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Hezbollah Admits Impasse with Bassil

Gebran Bassil speaks during an interview with Reuters in Sin-el-fil, Lebanon October 13, 2022. REUTERS/Mohamed Azakir/File Photo
Gebran Bassil speaks during an interview with Reuters in Sin-el-fil, Lebanon October 13, 2022. REUTERS/Mohamed Azakir/File Photo
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Hezbollah Admits Impasse with Bassil

Gebran Bassil speaks during an interview with Reuters in Sin-el-fil, Lebanon October 13, 2022. REUTERS/Mohamed Azakir/File Photo
Gebran Bassil speaks during an interview with Reuters in Sin-el-fil, Lebanon October 13, 2022. REUTERS/Mohamed Azakir/File Photo

Hezbollah has most likely reached the conclusion that it was not possible to reach an understanding with the head of the Free Patriotic Movement, MP Gebran Bassil, over the election of Marada Movement chief Sleiman Franjieh as Lebanon’s president.
 
Communication between the two sides has sharply declined over the recent weeks, according to information obtained by Asharq Al-Awsat, which prompted Bassil to accuse the party of reneging on its pledge not to nominate any candidate who does not enjoy the FPM’s support.
 
However, a Lebanese figure concerned with the stalled presidential elections stressed that the regional breakthrough will have its impact on Lebanon “sooner or later, in the form of a settlement leading to the election of a president for the republic and the formation of a government with a clear program.”
 
According to the source, Bassil was pushing “in all his meetings to nominate former Minister Jihad Azour for the presidency, but he avoids announcing his candidacy in order not to limit his chances.”
 
The source added that the potential nomination of the army commander, General Joseph Aoun, has waned with Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri’s announcement that his election requires a constitutional amendment.
 
Berri has yet to decide on holding a session to elect a president after Eid al-Fitr, as he prefers, according to information, to secure the necessary quorum to achieve a breakthrough.
 
The opposition parties, for their part, are still locked in their differences. The Progressive Socialist Party (PSP) withdrew its support for MP Michel Moawad, thus making any understanding between these forces over a new candidate an “impossible mission,” as expressed by a deputy from the opposition.
 
In a press conference on Wednesday, the head of the Kataeb Party, MP Sami Gemayel, voiced his rejection to a president imposed by Hezbollah, saying: “Such a president would be the president of Hezbollah’s republic and not that of all the Lebanese.”

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Italy Plans to Return Ambassador to Syria to Reflect New Diplomatic Developments, Minister Says

Italy's Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani speaks while meeting with members of the G7, on July 11, 2024, during the NATO summit in Washington. (AP)
Italy's Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani speaks while meeting with members of the G7, on July 11, 2024, during the NATO summit in Washington. (AP)
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Italy Plans to Return Ambassador to Syria to Reflect New Diplomatic Developments, Minister Says

Italy's Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani speaks while meeting with members of the G7, on July 11, 2024, during the NATO summit in Washington. (AP)
Italy's Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani speaks while meeting with members of the G7, on July 11, 2024, during the NATO summit in Washington. (AP)

Italy plans to send an ambassador back to Syria after a decade-long absence, the country’s foreign minister said, in a diplomatic move that could spark divisions among European Union allies.

Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani, speaking in front of relevant parliamentary committees Thursday, announced Rome’s intention to re-establish diplomatic ties with Syria to prevent Russia from monopolizing diplomatic efforts in the Middle Eastern country.

Moscow is considered a key supporter of Syrian President Bashar Assad, who has remained in power despite widespread Western isolation and civilian casualties since the start of Syria’s civil war in March 2011.

Peaceful protests against the Assad government — part of the so-called “Arab Spring” popular uprisings that spread across some of the Middle East — were met by a brutal crackdown, and the uprising quickly spiraled into a full-blown civil war.

The conflict was further complicated by the intervention of foreign forces on all sides and a rising militancy, first by al-Qaida-linked groups and then the ISIS group until its defeat on the battlefield in 2019.

The war, which has killed nearly half a million people and displaced half the country’s pre-war population of 23 million, is now largely frozen, despite ongoing low-level fighting.

The country is effectively carved up into areas controlled by the Damascus-based government of Assad, various opposition groups and Syrian Kurdish forces.

In the early days of the conflict, many Western and Arab countries cut off relations with Syria, including Italy, which has since managed Syria-related diplomacy through its embassy in Beirut.

However, since Assad has regained control over most of the territory, neighboring Arab countries have gradually restored relations, with the most symbolically significant move coming last year when Syria was re-admitted to the Arab League.

Tajani said Thursday the EU’s policy in Syria should be adapted to the “development of the situation,” adding that Italy has received support from Austria, Croatia, Greece, the Czech Republic, Slovenia, Cyprus and Slovakia.

However, the US and allied countries in Europe have largely continued to hold firm in their stance against Assad’s government, due to concerns over human rights violations.