Lebanon: Mikati Named PM, Urges Action to Secure IMF Deal

Lebanese PM Najib Mikati. AFP
Lebanese PM Najib Mikati. AFP
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Lebanon: Mikati Named PM, Urges Action to Secure IMF Deal

Lebanese PM Najib Mikati. AFP
Lebanese PM Najib Mikati. AFP

Lebanon's Najib Mikati was named prime minister on Thursday, urging fractious politicians to set aside differences to secure an IMF deal which he said was the only chance to save the country from financial collapse.

Facing a politically difficult path to agreeing on a new cabinet, Mikati who led three previous governments said Lebanon did not have time for "drowning in conditions and demands" of rival groups over ministerial posts.

"We are facing the challenge of either complete collapse or gradual salvation," said Mikati, referring to the IMF deal that promises $3 billion of support, contingent on reforms that have long been put off by Lebanon's political elite.

Now in its third year, the financial meltdown has sunk the currency by more than 90%, spread poverty, paralyzed the financial system and frozen depositors out of their savings, in Lebanon's most destabilizing crisis since the 1975-90 civil war.

Donor states want Lebanon to enact reforms to address root causes of the crisis, including decades of state waste and corruption, before aid is released.

"We have wasted enough time and lost many chances of support from brotherly and friendly countries whose stance has always been clear: 'help yourselves so we can help you'," Reuters quoted Mikati as saying.

Mikati remains in charge of a caretaker cabinet until a new government is formed.

He urged parliament to approve laws referred to it by the previous government that would pave the way to a final agreement with the IMF, including amendments to banking secrecy rules and capital controls.

He was nominated by 54 of parliament's 128 lawmakers, including the Iran-backed Hezbollah, in consultations convened by President Michel Aoun.

But with splits running deep among Lebanon's ruling elite, it is widely believed Mikati will struggle to form a government, a process that can drag on for months as factions tussle over posts in cabinet and beyond.



Kurdish PKK Militants to Hand over First Weapons in Ceremony in Iraq

PKK militants in northern Iraq (Reuters)
PKK militants in northern Iraq (Reuters)
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Kurdish PKK Militants to Hand over First Weapons in Ceremony in Iraq

PKK militants in northern Iraq (Reuters)
PKK militants in northern Iraq (Reuters)

Dozens of Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) militants will hand over their weapons in a ceremony in northern Iraq on Friday, marking a symbolic but significant first step toward ending a decades-long insurgency with Türkiye.

The PKK, locked in conflict with the Turkish state and outlawed since 1984, decided in May to disband, disarm and end its armed struggle after a public call to do so from its long-imprisoned leader Abdullah Ocalan, Reuters said.

After a series of failed peace efforts, the new initiative could pave the way for Ankara to end an insurgency that has killed over 40,000 people, burdened the economy and wrought deep social and political divisions in Türkiye and the wider region.

Around 40 PKK militants and one commander were expected to hand over their weapons at the ceremony in the northern Iraqi city of Sulaymaniyah, people familiar with the plan said. The PKK is based in northern Iraq after being pushed well beyond Türkiye’s frontier in recent years.

The arms are to be destroyed later in another ceremony attended by Turkish and Iraqi intelligence figures, officials of Iraq's Kurdistan regional government, and senior members of Türkiye's pro-Kurdish DEM party - which also played a key role in facilitating the PKK's disarmament decision.

The PKK, DEM and Ocalan have all called on Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan's government to address Kurdish political demands. In a rare online video published on Wednesday, Ocalan also urged Türkiye's parliament to set up a commission to oversee disarmament and manage the broader peace process.

Ankara has taken steps toward forming the commission, while the DEM and Ocalan have said that legal assurances and certain mechanisms were needed to smooth the PKK's transition into democratic politics.

Erdogan has said his government would not allow any attempts to sabotage the disarmament process, adding he would give people "historic good news".

Omer Celik, a spokesman for Erdogan's AK Party, said the disarmament process should not be allowed to drag on longer than a few months to avoid it becoming subject to provocations.