Lebanon: Mikati Rejects Accusations of Interfering in Judiciary

Lebanese PM Najib Mikati. AFP
Lebanese PM Najib Mikati. AFP
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Lebanon: Mikati Rejects Accusations of Interfering in Judiciary

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

Caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati reiterated that his calls on the outgoing Interior Minister to block judicial “violations” taken by FPM Judge Ghada Aoun against local banks are not considered an interference in the judiciary.

He emphasized that some decisions must be taken for the good of the country.

“We have already emphasized respect for the judiciary in our ministerial statement and emphasized non interference in its affairs, but some matters are strongly linked to Lebanon’s high interest and to the path of the judiciary which truly affects the course of justice,” said Mikati at the opening of Monday’s Cabinet meeting.

He said there would be no need for a similar decision “when the judiciary purifies itself from impurities and addresses exaggerations". He assured that it was discussed beforehand with the related judges.

He added that “exceptional circumstances require exceptional decisions”, noting that the move was not taken to protect anyone.

The decision was initially taken to protect the banking sector, “the major pillar of the country’s economy", he stated.

On Wednesday, Mikati and caretaker Interior Minister Bassam Mawlawi moved to block the work of Judge Ghada Aoun, who has been investigating Lebanon's financial sector since it collapsed in 2019 following decades of corrupt government, profligate spending and financial mismanagement.

Mikati sent a letter to Mawlawi on Wednesday asking that security forces "not carry out decisions issued by" Aoun as they were "an overstepping of authority."

The banks have been on strike since Feb. 7, following a meeting to discuss the snowballing legal measures they have been facing since Lebanon's economy began to unravel more than three years ago.

Lebanon's banks suspended the strike for one week at the request of Mikati, the Association of the Banks of Lebanon announced on Friday, days after the prime minister moved against judge Aoun.



UNRWA Lebanon Says Not Impacted by US Aid Freeze or New Israeli Law

 Head of UNRWA in Lebanon Dorothee Klaus speaks during a press conference in her offices in Beirut, Lebanon January 29, 2025. (Reuters)
Head of UNRWA in Lebanon Dorothee Klaus speaks during a press conference in her offices in Beirut, Lebanon January 29, 2025. (Reuters)
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UNRWA Lebanon Says Not Impacted by US Aid Freeze or New Israeli Law

 Head of UNRWA in Lebanon Dorothee Klaus speaks during a press conference in her offices in Beirut, Lebanon January 29, 2025. (Reuters)
Head of UNRWA in Lebanon Dorothee Klaus speaks during a press conference in her offices in Beirut, Lebanon January 29, 2025. (Reuters)

The director of the United Nations agency for Palestinian refugees in Lebanon said on Wednesday that the agency had not been affected by US President Donald Trump's halt to US foreign aid funding or by an Israeli ban on its operations.

"UNRWA currently is not receiving any US funding so there is no direct impact of the more recent decisions related to the UN system for UNRWA," Dorothee Klaus told reporters at UNRWA's field office in Lebanon.

US funding to UNRWA was suspended last year until March 2025 under a deal reached by US lawmakers and after Israel accused 12 of the agency's 13,000 employees in Gaza of participating in the deadly Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas attack that triggered the Gaza war.

The UN has said it had fired nine UNRWA staff who may have been involved and said it would investigate all accusations made.

Klaus said that UNRWA Lebanon had also placed four staff members on administrative leave as it investigated allegations they had breached the UN principle of neutrality.

One UNRWA teacher had already been suspended last year and a Hamas commander in Lebanon - killed in September in an Israeli strike - was found to have had an UNRWA job.

Klaus also said there was "no direct impact" on the agency's Lebanon operations from a new Israeli law banning UNRWA operations in East Jerusalem, the West Bank and the Gaza Strip and that "UNRWA will continue fully operating in Lebanon."

The law, adopted in October, bans UNRWA's operation on Israeli land - including East Jerusalem, which Israel annexed in a move not recognized internationally - and contact with Israeli authorities from Jan. 30.

UNRWA provides aid, health and education services to millions in the Palestinian territories and neighboring Arab countries of Syria, Lebanon and Jordan.

Its commissioner general Philippe Lazzarini said on Tuesday that UNRWA has been the target of a "fierce disinformation campaign" to "portray the agency as a terrorist organization."