عربي English Türkçe اردو فارسى
Logo
Latest News
Arab World

Russia Upset with Damascus’ Decision to ‘Fail’ Constitutional Committee Talks

Russia’s special envoy on Syria Alexander Lavrentiev attends a meeting during consultations on Syria at the European headquarters of the United Nations in Geneva, Switzerland, on September 11, 2018. (Reuters)
Russia’s special envoy on Syria Alexander Lavrentiev attends a meeting during consultations on Syria at the European headquarters of the United Nations in Geneva, Switzerland, on September 11, 2018. (Reuters)
TT
TT

Russia Upset with Damascus’ Decision to ‘Fail’ Constitutional Committee Talks

Russia’s special envoy on Syria Alexander Lavrentiev attends a meeting during consultations on Syria at the European headquarters of the United Nations in Geneva, Switzerland, on September 11, 2018. (Reuters)
Russia’s special envoy on Syria Alexander Lavrentiev attends a meeting during consultations on Syria at the European headquarters of the United Nations in Geneva, Switzerland, on September 11, 2018. (Reuters)

In contrast to previous rounds of the Syria Constitutional Committee talks in Geneva, the Russian President’s Special Envoy for Syria, Alexander Lavrentiev, avoided blaming the Syrian opposition for the meetings failing to kickstart the drafting of a new constitution for the war-torn country.

The Syrian government “failed” the recent round of talks on purpose, and Syrian President Bashar al-Assad may no longer be in total control of the situation, Russian sources revealed.

More so, they said that Lavrentiev’s new approach of steering blame away from the opposition signaled a severe warning against irreversibly damaging the talks in Geneva.

Moscow did not issue a statement after the end of the recent round of talks and avoided giving an official assessment about the party responsible for their failure, paving the way for the opposition and West to accuse Damascus.

“It is difficult to blame the failure of the round of talks on the Damascus bombing, especially in light of the great efforts made by Moscow to make this round a success,” Russian diplomatic sources told Asharq Al-Awsat.

Bombs had hit a military bus in the city center of Damascus on Wednesday, killing 14 government soldiers.

Sources spoke of “widespread disappointment in Moscow, which had bet for a long time on the success of this round and sent the special presidential envoy to Damascus just before it to urge Assad to show the greatest possible flexibility.”

“The regime is responsible for the bombing that took place in Damascus,” said Rami al-Shaar, an advisor close to decision-making circles in the Syria file.

Al-Shaar blamed Damascus for not assuming the needed responsibility for the return of state institutions to their regular work and for intentionally aborting the sixth round of Constitutional Committee talks in Geneva.

“It became known to all parties, including the UN, that some members of the Syrian government delegation received instructions from Damascus not to agree to anything and to prevent any progress in the work of the Committee’s small body,” said al-Shaar.

The Constitutional Committee has a large and a small body: The large body comprises 150 members: 50 members of the government, 50 of the opposition, and 50 of civil society. The small body includes 45 members: 15 members for each party.

Most Viewed

 
 
Arab World

Lebanon Dismantles Security Network Linked to Hezbollah, Assad Remnants

Syrian army patrols the Lebanese border near Qusayr and searches tunnels used by Hezbollah in April 2026 (AFP)
Syrian army patrols the Lebanese border near Qusayr and searches tunnels used by Hezbollah in April 2026 (AFP)
TT
TT

Lebanon Dismantles Security Network Linked to Hezbollah, Assad Remnants

Syrian army patrols the Lebanese border near Qusayr and searches tunnels used by Hezbollah in April 2026 (AFP)
Syrian army patrols the Lebanese border near Qusayr and searches tunnels used by Hezbollah in April 2026 (AFP)

Lebanese authorities have foiled a plot threatening security in Lebanon and Syria, dismantling a dangerous cross-border network linked to Hezbollah and remnants of the former Syrian regime.

Judicial and security sources told Asharq Al-Awsat that five network members, three Syrians and two Lebanese, had been arrested.

The group brought fighters from Syria into Lebanon across the northern border, moved them to Beirut’s southern suburbs and then sent them to a training camp in the Baalbek-Hermel region.

The detainees held both Lebanese and Syrian citizenships, the sources said. The most prominent was Syrian Colonel Manaf Ali Safi, who had been in charge of a security branch under the former Syrian regime.

Authorities seized weapons and ammunition from the network, including hand grenades, machine guns, and sniper rifles. The arsenal raised fears about what the group was preparing to do, particularly as investigators examine whether its objectives went beyond military training.

Possible attack on the Bekaa

Preliminary investigations showed that the detainees admitted receiving training from Hezbollah fighters and operatives led by a man known as “Hajj Alaa,” according to the sources.

The network was run by Major General Mohammed Jaber, the former commander of the Desert Brigade in the Syrian army, the sources revealed.

Jaber is now in Moscow and is known to have been close to ousted Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.

The case poses a major security challenge for Lebanon, given the network’s ability to move across the Lebanese-Syrian border at a highly sensitive time in relations between Beirut and Damascus.

The detainees claimed the stated purpose of the training was to prepare for a possible attack by Syria’s current forces on Lebanon’s Bekaa region, the judicial and security sources said.

Initial findings also pointed to a broader network inside Syria involving more than 50 remnants of the former regime. They arranged the transfer of fighters from Syria into Lebanon and monitored Syrian forces’ movements inside Syria.

Sowing unrest and security chaos

Initial information also implicated three Hezbollah-linked individuals in bringing in and training the fighters. Several other names remain under scrutiny as investigators seek to establish their roles.

The sources said the network’s mission likely went beyond preparing to repel a possible Syrian incursion. They said it may have sought to sow unrest and security chaos in Lebanon, carry out assassinations and, most importantly, conduct operations in Syria’s coastal region.

That assessment was based on the weapons seized, including explosives, military-grade machine guns, sniper rifles and hand grenades.

Bodyguard to Christian bloc leader arrested

In a significant development, the sources said a member of Lebanon’s State Security agency who was part of the group had been arrested at dawn on Wednesday after more than a week in hiding. The man worked as a bodyguard for the head of a Christian parliamentary bloc.

He is the brother of one of the detainees and helped another person move and conceal a cache of weapons hidden in Talbira, an Akkar town near the Syrian border, the sources said.

The town served as an assembly point for fighters arriving from Syria before they were moved to Beirut’s southern suburbs. That adds a more sensitive dimension to the case, pointing to organized routes for moving people and weapons across the border.

Lebanese security agencies are working to uncover the network’s full structure and identify everyone involved, particularly those suspected of handling financing, recruitment, transportation and training.

Investigators are also seeking to determine what operations the group was preparing and whether it has other cells in Lebanon or Syria.

 

Arab World

Lebanon Central Bank Says New Audit to Scrutinize Transactions for Graft

A view shows Lebanon's Central Bank building in Beirut, Lebanon August 25, 2023. (Reuters)
A view shows Lebanon's Central Bank building in Beirut, Lebanon August 25, 2023. (Reuters)
TT
TT

Lebanon Central Bank Says New Audit to Scrutinize Transactions for Graft

A view shows Lebanon's Central Bank building in Beirut, Lebanon August 25, 2023. (Reuters)
A view shows Lebanon's Central Bank building in Beirut, Lebanon August 25, 2023. (Reuters)

Lebanon's central bank said Wednesday that an outside firm had begun a forensic audit into past transactions linked to its foreign assets, scrutinizing them for evidence of graft in the wake of the country's economic collapse.

The move is part of measures the institution has taken to improve oversight, steps that have also resulted in the arrest of the body's former governor, Riad Salameh.

A forensic audit has also been a key demand of the international community and the International Monetary Fund as Lebanon seeks bailout funds after the economic crash, which began in 2019.

The central bank said Wednesday that on August 17, the New York-based Alvarez & Marsal began the forensic audit of "selected transactions", covering the period from October 2019 to the end of 2023.

The audit includes "transactions related to the central bank's foreign assets, including subsidy programs for essential goods and materials" as well as other transfers, it said.

In May, the central bank had said that the audit aimed to verify that payments and transfers "were executed pursuant to proper authorizations and approvals", and that funds "were used for their intended purposes, without any violation, misuse, or misappropriation".

In 2020, Alvarez & Marsal had launched an audit of the central bank but later halted work after the body failed to hand over necessary data.

The firm resumed that audit the following year, and its preliminary report in 2023 painted a damning picture of the institution under long-serving former governor Salameh.

Salameh, who headed the bank from 1993 to July 2023, is widely viewed as a key culprit in the country's dramatic economic crash and is accused of having amassed a fortune during his time in the job.

He has faced numerous accusations including embezzlement and tax evasion in probes in Lebanon and abroad but has consistently denied any wrongdoing, insisting he is being made a "scapegoat" for the economic collapse.

He was arrested in September 2024 and charged with offenses including the alleged embezzlement of $44 million from the central bank, but was released a year later after posting record bail of more than $14 million.

He was placed in custody again in July over accusations including embezzlement and illegal enrichment after a complaint lodged by the new central bank authorities.

Arab World

Israel Ready to Remove Gaza Population if US Gives Approval, Says Minister

An Israeli military vehicle maneuvers in Gaza, as seen from the Israeli side of the border, September 1, 2026. (Reuters)
An Israeli military vehicle maneuvers in Gaza, as seen from the Israeli side of the border, September 1, 2026. (Reuters)
TT
TT

Israel Ready to Remove Gaza Population if US Gives Approval, Says Minister

An Israeli military vehicle maneuvers in Gaza, as seen from the Israeli side of the border, September 1, 2026. (Reuters)
An Israeli military vehicle maneuvers in Gaza, as seen from the Israeli side of the border, September 1, 2026. (Reuters)

Israel has plans ready to remove Palestinians from the Gaza Strip but is waiting for the United States to figure out where to take them, the defense minister said Wednesday.

"There is no real solution for Gaza in the end without this migration," Defense Minister Israel Katz told a conference hosted by Israeli news site Ynet and newspaper Yedioth Ahronoth.

The Israeli government "is organized and prepared to get them out -- by sea, by air, by every way possible", he said.

The US embassy referred requests for comment to the State Department in Washington.

US President Donald Trump, at the start of his second term, stunned much of the world by calling for all two million Palestinians to leave the Gaza Strip.

Trump spoke of developing the Mediterranean territory, devastated by Israeli bombardment since the October 7, 2023 attack by Hamas, into a luxury resort destination.

Trump walked back the idea following strong pushback including from Egypt, the only country other than Israel to border Gaza.

The proposal was also condemned by Palestinians themselves, for whom any effort to force them off their land would recall the "Nakba", or catastrophe -- their mass displacement during Israel's creation in 1948.

Announcing a Gaza war ceasefire in October, Trump laid out 20 points for the territory that included no forced displacement.

Katz, known for his outspoken remarks, said that Trump had only "frozen" the idea as he looks for countries to take in Palestinians.

"The plan hasn't been cancelled; it is being discussed all the time, even now, and I think there is no other solution for everyone's good," he said.

"But for it to happen, we need the US. When will we get their approval? Whenever it becomes clear that Hamas is not meeting its obligations" under the ceasefire, he said.

Katz, without citing his source, said 80 percent of people in Gaza wanted to leave but that Hamas was preventing them.

Forced displacement of civilians in occupied territory is considered a war crime under the Geneva Conventions.

The International Criminal Court has issued arrest warrants for Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Katz's predecessor Yoav Gallant over alleged war crimes, which both Israel and the United States deny.

Israeli attacks have already internally displaced the vast majority of Gaza's people following the unprecedented Hamas attack, which killed 1,221 people, according to official Israeli figures.

Israel's offensive has since claimed 73,470 lives in Gaza, with more than 1,330 since the ceasefire, according to the Gaza health ministry, which operates under Hamas.