Bashar al-Assad during a protest outside the Syrian consulate in Istanbul, Türkiye, on Dec. 8, 2024. (Getty Images/AFP)
A demonstrator stands on a photograph of President Bashar al-Assad during a protest outside the Syrian consulate in Istanbul, Türkiye, on Dec. 8, 2024. (Getty Images/AFP)
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Dutch Court Jails ‘Assad Torturer’ for 26 Years for Torture, Rape

A demonstrator stands on a photograph of President Bashar al-Assad during a protest outside the Syrian consulate in Istanbul, Türkiye, on Dec. 8, 2024. (Getty Images/AFP)
A demonstrator stands on a photograph of President Bashar al-Assad during a protest outside the Syrian consulate in Istanbul, Türkiye, on Dec. 8, 2024. (Getty Images/AFP)

A Dutch court Monday sentenced a Syrian man to 26 years in jail for the torture and rape of opponents of former president Bashar al-Assad during the country's civil war.

The 58-year-old man, identified as Rafik A., was head of the interrogation unit of the National Defense Force (NDF) in the western Syrian city of Salamiyah in 2013 and 2014.

The paramilitary NDF violently suppressed dissent against the Assad regime and imprisoned and tortured opponents.

The court said victims were "handcuffed and blindfolded, beaten with various objects and kicked for prolonged periods, folded up inside a car tire, hung upside down, or electrocuted, often being forced to be naked."

A. was also found guilty of sexually abusing multiple victims and raping one of them, the court said.

"Time and again, the suspect created conditions of mortal terror, threat, pain, hopelessness and powerlessness," said the court in The Hague.

He was convicted of 19 counts of crimes against humanity against eight victims.

The court said the sentence was justified by "the exceptional gravity of the offences and the suffering of the victims".

It was the first time anyone had been tried in the Netherlands for sexual violence as a crime against humanity.

A. arrived in the Netherlands in 2021 and won temporary asylum, settling in the central town of Druten with his family.

Police arrested him shortly afterwards following a tip.

During his trial, A. denied the charges against him which he dismissed as a "conspiracy".

His lawyers said A. himself was tortured by militias and is suffering from post-traumatic stress syndrome.

Several European countries are trying suspects from the Syrian civil war under the legal tool of universal jurisdiction, allowing judges to rule on alleged serious crimes committed abroad.

Similar cases have been heard in France, Germany, Sweden, Belgium and Austria.


Palestinian Leader Abbas Announces Presidential Election in Early 2027

 Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas. (AFP file photo)
Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas. (AFP file photo)
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Palestinian Leader Abbas Announces Presidential Election in Early 2027

 Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas. (AFP file photo)
Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas. (AFP file photo)

Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas has issued a decree calling for presidential elections in early 2027 and for legislative elections to be held in November of this year, official Palestinian news agency Wafa reported, without saying if he would run. 

Abbas, 90, won the last Palestinian presidential election in 2005 with a mandate of four years, meaning his term should have expired in 2009. 

However his term was extended and no presidential election has been held since, with Abbas ruling by presidential decrees, courting criticism at home and abroad. 

"President Mahmoud Abbas announced that presidential elections will be held in early 2027," Wafa said, citing a statement from the presidency. 

The nonagenarian leader's decree also calls for legislative elections to take place in November of this year, it added. 

In his decree, Abbas emphasized he was "fully prepared to organize the Palestinian National Council elections scheduled for November, which include the general legislative elections in the homeland and elections abroad". 

The Palestinian National Council (PNC) is the parliament of the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO), which has over 700 members from the Palestinian territories and abroad. 

The last legislative elections in the Palestinian territories were held in 2006, when Hamas won, defeating Abbas' Fatah party, which had previously dominated Palestinian politics. 

As a result, the Palestinian Legislative Council, which is the parliament of Abbas' Palestinian Authority, has not met since 2007. 

Holding elections is part of the reforms demanded by the international community, which supports the Palestinian Authority financially. 

Palestinian legal researcher Mahmud Al-Afranji said there was both political will and international pressure on the Palestinian Authority to hold the elections. 

But he told AFP that a lack of guarantees that elections would be held in occupied east Jerusalem and the Gaza Strip remained "an obstacle to holding the legislative elections". 

In 2021, Abbas announced legislative and presidential elections to be held in May and July of that year respectively. 

They were then postponed indefinitely due to the absence of guarantees that voting could take place in east Jerusalem, which Israel has occupied since 1967. 

In April, Palestinians went to the polls to elect municipal council heads in the occupied West Bank, in the first vote since the outbreak of the Gaza war in October 2023.