UANI Resource: Perspectives on Lebanon and Hezbollah

Perspectives: Lebanon and Hezbollah  November 9, 2018 Perspectives: Lebanon and Hezbollah is a UANI weekly resource highlighting developments in Lebanon and the activities of the terrorist group Hezbollah.   Lebanese Security Iranian Airplanes Banned From Refueling at Beirut's International Airport Al-Janoubia reported today that Iranian jets have been banned from refueling at Beirut's Rafic Hariri International Airport. A source in the airport clarified to Al-Janoubia that the international firms that provide fuel to civilian aircraft at Beirut's airport were the ones that decided not to refuel Iranian airliners - including Total, Coral Oil, and PP Petroleum. According to the source, these companies took the decision in compliance with the latest round of U.S. sanctions on Iran. Airlines that would no longer be refueled at Beirut's airport include Iranian Mahan Air and Iran Air; Belorussian Belavia Airlines; Syrian Cham Wings and Syrian Air; and Iraqi Al-Naser Wings Airlines. Lebanon's General Security: Almost 90,000 Syrian Refugees Have Been Repatriated Lebanon's General Directorate of General Security announced this week that 87,670 Syrian refugees in Lebanon have returned home since July 2018. Hezbollah Transnationally UK Ambassador to Beirut: Hezbollah's Military Activities Concern Us Elnashra reported that Chris Rumpling, the United Kingdom's ambassador to Lebanon, said London is concerned over Hezbollah's military activities and reports that the group is upgrading its military arsenal. He added that his country continues to view Hezbollah's military wing as a terrorist organization, despite its participation in the fight against ISIS in Syria.   Cabinet Formation "Independent Sunni" Impasse to Cabinet Formation Remains Unresolved Lebanese cabinet formation remained deadlocked this week over the issue of including the "Independent Sunnis," part of the Hezbollah-aligned, anti-Hariri "March 8" group, in Prime Minister Saad Hariri's new government. Hariri remained firm in his rejection of giving the "Independent Sunnis" a single cabinet seat. However, today, pro-Hezbollah Al-Akhbar reported that Hariri may have agreed with the March 8-aligned Najib Mikati to give a seat in his cabinet to a Sunni figure close to Mikati. Meanwhile this week, Lebanese President Michel Aoun remained publicly committed to supporting the premier's position, in a rare divergence from his Hezbollah allies. Aoun seemed to backtrack, however, as sources from within Aoun's Free Patriotic Movement cryptically told An-Nahar that Hariri held the key to the solution to the "Sunni Impasse." However, after Aoun met with the "Independent Sunni" MPs at the Baabda Presidential Palace, sources within Baabda told the pro-Aoun OTV that the president remained committed to supporting Hariri's stance, despite understanding the "Independent Sunni" position and promising to continue communicating with them. Sources privy to the discussion told Elnashra that was all Aoun promised. On the other hand, Hezbollah remained committed to having its allies represented in the new government. On Monday, An-Nahar reported that Hezbollah Secretary-General Hassan Nasrallah would deliver a speech on Saturday, November 10, in which he would reaffirm Hezbollah's support for the "Independent Sunnis." On Tuesday, pro-Hezbollah Al-Akhbar news - which often acts as the group's mouthpiece - confirmed that the group and Nasrallah would not back down on the question of their representation. Reports that Hezbollah would not budge continued throughout the week, with the group's sources telling the Aounist OTV that no government would be formed if the March 8-aligned Sunnis did not receive a seat. Meanwhile, Lebanese Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri - whose Shiite Amal Movement is also allied with Hezbollah - dismissed the notion that he would get involved in an effort to resolve the impasse, saying that no one had even asked him to do so. However, Wael Abu Faour - of the Hariri-aligned Druze Progressive Socialist Party (PSP) - told LBCI that he expected an upcoming Russian overture towards Lebanon to "reactivate Lebanon's stagnant government formation process." Abu Faour was in Moscow on Wednesday, alongside MP Taymour Joumblatt - the head of the PSP-led Democratic Gathering Bloc. However, today, sources told Elnashra that Russia would not get involved in attempts to solve Lebanon's government formation impasse. Hezbollah Domestically Hezbollah Arrests Syrians in Lebanon and Hands Them Over to Assad The pro-Syrian Opposition outlet Nedaa Souriya alleged that Hezbollah arrested 15 Syrian young men in Lebanon on Wednesday, most of whom were wanted for evading mandatory military service in the Syrian Army. Hezbollah then allegedly handed over the Syrians to Assad regime officials at the Al-Masnaa Border crossing between Lebanon and Syria. Hezbollah Aids Exit of Militant Leader from Miyeh w'Miyeh Palestinian Refugee Camp Lebanese media outlets reported that calm had returned to the Miyeh w'Miyeh refugee camp - near the south Lebanon coastal city of Sidon - after weeks of violent clashes between Fatah and the Hezbollah-allied Ansarullah faction. Sources indicated that tensions had died down after the Ansarullah faction's Secretary-General Jamal Sleiman left the camp for Syria as part of a deal with Fatah, brokered by Hezbollah. Lebanese Foreign Relations Nizar Zakka Says Lebanese State is in a Coma Over His Detention Lebanese citizen and U.S. permanent resident Nizar Zakka criticized Beirut's handling of his continued imprisonment in Iran, saying the state was in a "full coma." Zakka has been detained in Iran since 2015 over spying allegations and was sentenced in 2016 to 10 years in prison and fined $4.2 million. Zakka, a resident of Washington D.C., was the leader of the Arab ICT Organization, also known as IJMA3, an industry consortium from 13 countries that advocates for information technology in the region. He disappeared while attending a conference in Iran on September 18, 2015, his fifth trip to the country. On November 3, 2015, Iranian state television admitted he was in custody, and called him a spy with "deep links" to U.S. intelligence services. BLOM Bank Becomes Lebanon's First to Introduce SWIFT GPI The Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunication (SWIFT) announced that on October 15, Lebanon's Banque du Liban et D'Outre Mer (BLOM) became the country's first bank - and one of the Middle East's few banks - to introduce SWIFT's Global Payments Innovation (GPI) service to its clients. United Against Nuclear Iran (UANI) is a non-partisan, broad-based coalition that is united in a commitment to prevent Iran from fulfilling its ambition to become a regional super-power possessing nuclear weapons.  UANI is an issue-based coalition in which each coalition member will have its own interests as well as the collective goal of advancing an Iran free of nuclear weapons.