Lebanon

05 July 2022; MEMO: Lebanon plans to return 15,000 Syrian refugees every month to Syria, Minister of the Displaced, Issam Sharafeddine said on Monday.

"It's unacceptable that Syrian refugees don't return to their country after the end of the war there," Sharafeddine told a press conference, following his meeting with President Michel Aoun in the capital, Beirut, Anadolu News Agency reports.

"The Syrian state extends its hand for cooperation on this file," he added.

BEIRUT, July 4 (Xinhua) -- Lebanese Prime Minister-designate Najib Mikati said on Monday he opposes taking unofficial actions to deal with the maritime border demarcation issue with Israel.

"Lebanon considers that any action outside the diplomatic context pursued by the government to settle maritime border demarcation with Israel is unacceptable and exposes the country to unnecessary risks," a statement issued by Lebanon's Council of Ministers quoted Mikati as saying during a meeting with Foreign Minister Abdallah Bou Habib.

28 June 2022; MEMO: A delegation from Arab League countries will travel to Lebanon for a two-day gathering that includes meetings with the crisis-ridden country's top officials, Beirut's caretaker government said on Tuesday, Reuters reports.

Foreign Minister, Abdallah Bou Habib, said leaders including Arab League Secretary-General, Ahmed Aboul Gheit, would arrive in Lebanon on Friday.

BEIRUT, Jun 27 (NNN-NNA) – An infant died and several other people were injured yesterday, after a three-storey building collapsed in the Qibbeh district of Tripoli, northern Lebanon.

The cause of the building’s collapse remains unknown, and rescuers have been sent to the scene to save and evacuate the injured.

Lebanese Prime Minister-designate, Najib Mikati, has asked local hospitals to treat the wounded in a timely manner.

24 June 2022; MEMO: The Lebanese government has revealed a plan to deport Syrian refugees from Lebanon, in cooperation with the Syrian regime of Bashar Al-Assad.

The Lebanese Minister of Displaced Affairs, Issam Sharaf El-Din, said he had met with the representative of the UN Refugees Agency, Ayaki Ito, who requested a deadline to respond to the proposals and questions presented by his ministry regarding the return of Syrian refugees to their country.

BEIRUT, Jun 24 (NNN-NNA) – Najib Mikati, re-appointed as Lebanon’s prime minister-designate by the president, yesterday called on all Lebanese parties, to put aside differences and cooperate to put Lebanon on the right path of recovery.

“I call on all parties to cooperate and continue necessary reform measures, to put Lebanon on the right path for long-awaited solutions,” Mikati said, when addressing the public from the president’s Baabda Palace, local TV channel, MTV, reported.

BEIRUT (AP) — Lebanon’s president began consultations with members of parliamentary blocs on Thursday to name a new prime minister following last month’s parliamentary elections.

Outgoing Prime Minister Najib Mikati is widely expected to get the largest support from legislators to form a new Cabinet that will be in power until the end of October when President Michel Aoun’s six-year term expires. Such a short tenure could make it difficult for the billionaire premier to form a Cabinet since it usually takes months to form a government in Lebanon due to political bickering.

20 June 2022; MEMO: Lebanon's caretaker Prime Minister, Najib Mikati, on Monday threatened to expel Syrian refugees from the country if the international community fails to repatriate them.

"Eleven years after the start of the Syrian crisis, Lebanon no longer has the capacity to bear this burden, especially under the current circumstances," Mikati said in a speech marking Lebanon's 2022-2023 Crisis Response Plan, which is backed by the UN.

BEIRUT, Jun 19 (NNN-NNA) – Crop harvesters are busy reaping the sprawling wheat fields in eastern and southern Lebanon, marking the start of this year’s harvest season, amid a food crisis in Lebanon, compounded by global supply shortages.

However, a bumper harvest cannot exempt Lebanese farmers from the concerns about heavy financial losses, as the domestic wheat purchase price is 980,000 Lebanese pounds (about 35 U.S. dollars) per tonne, whereas the international prices can be up to 500 dollars, according to the monthly Food and Agriculture Organisation Food Price Index.

BEIRUT, June 17 (Xinhua) -- Lebanese caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati on Friday called on all political parties to expedite the selection of a new prime minister who can form a new cabinet capable of dealing with Lebanon's steep crisis.

Mikati made the remarks at a university graduation ceremony in northern Lebanon, according to a statement by Lebanon's Council of Ministers, or Lebanon's cabinet.

Lebanon does not have the luxury of time to address its problems, he said, adding any delay in addressing the country's crisis will cost the Lebanese more in the future.