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Cost of Fuel Exceeds Minimum Wage in Lebanon

Lebanese bank customers hold pictures of the owners of Lebanese banks calling them "the enemies of society", during a protest in downtown Beirut, Lebanon, 11 June 2022. (EPA)
Lebanese bank customers hold pictures of the owners of Lebanese banks calling them "the enemies of society", during a protest in downtown Beirut, Lebanon, 11 June 2022. (EPA)
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Cost of Fuel Exceeds Minimum Wage in Lebanon

Lebanese bank customers hold pictures of the owners of Lebanese banks calling them "the enemies of society", during a protest in downtown Beirut, Lebanon, 11 June 2022. (EPA)
Lebanese bank customers hold pictures of the owners of Lebanese banks calling them "the enemies of society", during a protest in downtown Beirut, Lebanon, 11 June 2022. (EPA)

The price of a 20 liters of fuel crossed the minimum wage in Lebanon for the first time since the eruption of the country's economic crisis.

The cost of fuel reached 700,000 Lebanese pounds, or 25 dollars, on Saturday, while minimum wage stands at 675,000 LL.

The cost of fuel has risen with the rise of the dollar against the pound and surge in fuel prices around the world due to the Ukrainian crisis.

Fuel distributors met on Saturday to address the crisis.

Representative of the distributors, Fadi Abu Shakra blamed the crisis on the rise of oil prices worldwide and the hike in the dollar rate on the Sayrafa platform and black market.

The people will no longer be able to handle the burden with fuel selling at 700,000 pounds, he added.

Despite incurring losses, the distributors have never waned in providing fuel to the people, he stressed.

He revealed that the distributors have requested an urgent meeting with caretaker Energy Minister Walid Fayyad to address the difficulties they are facing.

Owners of gas stations are suffering losses due to the great fluctuation in the exchange rate of the dollar to the pound, Abu Shakra said.

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Kurdish Fighters Leave Northern City in Syria as Part of Deal with Central Government

A first contingent of Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) fighters leave Aleppo, headed for SDF-controlled northeastern Syria, in Aleppo, Syria, 04 April 2025. (EPA)
A first contingent of Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) fighters leave Aleppo, headed for SDF-controlled northeastern Syria, in Aleppo, Syria, 04 April 2025. (EPA)
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Kurdish Fighters Leave Northern City in Syria as Part of Deal with Central Government

A first contingent of Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) fighters leave Aleppo, headed for SDF-controlled northeastern Syria, in Aleppo, Syria, 04 April 2025. (EPA)
A first contingent of Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) fighters leave Aleppo, headed for SDF-controlled northeastern Syria, in Aleppo, Syria, 04 April 2025. (EPA)

Scores of US-backed Kurdish fighters left two neighborhoods in Syria’s northern city of Aleppo Friday as part of a deal with the central government in Damascus, which is expanding its authority in the country.

The fighters left the predominantly Kurdish northern neighborhoods of Sheikh Maksoud and Achrafieh, which had been under the control of Kurdish fighters in Aleppo over the past decade.

The deal is a boost to an agreement reached last month between Syria’s interim government and the Kurdish-led authority that controls the country’s northeast. The deal could eventually lead to the merger of the main US-backed force in Syria into the Syrian army.

The withdrawal of fighters from the US-backed and Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) came a day after dozens of prisoners from both sides were freed in Aleppo, Syria’s largest city.

Syria’s state news agency, SANA, reported that government forces were deployed along the road that SDF fighters will use to move between Aleppo and areas east of the Euphrates River, where the Kurdish-led force controls nearly a quarter of Syria.

Sheikh Maksoud and Achrafieh had been under SDF control since 2015 and remained so even when forces of ousted President Bashar al-Assad captured Aleppo in late 2016. The two neighborhoods remained under SDF control when forces loyal to current interim President Ahmed al-Sharaa captured the city in November, and days later captured the capital, Damascus, removing Assad from power.

After being marginalized for decades under the rule of the Assad family rule, the deal signed last month promises Syria’s Kurds “constitutional rights,” including using and teaching their language, which were banned for decades.

Hundreds of thousands of Kurds, who were displaced during Syria’s nearly 14-year civil war, will return to their homes. Thousands of Kurds living in Syria who have been deprived of nationality for decades under Assad will be given the right of citizenship, according to the agreement.

Kurds made up 10% of the country’s prewar population of 23 million. Kurdish leaders say they don’t want full autonomy with their own government and parliament. They want decentralization and room to run their day-to day-affairs.