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Lebanon President Approves Gov't Resignation, Leaves with No Replacement

Outgoing Lebanese president Michel Aoun waves towards supporters during a farewell ceremony at the end of his term, at Baabda Palace, east of Beirut, Lebanon, 30 October 2022. - EPA
Outgoing Lebanese president Michel Aoun waves towards supporters during a farewell ceremony at the end of his term, at Baabda Palace, east of Beirut, Lebanon, 30 October 2022. - EPA
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Lebanon President Approves Gov't Resignation, Leaves with No Replacement

Outgoing Lebanese president Michel Aoun waves towards supporters during a farewell ceremony at the end of his term, at Baabda Palace, east of Beirut, Lebanon, 30 October 2022. - EPA
Outgoing Lebanese president Michel Aoun waves towards supporters during a farewell ceremony at the end of his term, at Baabda Palace, east of Beirut, Lebanon, 30 October 2022. - EPA

Lebanese President Michel Aoun left Lebanon's presidential palace Sunday marking the end of his six-year term without a replacement, leaving the small nation in a political vacuum that is likely to worsen its historic economic meltdown.

As Aoun’s term ends, the country is being run by a caretaker government after Prime Minister-designate Najib Mikati failed to form a new Cabinet following May 15 parliamentary elections.

In a speech outside the palace, Aoun told thousands of supporters that he has accepted the resignation of Mikati's government.

Lebanese are deeply divided over Aoun, with some seeing him as a defender of the country’s Christian community and a leading figure who tried to seriously fight corruption in Lebanon. However, he is criticized by his opponents for supporting "Hezbollah" and helping the group gain power.

“I leave a country that is robbed,” Aoun said, adding that all Lebanese were hurt by losing their life savings in local banks. He added that some politicians prevented the investigation into the port blast.

Aoun, who blamed his political rivals and others for the crisis except for members of his political party, later left the palace and headed to his residence in Beirut's northern suburb of Rabieh.

Aoun's biggest achievement came last week. He signed a US-mediated maritime border agreement with Israel that Beirut hopes will lead to gas exploration in the Mediterranean, The Associated Press reported.

Parliament has held four sessions since late September to elect a president but no candidate was able to get the two-thirds majority of the vote needed. As in previous votes, parliamentary blocs will have to agree on a consensus candidate for the country’s top post as no alliance within the legislature controls majority seats.

Aoun himself was elected in 2016 after a more than two-year vacuum. Despite Hezbollah’s support then, Aoun was only elected after he received the backing of the bloc of his main rivals of the Christian Lebanese Forces Party as well as the bloc of former Prime Minister Saad Hariri.

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Yemen’s Houthis Move Weapons to Saada to Avoid More US Attacks

A protester carries a mock rocket during a rally in solidarity with the Palestinian people, at Sanaa University, in Sanaa, Yemen, 15 January 2025. (EPA)
A protester carries a mock rocket during a rally in solidarity with the Palestinian people, at Sanaa University, in Sanaa, Yemen, 15 January 2025. (EPA)
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Yemen’s Houthis Move Weapons to Saada to Avoid More US Attacks

A protester carries a mock rocket during a rally in solidarity with the Palestinian people, at Sanaa University, in Sanaa, Yemen, 15 January 2025. (EPA)
A protester carries a mock rocket during a rally in solidarity with the Palestinian people, at Sanaa University, in Sanaa, Yemen, 15 January 2025. (EPA)

The Iran-backed Houthi militias have moved large amounts of their weapons to their main stronghold of Saada in northern Yemen to protect them against US strikes that have intensified on the Amran province in a bid to destroy the militias’ underground arms caches.

Informed Yemeni sources said the Houthis have moved rockets and drones from Amran to Saada in the north, fearing they may be targeted by US strikes.

Western strikes have already destroyed several arms depots.

The US conducted its latest strikes against Houthi positions on Friday, targeting the Harf Sufyan district in northern Amran bordering Saada.

The sources told Asharq Al-Awsat that Houthi “weapons engineers and military maintenance” personnel moved sophisticated rockets and drones and other types of weapons to fortified caches throughout Saada.

The process was carried out in utmost secrecy and in stages to avoid detection, they added.

In Amran, the Houthis carried out a series of kidnappings against the local population, even its own supporters, on suspicion the people were collaborating with the US and Israel.

The US has carried out dozens of attacks on military positions in Harf Sufyan, destroying facilities that have been used to launch attacks against ships in the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden.

Harf Sufyan is considered the Houthis’ second major stronghold after Saada given its large area that spans around 2,700 square kms. It also borders four other provinces: Hajjah, al-Jawf, Saada and Sanaa.

Moreover, sources in Amran told Asharq Al-Awsat that Harf Sufyan is a major recruitment center for the Houthis, including the forced recruitment of Yemenis.

They revealed that the US strikes in the area dealt the Houthis heavy blows because they directly targeted their military positions, including a drone factory.

The sources suspected that the Americans intensified their strikes on Harf Sufyan after receiving intelligence information that the Houthis had dug tunnels and underground facilities there to hold meetings and recruit new members.