DAILY NEWS
UNIFIL Mandate Extended With Extra Provision for Lebanese Army
Yesterday evening the UN Security Council extended the mandate for UNIFIL for another year through Resolution 1701. The Security Council adopted the 2591 decision, which adds exceptional measures including logistical support for the Lebanese army and supplies of fuel, food, and medicine for six months. [The 961]
Major General Abbas Ibrahim Leads Government Mediation Efforts
Yesterday in an effort to break political deadlock, head of General Security Major General Abbas Ibrahim led mediation efforts between President Michel Aoun and Prime Minister-designate Najib Mikati. Envoys from the two leaders shuttled back and forth between Baabda Palace and Miqati’s Beirut residence with lists of proposed candidates for key ministries, sources say. [The Daily Star] Hezbollah encouraged Ibrahim’s efforts to break the deadlock. [Naharnet]
Flour Millers’ Association Warns Production Will Cease Without Fuel
Today Lebanon’s flour millers’ association said in a statement that fuel shortages are threatening to halt bread production.The association called on Lebanese officials to “work quickly before it is too late” and that mills’ fuel oil supply has run out and production could cease as early as today. [Reuters]
Gas Station in Flames in Bcharre District
Last night a loud explosion was heard in Lebanon’s northern district of Bcharre, followed by a gas station in Hadath al-Jebbe going up in flames. Civil defense teams put out the fire and security forces are investigating the incident. [Al Arabiya]
OPINION & ANALYSIS
Carnegie Middle East Center
Lebanon Needs an Emergency Stabilization Program
Amer Bisat
Bisat writes, “While a comprehensive reform plan will eventually be necessary, the country needs to immediately arrest its collapse. The nation’s fabric is effectively being torn apart. The economy is in a depression, inflation is startlingly high, the currency is imploding, there are widespread shortages in basic goods, the health system is failing, emigration is accelerating, civil disorder is rampant, and the Lebanese people are witnessing an alarming rise in sectarian tensions. Due to all of this, it is necessary to introduce an emergency stabilization program (ESP) that seeks to achieve basic—some would say rudimentary—objectives. These include ending the economic depression and injecting much-needed capital into the economy, reducing shortages of basic goods, bringing back core government services, stabilizing the currency, and controlling inflation. For this to be successful, the ESP must be politically feasible, simple enough to be rolled out quickly—in as short a period as one hundred days—and must show immediate results.”
Disclaimer: The views and opinions expressed in these articles are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the position of the American Task Force on Lebanon, a non-profit, nonpartisan leadership organization of Lebanese-Americans.