Thaer Abbas

Thaer Abbas
Arab World Prime Minister Nawaf Salam and ambassador Simon Karam meet on Saturday. (PM's office)

Lebanese PM to Asharq Al-Awsat: 2nd Phase of Disarmament to Begin Soon Covering Regions between Litani, Awali

Lebanon would have completed the first phase of the army’s plan to impose state monopoly over arms, or the disarmament of Hezbollah, by the end of the year. …

Thaer Abbas (Beirut)
Arab World Lebanese Prime Minister Nawaf Salam. (Reuters)

Asharq Al-Awsat Publishes Outline of Lebanon’s Deposit Repayment Plan

Lebanon’s Prime Minister Nawaf Salam is pushing to secure approval for a draft law aimed at resolving the fate of bank deposits frozen since the country’s…

Thaer Abbas (Beirut)
Arab World Maronite Patriarch of Antioch and All the East Beshara al-Rahi (Asharq Al-Awsat) 

Lebanon: Patriarch al-Rahi Urges Hezbollah to Hand Over Weapons, ‘Free Itself from Iran’

Maronite Patriarch of Antioch and All the East Beshara al-Rahi has called on the United States to pressure Israel to “end its violations of Lebanon,”…

Thaer Abbas (Beirut)
Arab World President Joseph Aoun between Prime Minister Nawaf Salam and Speaker Nabih Berri (Lebanese Presidency file photo)

Lebanon Reaffirms Negotiations as Path to Resolve Dispute with Israel

Senior Lebanese officials reaffirmed their commitment to negotiations with Israel through the international committee tasked with overseeing the November 2024…

Thaer Abbas (Beirut)
Features A Saudi Anti-Narcotics official displays bags of Captagon pills seized in Jeddah hidden inside a shipment of pomegranates, April 25 (AFP)

Lebanon’s Drug Empire Faces Beginning of Its End

A sense of optimism is growing within Lebanon’s security establishment that 2026 could mark the end of the country’s “drug world,” a shadow economy born out of…

Thaer Abbas (Beirut)
Arab World Lebanese Interior and Municipalities Minister Ahmad al-Hajjar addresses a press conference at the headquarters of the Information Branch in Beirut, Lebanon, 15 September 2025. EPA/WAEL HAMZEH

Lebanese Interior Minister: We Made a Major Stride Forward in Combatting Narcotics

Lebanon’s Interior Minister Ahmad al-Hajjar said in remarks to Asharq Al-Awsat on Thursday that Lebanon has taken a major leap forward in combatting the…

Thaer Abbas
Arab World President Joseph Aoun and parliament Speaker Nabih Berri meet at the Baabda palace on Monday. (Lebanese presidency)

Berri Reveals to Asharq Al-Awsat Details of How Suggestion to Negotiate with Israel Was Dropped

Lebanese parliament Speaker Nabih Berri said on Monday that the proposal to hold negotiations between Lebanon and Israel was dropped because Tel Aviv was not…

Thaer Abbas (Beirut)
Arab World Head of the Lebanese Forces party Samir Geagea.

Geagea to Asharq Al-Awsat: Hezbollah Rejects Any Cooperation, Delays Everything in Lebanon  

Head of the Lebanese Forces party Samir Geagea said resolving the crises in the region will require more time, citing “facts, the sequence of events, and the…

Thaer Abbas (Beirut)