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Perspectives: Lebanon and Hezbollah
October 19, 2018
Perspectives: Lebanon and
Hezbollah is a UANI weekly resource
highlighting developments in Lebanon and the activities of the
terrorist group Hezbollah.
Hezbollah Transnationally
U.S. Designates Hezbollah as Transnational Criminal
Organization
U.S. Attorney
General Jeff Sessions designated Hezbollah
as a top "transnational organized crime threat" and
announced that a task force of prosecutors had been organized into a
specific subcommittee dedicated to countering Hezbollah's illegal
activities. The subcommittee will be headed by Ilan Graff - assistant
US attorney in the Southern District of New York overseeing the
prosecution of two alleged Hezbollah members - and will be staffed by
members of the Hezbollah Financing and Narcoterrorism Team, created
by Sessions in January as part of the Trump Administration's
anti-Hezbollah campaign
Conflicting Reports on Hezbollah Military Draw-Down in
Syria
Al-Markazia reported that
Hezbollah recently withdrew several of its T-54 tanks from Qusayr in
Syria and distributed them among its positions in the Bekaa valley.
However, Hezbollah sources denied any such action had occurred,
saying, "our presence in Syria remains necessary and important,
and our mission isn't over yet." However, they added that it's
not impossible that this mission "could end soon, by a decision
announced by the Secretary General [of Hezbollah, Hassan Nasrallah]
personally." This contradicts an official request by the Syrian
regime in late August that Hezbollah remain in Syria indefinitely, as reported in
pro-Hezbollah Al-Akhbar.
Hezbollah Members Force Syrian Officials to Issue Them
Syrian IDs
El-Dorar reported that
Hezbollah fighters were demanding that employees of the Syrian
government's Civil Registry Directorate in the southern Syrian city
of Daraa issue them Syrian IDs. The report claimed that if the
employees refused, the Hezbollah fighters would then summon a Syrian
regime officer to force the employees to comply. Sources claimed
to El-Dorar that at least four such instances had
been discovered, including one in which a Hezbollah fighter had his
name changed on the new Syrian ID.
Hezbollah Reportedly Turning Al-Lajat into Military Base
Pro-Syrian
opposition Orient News alleged that
Hezbollah, with Syrian regime assistance, had bulldozed civilian
homes in the area of Al-Lajat, 50 km southeast of Damascus, to turn
the area into an Iranian military HQ attached to its operations room
near al-Khalkhala airbase.
Israel Continues to Fortify Northern Border Wall Against
Hezbollah
Hezbollah's Central Military Media reported that
the Israel Defense Forces continued to fortify the wall that Israel
is building along its northern border with Lebanon, placing iron
gates atop the cement blocks forming the wall. The report was
accompanied by pictures of
the continued Israeli construction efforts, and claimed that the
latest move "reflected the depth of panic experienced by the
enemy along the border with Lebanon."
Cabinet Formation
Sources: Government Formation Process Undergoing Final Touch-Ups
Sources told
both Al-Joumhouria
and pan-Arab daily Asharq
al-Awsat that a new Lebanese cabinet would be announced by
the end of the week, and that, while some disagreements remained, the
government formation process was now undergoing "final
touch-ups." President Michel Aoun expressed similar
sentiments, saying that the end of the government formation process
was "around
the corner." However NBN reported
late today that the government formation process had hit a new,
last-minute impasse - but not a reversal - "and no government
will be formed tomorrow or the day after." An OTV report
indicated the impasse resulted from the Lebanese Forces party's
demands, prompting Prime Minister Saad Hariri to plan a meeting with
LF's chairman Samir Geagea for this evening.
Unnamed "Senior Source": Hezbollah Will Get
the Health Ministry
An unnamed
senior source told
Lebanon's OTV that the decision to grant Hezbollah the
Lebanese Health Ministry had been approved "by a large
margin." In related news, Hezbollah sources told Al-Joumhouria that
Hezbollah will definitely receive three Ministries in Prime Minister
Saad Hariri's upcoming cabinet, and that the names of the Hezbollah
Ministers would be announced by the group's Shura Council "at
the last minute." In addition to the Health Ministry - which
will go to a Hezbollah member hailing from the Bekaa - the group will
also receive another service Ministry, and a State Minister position.
Hariri Works to Solve Christian, Druze Gov't Formation
Impasses
Al-Joumhouria reported
that Hariri met with Melhem Riachy, of the Maronite Christian
Lebanese Forces (LF) party, who afterward expressed his optimism that
a government would be formed "within
the coming days, or a little longer." Riachy's statement
came days after his Lebanese Forces party blamed
Free Patriotic Movement (FPM) chairman and caretaker Foreign Minister
Gebran Bassil for obstructing the government's formation, accusing
him of intentionally
setting matters back to square one.
Hariri's
efforts to tamp down LF-FPM tensions have apparently produced
results. Shortly after a meeting
between Hariri and Bassil, the latter called
on FPM's supporters to halt their media attacks against the rival LF
party. LF chairman Samir Geagea issued a similar
request to his party's supporters earlier. Within days, Riachy
and Bassil met at FPM's headquarters. According to Al-Joumhouria's
sources
- and subsequent comments
by LF chairman Geagea - the meeting was intended to patch up
relations between the two rival Maronite Christian parties rather
than reach an agreement on cabinet portfolios. Shortly after, FPM
sources told
Al-Joumhouria that the party had
obtained all of its demands for a future government, and LF's Deputy
Chairman George Adwan said
Hariri had offered his party the Justice Ministry - one of their demands
- though Geagea subsequently stressed
that nothing had been finalized yet. In fact, an OTV report today
claimed Hariri would not be offering the Justice Ministry to LF.
On the Druze
front, Al-Joumhouria also reported
that Hariri met with the chairman of the predominantly-Druze and
Hezbollah-aligned Lebanese Democratic Party, Talal Arslan to work out
a "a mechanism to solve the Druze deadlock." The agreed
solution would involve Arslan and his Druze rival Walid Joumblatt -
the head of the Hariri-aligned Progressive Socialist Party (PSP) -
each nominating 5 individuals to the third Druze-earmarked cabinet
seat, in the hopes that they would have at least one nominee in
common. Despite Arslan's conciliatory overtures and meetings with
Hariri and President Michel
Aoun, Arslan later stated
that while he supports easing the process for the formation of a new
government, he and his party would not do so on "the basis of
being eliminated." After his meeting with Hariri, Arslan said
that he had already offered "many concessions, and I can't make
any more sacrifices."
Hariri also
met with Walid Joumblatt, Arslan's Druze rival. Lebanon's National
News Agency reported that Joumblatt met with President Aoun the
next day, presented him a list
of his five
nominees for the third Druze post, and insisted
that PSP wants the Education Ministry, but not the Environment or
Refugees portfolios. After a meeting between Hariri and PSP's Wael
Abu Faour on Friday, OTV reported PSP sources saying
they were guaranteed to get the Education portfolio.
Hariri's
meetings continued throughout the week. He met again with Bassil on
Thursday, after which the latter said
the two had agreed "on everything, without harming anyone else
or their rights." Today, Hariri met with PSP's Wael Abu Faour
and again with LF's Melhem Riachy. He is also expecting to meet with
LF's chairman Samir Geagea to address a last-minute impasse.
Marada Movement Wants Public Works Ministry
Lebanese MP
Tony Frangieh - the son of Marada Movement figurehead Sleiman
Frangieh - said that his party wanted the Public Works Ministry in
the upcoming Lebanese government, but would settle for Energy
instead, Al-Joumhouria reported.
Meanwhile, an unnamed "senior source" told OTV
that while the Public Works Ministry had yet to be allocated to any
party, it wouldn't amount to an additional impasse to forming the
government.
Frangieh also
said that Gebran Bassil and his Free Patriotic Movement "can't
have it all," and denied
rumors that his party intended to swap the Health Ministry for Public
Works with their Hezbollah allies or any other faction.
"Hezbollah supports us, and we support them, in all
circumstances. We are constantly coordinating [with Hezbollah,] and
consider our governmental demands just," said Frangieh.
"Independent Sunnis" Agitated Over Exclusion
from Lebanese Cabinet
An-Nahar reported
that Lebanon's so-called "Independent Sunni" MPs - aligned
against Prime Minister Saad Hariri's Future Movement and with
pro-Hezbollah and Free Patriotic Movement leanings - were displeased
with their continued exclusion from government formation negotiations.
One "Independent Sunni" figure, MP Omar Karami, expressed
anger over being kept in the dark, claiming that his bloc
"represents more than 45% of Sunni voters. Had we allied with
[former] Prime Minister Najib Mikati, we'd even be at 55% or 60% of
[predominantly Sunni] north Lebanon's voters. Despite this, we're
being ignored." However, in a related story, Elnashra reported
that Hezbollah was demanding that Hariri include members from these
opposition Sunnis in his government, "no matter the cost"
of getting him to do so.
Foreign Affairs
Lebanese Sunni Figures Weigh in on Khashoggi's
Disappearance
Annahar and Al-Joumhouriareported
that several Lebanese Sunni figures, including Prime Minister Saad
Hariri and Sunni Mufti Abdullatif
Daryan, weighed in on the disappearance of Saudi journalist Jamal
al-Khashoggi, expressing their solidarity with Riyadh in the matter.
France: Delay in Government Formation Won't Nullify
CEDRE Conference
Al-Joumhouria reported
that French Presidential Envoy Pierre Dukan said that the delay in
forming a new Lebanese cabinet would not nullify Paris' commitments
to Lebanon made during the CEDRE conference. "CEDRE is not a
marriage contract, where there is a possibility of divorce,"
Dukan said. Nonetheless, the French envoy warned that continued
delays in forming a government would lead to non-implementation of CEDRE.
He added that while Lebanon was not "in [a state of] disaster or
crises" it was in "a state of emergency requiring
haste."
Lebanon Prepares to Resume Trade with Syria Via
Syrian-Jordanian "Nasib" Border Crossing
Maj. General
Abbas Ibrahim, the General Director of Lebanon's General Directorate
of General Security, announced
that Lebanese exporters could resume trade with Syria via al-Nasib
crossing on the Syrian-Jordanian border, starting Tuesday. In related
news, President Michel Aoun welcomed
the reopening of al-Nasib, saying that the resumption of trade
through the Syrian-Jordanian border crossing would "benefit
Lebanon" and "reinvigorate all of Lebanon's production
sectors, reducing the cost of Lebanese exportation to Arab
countries." Trade via al-Nasib has been politically
controversial in Lebanon. Many political factions objected to
negotiating with the Syrian regime to allow the passage of Lebanese
goods into Syria. In related news, Asharq al-Awsat reports
that Lebanese caretaker Foreign Minister Gebran Bassil expressed
his hope to his Iraqi counterpart that the Syrian-Iraqi Boukamal
border crossing would reopen after the resumption of trade through
al-Nasib.
Lebanese Security
Lebanon's General Security: 776 Syrian Refugees to
Return Home
Lebanon's National
News Agency
reported on Monday
that Lebanon's General Directorate of General Security announced
that, in coordination with the UNHCR, Lebanese authorities would
"facilitate the voluntary return of 776 Syrian refugees from
various parts of Lebanon to Syria."
Israel Air Force Drone Destroys Israeli Spying Device in South
Lebanon
Lebanese
media outlets reported
an explosion in the area between the two south Lebanon towns of
Halousiyeh and Zrerieh, near the Litani river, amidst heavy Israeli
reconnaissance overflights. Subsequent reports claimed
that the explosion was the result of an Israeli Air Force drone
overflying the area and destroying an Israeli espionage device to
prevent it from being captured by Hezbollah.
Clashes Resume in Miyeh w'Miyeh Palestinian Refugee Camp
in Lebanon
Annahar reported
that clashes had resumed in the Palestinian refugee camp of Al-Miyeh
w'Miyeh, near the south Lebanon city of Sidon, between Fatah and
pro-Hezbollah Ansarullah gunmen, mere hours after a ceasefire had
been achieved. One person has been killed, and 20 wounded.
U.S. Delegation Meets with Lebanese Armed Forces
Commander
Vayl Oxford,
the head of the U.S. Department of Defense's Defense Threat Reduction
Agency, and a delegation that included U.S. Ambassador to Lebanon
Elizabeth Richard, met
with Lebanese Armed Forces (LAF) commander Gen. Joseph Aoun. The
delegation applauded the LAF's "success in establishing
government control of [Lebanon's] eastern border" with Syria.
Hezbollah Domestically
Report: Hezbollah Holding Tripoli's Seaport Hostage
Al-Majalla reported
that Hezbollah is holding up development of Lebanon's seaport in the
northern (predominantly Sunni) city of Tripoli to prevent it from
competing with the Syrian regime's port in Latakia. The report also
discussed Hezbollah's desire to have an international port built in
the coastal city of Naqoura, in its south Lebanon stronghold.
Hezbollah's demand comes ahead of Naqoura's anticipated construction
boom in 2019, which will include improving the city's infrastructure
to accommodate French, Italian, and Russian oil companies that will
begin drilling in Block 8 and Block 9 off the Lebanese coast.
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