Rai to Hariri: We need you here

Rai to Hariri: We need you here

Maronite Patriarch Beshara Rai congratulated former Prime Minister Saad Hariri on his return to Beirut, saying Lebanon...

Hariri: Cabinet crisis close to being resolved

BEIRUT: The government will soon resume its sessions, former Prime Minister Saad Hariri said Thursday, adding that the swift election of a new Lebanese president was a necessary prelude to the implementation of a national strategy to combat terrorism.

Speaking to a delegation of Arab ambassadors at his residence in Downtown Beirut, Hariri stated that he expected the government to resume its work shortly, and that he had spoken with Prime Minister Tammam Salam and other relevant officials regarding the matter.

The government did not hold its weekly meeting Thursday, and Salam, who flew to Rome on a private trip, has stressed that the Cabinet will only resume its meetings after a new decision-making mechanism can be agreed upon.

The government began exercising the powers of the presidency on May 25 of last year, when the post became vacant. Since then, members of the 24-member body have insisted on the unanimous approval of decisions and decrees, significantly reducing its productivity.

The Constitution stipulates that if unanimous approval cannot be achieved, standard decisions can be passed by a simple majority, and major decisions, specified by Article 65, with the approval of two-thirds of the Cabinet’s members.

In his remarks to the Arab delegation, Hariri also stressed that any national strategy to combat terrorism must be implemented by legitimate security forces. “Any strategy to confront terrorism can only take place through the Lebanese Army and legitimate security forces, who are already shouldering this responsibility across the country,” he said. “But the proper prelude to the implementation of a national strategy is the swift election of a president.”

Earlier, Hariri had discussed the security situation in the country with Interior Minister Nouhad Machnouk, head of General Security Maj. Gen. Abbas Ibrahim, Internal Security Forces chief Maj. Gen. Ibrahim Basbous, and head of the ISF’s Information Branch Brig. Imad Othman.

The Future Movement leader later met separately with Maj. Gen. Mohammad Khair, secretary-general of the Higher Defense Council.

The meetings came one day after Hariri had dinner with Free Patriotic Movement leader Michel Aoun.

“The meeting was good, and was part of the efforts to strengthen understanding. We will not turn away any assistance in our work to defuse tensions in the country,” Foreign Minister Gebran Bassil told reporters at Rafik Hariri International Airport, before departing on an official visit to Latin America. “God willing, we can provide further help in future for larger agreements.”

FPM parliamentary sources also described the Hariri-Aoun meeting as “friendly.”

Speaking to The Daily Star, sources said the talks addressed a number of issues, among them the presidential election, a controversy over the retirement age of Army and police officers, the situation on Lebanon’s borders, and the war on terrorism.

According to sources, Hariri stressed to Aoun that he had no issues with his candidacy, but that an agreement with Christian leaders, particularly Lebanese Forces leader Samir Geagea, was necessary.

As for the current governmental paralysis, both leaders agreed there was a need to facilitate the Cabinet’s work, and that Salam and his ministers should look to new formulas, but they did not discuss an alternative decision-making mechanism.

Other political figures have also weighed in on the stalled government sessions. Health Minister Wael Abu Faour said MP Walid Jumblatt and Speaker Nabih Berri were in agreement regarding the controversy.

“[Berri’s] position, and Jumblatt’s, is that we should facilitate the Cabinet’s affairs, but we should not engage in a constitutional precedent,” Abu Faour told reporters after visiting the speaker at his Ain al-Tineh residence.

“Political discussion is allowed, political agreement is allowed, but violating the Constitution is unacceptable,” Abu Faour said.

“Even if a presidential vacuum exists, and has become unbearable, this should not lead us to create a new precedent.”

Relaxation of smoking ban draws fire

BEIRUT: Less three years after Lebanon banned smoking in public places, activists are alarmed and disappointed at the apparent rollback of the country’s tobacco-control legislation.

Since the controversial Law 174 came to force in September 2012, the Interior Ministry has come under intense pressure from the hospitality and tourism establishments to reverse the decision. Interior Minister Nouhad Machnouk and Tourism Minister Michel Pharaon have recently expressed sympathy for those wanting to relax the law, delighting the Syndicate of Owners of Restaurants and others in Lebanon’s wounded hospitality industry.

Anti-tobacco advocates, however, have seen the move as a disappointment. “Now, the implementation of the law has been derailed,” said Abdallah Jabbour, executive director of Lebanon’s Tobacco Free Initiative.

Speaking to The Daily Star, advocates and academics who helped pass Law 174 explained why smoking rates remain stubbornly high, and how tobacco consumption prevalence is shaped not only by individual choices, but also by social and environmental norms.

The Lebanese contextAccording to statistics from World Health Organization and the Health Ministry, smoking takes 3,500 Lebanese lives each year. Of these, 350-500 are victims of secondhand smoke. “Lebanon has one of the highest smoking rates in the world, especially among young people and women,” said Jad Chaaban, assistant professor of economics at AUB.

A 2010 study he authored found that the rate of smoking among Lebanese men was near 40 percent, while for women the rate was close to 30 percent. Lawmakers point to this high dependence on tobacco as evidence of the need for the law.

While media outlets have repeatedly referred the law’s ban on smoking in public places, lesser mentioned components include limitations on advertising, promotional activities and event sponsorship.

The law also required larger text warnings of health hazards on cigarette packages.

According to Law 174, violators are punished with fines and, in some cases, imprisonment. But advocates from the Tobacco Free Initiative said the judiciary has neglected to follow up on those cited.

“Several venues have accumulated over 20, 30 or 40 fines, and the law stipulates a jail sentence after the second offense,” Jabbour said. He added that there has been a steady drop in the issuance of fines. Moreover, he said, establishments with deep pockets, such as nargileh cafes, are able to continually pay fines with ease.

Several ministries are responsible for enforcing the law, including the Health Ministry, the Economy Ministry and the Tourism Ministry, as well as the Internal Security Forces.

Yet enforcement of the ban on smoking in public venues has slipped since the law’s implementation. As a consequence, establishments are increasingly returning to their smoke-filled past.

Creating an enabling environmentThis lack of compliance on the part of some establishments in Lebanon discourages smokers from kicking the habit, anti-tobacco advocates say.

Rima Nakkash, assistant professor of public health at the American University of Beirut and coordinator of the college’s Tobacco Control Research Group, explained that Law 174 doesn’t just protect non-smokers from second-hand smoke. It also “supports smokers in quitting because it provides an enabling environment,” she said, adding that this helps reduce cravings in those with the intention to stop smoking.

Taxation to curb smoking

As research worldwide has confirmed, taxation is a crucial component in driving down smoking rates. Higher prices cause smokers to think twice before purchasing cigarettes, and the adjoining taxes generate revenue for the government. However, Lebanon’s cigarette prices remain low.

Previously, The Daily Star reported on a 2012 AUB Tobacco Control Initiative study. It found that, through appropriate taxation of tobacco products, the government could add around $170 million to its revenues, while curbing the smoking rate.

“We’ve been trying to increase taxes on tobacco products for the past six years, but it keeps getting blocked by MPs who have political and financial gains to make from the tobacco industry and farmers,” Jabbour said.

Critics of high tobacco taxation have cited fears of increased smuggling should cigarette prices climb too high, but the same study demonstrated that, even if smuggling rose 200 percent, government revenues would still increase by 52 percent.

Resistance and rebuttalsAdditional resistance has ensued beyond the issue of taxation. As the law was being drafted in 2011 the restaurant owners’ syndicate and the then Tourism Minister Fadi Abboud predicted it would threaten the hospitality industry. Some projected that the law would gut some industries of $50 million and result in high numbers of job layoffs. Further, Abboud feared that a ban on nargileh smoking would threaten local tradition.

Jabbour countered this claim, explaining that the heritage of Lebanese cuisine far predates the nargileh trend that proliferated in the early 2000s.

“It is just unfathomable to me that Lebanese cuisine is associated with cancer,” he said.

As for the loss in restaurant industry revenues, Chaaban’s research published in 2013 tracked sales at cafes, restaurants and pubs, using numbers submitted by establishments to the Finance Ministry. Results showed a 3 percent revenue climb for the three months following Law 174’s implementation, when enforcement was at its highest.

Lebanon a prime target for tobacco companiesRecent years have seen a shift in tobacco company strategy. Public health experts have the tobacco trade targeting low- and middle-income countries, such as Lebanon. Jabbour explained that, as the industry has reached market saturation in high-income countries, they have turned to weaker economies to turn a profit.

Big tobacco firms have shifted focus away from areas where policies are strongly enforced as in countries where restrictions exist, “there are governments that set standards on how multinational companies should or should not market products,” Nakkash said.

She added that in countries like Lebanon, tobacco firms “can take advantage of the fact that we don’t have policies set in place, and that people don’t understand what conflict of interest is.”

The influence tobacco representatives have over public health policymaking is problematic because profits take precedence over concern for public health, Nakkash added.

Tobacco is big business in LebanonPublic health scholars point to the close relationship between the Finance Ministry and the Regie Libanaise des Tabacs et Tombacs, Lebanon’s state-controlled monopoly that oversees the country’s tobacco trade. Gains and losses of the Regie are tightly bound to public treasury funds.

“There is little separation between those in power and those who control big business, such as the tobacco trade. Many members of Parliament are close to tobacco traders,” Chaaban told The Daily Star.

According to a study he co-authored in 2010, net revenue from the tobacco industry hovered near $270 million in 2008, a figure that incorporates international tobacco companies’ expenditures in Lebanese advertising.

Chaaban explained that tobacco companies specifically target the high numbers of youth in low- and middle-income countries as “you can sell them more and get them addicted to a product earlier in life.”

The high cost of tobacco use on health and the public

Although the tobacco industry reaps large gains in Lebanon, their wins come at a great cost for the Lebanese government.

A study published in 2014 by Chaaban’s colleague, AUB economics professor Nisreen Salti, cited the total social costs of tobacco use at $326.7 million, as of 2008. These losses are related to high mortality and medical expenditures, in addition to productivity losses.

In an earlier study, Chaaban found that “the highest cancer incidence rates in Lebanese male adults are those pertaining to smoking-related cancers.”

He also found that spending on tobacco products is most burdensome for the poorest segments of the Lebanese population.

Next stepsAlthough the recent easing of Law 174 may be a setback on the road to a healthier Lebanon, advocates say the fight isn’t over. The Tobacco Free Initiative’s Jabbour said he intends to “shame and blame every minister who does not implement the law,” as well as other obstinate stakeholders.

New think tank takes aim at most pressing social issues

BEIRUT: A new think tank started by leading political analyst and economist Sami Nader is hoping to break the mold and tackle social issues that Lebanese people are most concerned about. The Levant Institute for Strategic Affairs “is an initiative that is trying to feed a need,” Nader, LISA’s director, told The Daily Star.

According to Nader, most think tanks are driven by politics but he wants LISA to drive debate in three areas: democracy, development and diversity. The institute is also aimed at solving the issues that citizens identify as the most pressing, he added.

In order to achieve this goal, the institute began by partnering up with Lebanon Statistics to identify what Lebanese people viewed as the main problems in the country, and LISA used this survey to identify which topic they would address first.

The results of the survey showed that – as expected – the economy and security are of most concern to people in Lebanon. While the security situation as a whole and extremist groups such as ISIS and the Nusra Front were identified as concerns, unemployment was ranked as the top concern for people in Lebanon. For that reason, unemployment was chosen as the first topic that LISA would address.

Unemployment in Lebanon currently stands at 24 percent and youth unemployment is even higher at 35 percent. The job market has been further strained by the influx of over a million Syrian refugees fleeing the civil war in their country, as they now constitute a fifth of the population in Lebanon.

LISA approached the issue by hosting a panel discussion Thursday at the Monroe Hotel in Downtown Beirut, which included a wide range of concerned actors, including representatives from the World Bank and former Economy Minister Nicholas Nahas.

The two-hour panel discussion included several presentations and sparked discussions on the different factors effecting unemployment and some of the jarring figures that illustrate the problem. For instance, Dr. Fouad Zmokhol, president of the Lebanese Businessmen Association, said that Lebanon only creates 3,500 jobs per year, dramatically below the 25,000 jobs required in the work force.

Nader said that this exchange of ideas is exactly what the institute was hoping to spark.

“This can open the way for real reform,” he said.

While several representatives from different parties were present, the wide range of participants notably lacked decision-makers from departments that influence unemployment. Nader said this was intentional to allow for more open discourse.

“[Our aim] is to influence the decision-makers through opening debate and discussions,” Nader added.

Nader added that LISA would be hosting discussions periodically throughout the year. Future issues that they are planning to discuss include the Syrian refugee crisis, oil and gas, strategies for growth, women’s roles, rights and employment and diversity in Lebanon.

Nader hopes that the institute will also be able to provide a media platform for lesser known researchers and analysts to get their views heard.

If funding is forthcoming they also hope to produce policy papers, Nader added.

Unified prescription form clears final hurdle

BEIRUT: The Order of Physicians announced it would begin printing the new unified prescription form after the National Social Security Fund agreed to amend its bylaws, which represented the last obstacle to its implementation.

The announcement was made by Health Minister Wael Abu Faour and Antoine Boustani, head of the Beirut Order of Physicians, at a joint news conference Thursday following a meeting at the Health Ministry.

“During today’s meeting, we agreed on a mechanism by which the Order can begin printing the unified prescription form, now that the board of directors of the National Social Security Fund has made the decision [to amend its bylaws],” Abu Faour said.

Under legislation passed by Parliament in March 2010, patients, pharmacists, and health care providers will now all use the same prescription forms, which will include the names of doctors in addition to their telephone and registration numbers.

Officials hope the new forms will improve monitoring of restricted medications and help prevent their sale without a valid prescription.

Most importantly, the forms will document a patient’s legal consent if they decide to switch to a generic medication from a more expensive name-brand drug.

Medicine in Lebanon is among the most expensive in the region.

Although it backs the use of the forms, the Order of Physicians had argued that an amendment to the NSSF’s bylaws was necessary to properly implement the legislation.

Under Article 42 of the NSSF bylaws, a pharmacist is not allowed to provide a patient with a substitute for the medicine listed on a prescription. The article effectively prevented patients from switching to generic drugs.

The Order refused to start printing the forms until the NSSF amended this article.

Abu Faour said the NSSF board of directors would hold a perfunctory vote on the amendment next Thursday. “Following the decision by the board of directors, the unified prescription form is on the road to implementation.”

“This form will introduce major changes to the lives of Lebanese people, particularly patients,” Abu Faour said. “It will also bring a major change to the budgets of the Lebanese state and the country’s health care providers.”

The Order’s initial refusal to start printing the forms was a source of contention between the group and the health minister.

In a bid to pressure the group, Abu Faour ordered health care providers to halt the separate payment of doctors’ fees and hospital fees.

In line with a law passed by Parliament in 1994, the system was introduced to make it easier and faster for doctors to collect payment.

Under an earlier system providers paid the fees together, but physicians had complained that hospitals made their fees difficult to collect.

Abu Faour added that once Boustani informs him that the Order has actually started printing the forms, he will reverse his stance on the fees.

For his part, Boustani said “the summer cloud” in relations between the Order and Abu Faour had vanished now that the obstacle of the NSSF bylaws had been resolved.

Boustani stressed that the Order’s decision to begin printing the form did not come as a result of the minister’s pressure, but simply because the NSSF had finally agreed to make the changes.

Abu Faour dismissed claims that generic drugs in Lebanon were not of good quality. “This is a fabrication – a myth made up to undermine the [implementation of the] unified prescription form.”

Citing an announcement made Wednesday by Parliament’s Public Health, Labor and Social Affairs Committee, the health minister stated that all medications that are registered in Lebanon, including generic drugs, should be fully trusted.

Security forces corral criminals in north Lebanon, Bekaa Valley

BAALBEK, Lebanon: Lebanese security forces carried out more raids across the eastern Bekaa Valley Thursday, detaining at least eight people, security sources and the Army said.

Meanwhile, a Palestinian man wanted over terror-related activity died Thursday of wounds he sustained during a shootout with police in north Lebanon.

In the town of Arsal, the Army arrested a Syrian national for possessing a fake identification document and driving an unregistered car, the military said in a statement.

A Lebanese was also detained for attempting to smuggle food to the town’s outskirts, where jihadi militants are hiding out.

The statement added that a Lebanese fugitive as well as four citizens driving unregistered cars were arrested in Baalbek and the nearby villages of Telya and Douris.

In Bar Elias, the Army arrested Syrian national Walid Hussein over suspected links to terrorist groups, the statement added.

General Security and Army forces entered the village of Nabi Sheet on the Syrian border, where they erected checkpoints and performed raids without making any arrests or seizures.

The raids came one day after security forces arrested 23 suspects in two villages of the Baalbek district and a West Bekaa village.

Wednesday’s Army raids also led to the confiscation of weapons and ammunition but failed to prevent the murder of Lebanese national Fouad Hajj Hasan, who was shot dead by gunmen facing his house 20 kilometers north of Baalbek.

Interior Minister Nouhad Machnouk said Wednesday evening that the number of arrests made in the Bekaa since the launch of the security plan had reached 156. He stressed that any illegal weapons found would be immediately confiscated.

Separately, a man accused of belonging to ISIS was arrested in the Zghorta neighborhood of Airounieh Thursday, a security source told The Daily Star.

The source identified the detainee as Ali Mohammad Tarek Safsouf.

He was arrested by judicial officers from Lebanon’s counterterrorism bureau.

Also in north Lebanon, Palestinian man Wael Kamel Youssef, wanted over terror-related activity and a series of killings, died Thursday of wounds he sustained during a shootout with police in Tripoli.

A police officer was also slightly wounded in the late-Wednesday confrontation during the raid on the home of Youssef in the area of Jabal Badawi in the northern city of Tripoli, a security source said.

The source told The Daily Star Maj. Nazih Saleh was wounded when Youssef tossed a grenade at police following the shootout.

The suspect, who goes by the nickname “Abu al-Madariss,” was wounded in the shootout that preceded the grenade attack.

He was captured and taken to Mulla hospital in Tripoli, but died a few hours later.

Gunfire could be heard in the Tripoli neighborhood of Mankoubeen after news emerged that Youssef succumbed to his wounds.

An ISF statement said 35-year-old Youssef – who is wanted on 109 warrants for murder, drug trafficking, theft, forgery and throwing grenades – was nicknamed Abu al-Madariss because he would “distribute drugs to schoolchildren.”

“Abu al-Madariss” translates to “the father of schools.”

“During the raid, [Youssef] opened fire on the [police] force and then tossed a hand grenade that wounded a police officer, prompting police to respond to the source of fire,” the statement said.

It said Youssef was wounded in the shootout and taken to a hospital for treatment but that he later died of his wounds.

A security source said Youssef’s relatives fired their weapons and threw a grenade at a Lebanese Army patrol in the Jabal Badawi-Mankoubeen area when Abu al-Madariss’ body arrived in the town. No casualties were reported from the early afternoon attack.

Three refugee children die in blaze caused by storm

TRIPOLI/SIDON, Lebanon: Three Syrian refugee children were killed when their tent caught fire Thursday, after an apparent electrical short caused by the severe weather.

Storm “Windy” has brought high winds, thunderstorms and heavy snow, flooding rivers and fields and blocking mountain roads. Officials have announced that schools will be closed Friday. Rawaa, Talal and Sabah Sleiman were killed after their tent in the northern Minyeh-Dinnieh district town of Bhenin caught fire. Their bodies were transferred to the nearby Al-Khair hospital in Minyeh.

Many refugees survive in inadequate shelters, and camps are concentrated at higher altitudes across northern and eastern Lebanon, often in exposed fields, making them more vulnerable to inclement weather. Six Syrian refugees, including two newborns, have reportedly been killed by the cold this winter.

Education Minister Elias Bou Saab announced Thursday that schools would be closed Friday and Saturday due to the storm. Health Minister Wael Abu Faour added that nurseries would also be shut.

After hail fell in coastal cities including Beirut and Tripoli, the Meteorological Department at Beirut’s Rafik Hariri International Airport said it expected that “Windy” would continue to hammer the country Friday before slowly subsiding Saturday.

Friday is expected to be cloudy and extremely cold, with snow falling as low as 300 meters in the morning. Snowfall will increase gradually during the day, and the department has warned of ice forming on the roads that could make driving treacherous.

Temperatures are expected to range from 4 and 11 degrees Celsius along the coast, minus 3 and 3 in the mountains, minus 11 and minus 5 in the Cedars, and minus 4 and 3 in the Bekaa Valley.

Despite the bleak forecast, aid agencies and government ministers have said they are prepared to deal with the inclement weather.

The Red Cross said it was on high alert Thursday, with 100 ambulances and 400 rescue workers on standby, while Public Works Minister Ghazi Zeaiter called on snow plowing centers and municipal workers to remain on alert, as conditions were expected to deteriorate overnight.

In its forecast, the Meteorological Department said it expected snow to fall down to altitudes of 400 meters overnight Thursday, accompanied by a drop in temperatures. Waves along the seafront are expected to reach heights of up to five meters.

“The regional directorates should be fully prepared to handle any emergencies resulting from the rain and snow,” Zeaiter said, according to a report by the National News Agency.

Zeaiter urged all concerned ministries to work together to minimize disruptions from the storm.

The Dahr al-Baidar road, which connects Beirut with the eastern Bekaa Valley, was closed briefly during the day as the icy surface posed a hazard to motorists. Municipality and Civil Defense workers managed to reopen the vital route, but the Internal Security Forces reported later that intensifying weather had again blocked the road.

With reported temperatures dropping to minus 5 degrees in the Bekaa Valley, residents have complained that distribution companies have prevented them from acquiring adequate fuel to heat their homes.

In a statement released Thursday, Economy Minister Alain Hakim claimed fuel distribution companies were intentionally limiting supplies of diesel fuel to gas stations in the Bekaa Valley, and said that a fuel shortage was not acceptable given the stormy weather.

Hakim accused fuel distribution companies of neglecting to provide gas stations with sufficient quantities of diesel due to a recent decline in prices. He alleged that the companies were holding onto the fuel in order to increase profits when prices rise.

Many Bekaa homes are heated with diesel fuel, and plunging temperatures and heavy snows have driven up consumption.

The district of Akkar saw up to 15 centimeters of snow in some areas, with fog reducing visibility, and snow making mountain roads impassable. Heavy rainfall also caused widespread flooding in the region; swollen rivers burst their banks, inundating adjacent agricultural fields. Farmers said they feared their crops had been destroyed, as newly planted potato and tomato seeds were washed away.

Among the areas that received the heaviest snowfall was the Koura district village of Kousba, which saw more than 50 centimeters. The mountainous area east of Batroun saw 25 centimeters of snow accumulate, as plows worked to reopen the main Tannourine highway.

The southern coast was battered by cold winds, heavy rains and hail, as snow fell at 600 meters. “Windy” also caused maritime disruptions, and fishing was brought to a halt as 7-meter-high waves were reported along Sidon’s coast.

“Windy” is the fourth major storm to batter Lebanon this winter, and the second in as many weeks, following close on the heels of “Yohan.” Last year’s unusually mild winter saw limited rainfall, contributing to a long term drought and precipitating water shortages across the country.

The resumption of more typical winter weather has garnered intense media coverage.

Aoun-Geagea meet may take place in Bkirki: Rai

BEIRUT: Lebanon's Maronite Patriarch Beshara Rai hinted Thursday that a highly anticipated meeting between Lebanese Forces chief Samir Geagea and Free Patriotic Movement leader Michel Aoun may take place in the Bkirki Palace.

“[Aoun and Geagea] have always been in Bkirki and have worked under the [auspices] of Bkirki ever since I assumed my duties three years ago,” he said in response to a question if the meeting would take place in Bkirki.

Rai spoke from Beirut’s Rafik Hariri International Airport after returning from a trip to the Vatican.

The comment comes one day after Geagea extended his wishes to Aoun over his 80th birthday.

“I hope that we will have achieved [a] full agreement before your next birthday” Geagea said to Aoun on his official Twitter page.

The FPM leader responded by thanking Geagea for his greetings and expressed optimism that an accord would be reached earlier than that.

“I hope our agreement will be achieved by the end of the fasting period so that we present it as a gift to the Lebanese,” Aoun tweeted in reference to the Lenten fast which ends on April 5.

Aoun and Geagea are the country's two main presidential candidates, but neither currently has enough support in Lebanon's divided Parliament to win the election.

Preparations are currently underway for talks between the two rival politicians that aim to achieve Christian rapprochement to end the presidential election impasse.

Though the two have yet to meet, an agenda for dialogue sessions has been set and preliminary talks are being carried out in anticipation of the meeting.

Rai also offered birthday wishes to Aoun Thursday, expressing hopes that the FPM leader would “live long and beautiful years.”

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Cabinet must respect Constitution: Berri, Abu Faour

BEIRUT: Speaker Nabih Berri supports the simple majority vote system outlined in the Constitution to end the Cabinet deadlock preventing decrees from being passed, a statement from his office said Thursday.

In a meeting with Health Minister Wael Abu Faour, Berri said that he rejects the creation of a new system to pass decisions in the Cabinet.

“Speaker Berri’s stance is identical to ours on this matter,” Abu Faour said in remarks sent by Berri's office. “His ... position and that of Walid Jumblatt is that we should facilitate the Cabinet’s affairs..., but we are against entering any constitutional precedents.”

Abu Faour belongs to the Progressive Socialist Party, which is led by Jumblatt.

Since President Michel Sleiman's term ended last May, the national unity Cabinet has been tasked with approving laws and decrees. The 24-member body has required unanimous approval for a decision to pass, creating difficulties to get bills through.

Prime Minister Tammam Salam has urged all parties to agree on a new approach after the tensions between ministers pushed the Cabinet into deadlock.

Article 65 of the Lebanese Constitution states that the Cabinet can only be activated if two-thirds of the ministers are present, and stipulates that decisions must be made unanimously.

However, in case a consensus cannot be reached, the Constitution requires that a simple majority vote is conducted.

In exceptional cases, a Cabinet decision requires the approval of two-thirds of all 24 ministers, and not just those in attendance.

The Constitution defines exceptional cases as the following: “The amendment of the constitution, the declaration of a state of emergency and its termination, war and peace, general mobilization, international [conventions], long-term comprehensive development plans, the appointment of employees of grade one and its equivalent, the reconsideration of the administrative divisions, the dissolution of the [Parliament], electoral laws, nationality laws, personal status laws, and the dismissal of ministers.”

The adoption of a system outside the framework of the Constitution could push the country into a dangerous cycle, Abu Faour said.

“Political discussion is allowed, political agreement is allowed, but violating the Constitution is unacceptable and was not agreed upon,” he said. “Even if a condemned presidential vacuum exists and has become unbearable, this should not lead to creating new customs or precedents.”

Abu Faour said he also discussed with Berri the role of the legislative authority, saying there were some urgent matters that the Parliament must discuss.

“At least there are the issues of food safety, and in this context there is the food safety draft law and the public health law that I submitted yesterday to Justice Minister Ashraf Rifi, who will propose it as a draft law by his ministry after adding some amendments to it,” he said.

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Lebanon MP may defend TV producer accused of insulting Islam

BEIRUT: MP Ibrahim Kanaan announced Thursday that he was ready to defend TV producer Charbel Khalil in court if the judiciary prosecutes him over accusations that he defamed Islam in a Twitter post, media report said.

The reports said Kanaan, who is also a lawyer and member of the secular, but mostly-Christian Free Patriotic Movement, could represent the comedy producer if a lawsuit filed by a coalition of religious organization moves forward.

Grand Mufti Abdel-Latif Derian contacted Justice Minister Ashraf Rifi Wednesday to request an investigation into Khalil’s intentions, and Dar al-Fatwa sent a notice to the State Prosecution Office Thursday for the same purpose.

In parallel, Lebanese lawyer Tarek Shandab filed a lawsuit again Khalil, representing 70 religious and civic figures, accusing Khalil of insulting Islam.

The controversy was stirred by a post Khalil shared on his Twitter page about a week ago.

A judicial source told The Daily Star that the picture shared by Khalil shows a veiled woman wearing a short dress and sitting on a bed covered with black sheets on which the Islamic slogan “There is no god but God and Mohammad is his Prophet” is written.

The picture makes reference to the concept of “sexual jihad,” which Muslim militant groups use as a religious justification for male fighters to receive sexual services in times of war.

Khalil has defended himself over the criticism, writing on Twitter that the picture was widely shared over social media months ago.

Dar al-Fatwa’s notice was sent to State Prosecutor Samir Hammoud, who tasked judge Nada Asmar with following up on the case.

This was the latest of the several controversies that have erupted over posts or sketches by Khalil, who directs the comedy programs “Basmat al-Watan” and “Douma-cratieh.”

Dar al-Fatwa said Khalil’s post harms national unity and incites sectarian strife.

Shandab, who is also the lawyer for several Islamist terror suspects in Roumieh prison, called on the prosecutor general to arrest Khalil and sentence him with the “most severe sanction” for insulting Islam.

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Lebanon minister tops headlines with anti-corruption crusade

BEIRUT: Lebanon is regularly ranked one of the most corrupt countries in the world, but one minister is breaking taboos with an unprecedented campaign targeting everything from spoiled food to bribery.

From rat-infested grain silos to rotten meat for sale in supermarkets, barely a day has passed in the last four months without news of a horror story uncovered by Health Minister Wael Abu Faour.

"We're living on a mountain of corruption, the more we dig, the more scandals we discover," the 42-year-old minister told AFP.

The campaign has made the politician a media star, with live coverage of press conferences at which he names and shames restaurants, supermarkets and suppliers accused of breaching health and safety standards.

His inspections have forced the closure of butchers, the seizure of expired goods and even the arrests of businessmen.

They have captivated and divided public opinion in a country ranked last year as the 39th most corrupt in the world by Transparency International.

"For a long time, we closed our eyes to it. Businessmen, often protected by politicians, thought they were untouchable and no one would hold them to account," Abu Faour said.

Bribery and other corruption in Lebanon is thought to amount to some 15 percent of the country's GDP, some $6 billion, with the health care sector that is Abu Faour's purview among the worst affected.

"The biggest corruption network in the country" is in the health care sector, he said, with 25-30 percent of the more than $300 million budget allocated to hospitals being "siphoned off."

He described five doctors arrested for a case involving false claims of thousands of dollars for treatment of "patients" who were dead.

"They even had a dead person receiving physiotherapy at three different hospitals at the same time!"

- Corruption endemic -

But in Lebanon, such corruption is routine.

The country's state institutions collapsed during the 1975-1990 civil war and never fully recovered, electricity and water shortages are common, and even the most minor administrative hurdle usually involves greasing some palms.

Abu Faour's campaign started with food safety inspections of restaurants and supermarkets, but has expanded far beyond.

He has targeted unlicensed operations in a country where cosmetic surgery is big business, closing down establishments that disfigured clients.

He has also gone after private water suppliers, who flourished in 2014 as a drought left homes without municipal water.

"Ninety percent of the home water distributors didn't have licences... they were stealing state water," Abu Faour said.

The campaign hasn't always been easy, with protests by some of those targeted and his inspectors threatened at knife-point.

But he has even revisited old cases: several men accused of promoting a fake anti-cancer drug have had their case sent back to court after, he said, their political patrons had them released from jail.

His work has been an uphill struggle in a country where the finance minister told the As-Safir daily that customs corruption costs $1.2 billion a year.

Abu Faour, a member of the Druze minority, is the protege of the community's powerful political leader Walid Jumblatt, himself the target of accusations for mixing business and politics.

The health minister has faced the wrath of his colleagues, who have accused him of a running a "media circus" and even "terrorism" against Lebanon's famed cuisine.

Critics say he defames his targets, but he has also been dubbed "minister of Lebanon" by grateful supporters.

- 'A first step' -

A 2013 poll by Transparency International found 71 percent of Lebanese thought corruption in the country was a "serious problem".

But a poll by local anti-corruption group Sakker el Dekkene (Close the Shop) also found that more than 50 percent of Lebanese said they were willing to bribe public employees.

The group has created an iPhone app that allows people to report cases of bribery in public administration.

Abu Faour has proposed a food safety law and is working with the justice ministry to create a special prosecutor on health issues.

He has also computerised the audit system for hospitals, which previously inspected just 10 percent of health care receipts.

Carole Alsharabati, vice president of Sakker el Dekkene, welcomed Abu Faour's work.

"Before, talking about corruption was taboo," she told AFP, saying that with the minister "things are starting to move."

But she said the campaign was only a first step.

"We must go beyond the media campaign and establish safeguards," she said. "At the moment, corruption is growing and fewer people are being prosecuted."

Qatar FM blasts Hezbollah over Syria intervention

BEIRUT: Qatar’s Foreign Minister Khaled al-Attiyah Thursday said Hezbollah was “killing” and “displacing” Syrians.

“To us, Hezbollah – and I have said this on more than one occasion – was a resistance party until the compass veered to Syria,” Attiyah told pan-Arab newspaper Al-Hayat.

“Syria in 2006 embraced Hezbollah refugees. It welcomed them, protected them and was generous with them,” he said.

He was referring to the summer 2006 war between Israel and Hezbollah in south Lebanon. The conflict killed about 1,200 Lebanese, mostly civilians, and displaced one million others, many of whom fled to Syria.

“We were surprised during the Syrian revolution that Hezbollah returned the greetings by killing [the Syrian people] and displacing them from their homes,” Attiyah said. “This is our disagreement with Hezbollah.”

Hezbollah officials, including party chief Sayyed Hasan Nasrallah, have repeatedly accused Qatar and other regional countries of politically and financially supporting jihadi groups fighting in Syria.

In the Al-Hayat report, Attiyah denied supporting terrorism, saying Qatar is a U.S. ally.

“Qatar is an ally of Washington, not only in war, but the United States is a strategic ally, especially to Qatar,” he said.

'Storm Windy' touches down in Lebanon

BEIRUT: Snow began to fall in mountainous regions across Lebanon Thursday, blocking roads and isolating villages in the third storm to hit the country this year.

Snowstorm “Windy” is accompanied by strong winds, heavy rains and snowfall starting from an altitude of 800 meters.

Mountain roads in north Lebanon’s Akkar district were blocked by snow and were accessible only by 4-wheel drive cars and vehicles equipped with snow chains.

Schools were closed in villages located at an altitude of 1,000 meters and above, as “Windy” was expected to gain momentum during the day.

The meteorological department at Beirut’s Rafik Hariri International Airport forecast snowfall at 900 meters above sea level and winds at a speed of 80 to 90 kilometers per hour.

In the high mountains, roads were completely blocked by snow.

The Damascus highway, which connects the country’s eastern Bekaa Valley with Beirut, was closed briefly in Dahr al-Baidar, after several cars had skidded as a result of the frost.

Municipality workers and Civil Defense struggled to reopen that vital road, making it accessible only to vehicles with snow chains.

In southeast Lebanon’s Arkoub region, many villages were snowed in and students remained at home as schools closed for the day.

Heavy rainfall flooded rivers in Akkar, inundating adjacent agricultural fields. Farmers said they feared their crops were destroyed, as newly-planted potato and tomato seeds were washed away by flood waters.

The meteorological department said "Storm Windy" is blowing over from the Arctic and will last until Friday.

The forecast expects the storm to peak Thursday evening and subside before Saturday.

"Windy" arrives as Lebanon recovers from a storm that battered the country last week.

For several days, "Storm Yohan" pummeled Lebanon with heavy rain, snowfall and violent winds on the coast, causing severe damages to the country's infrastructure.

4 Lebanon prison officers fired over contraband smuggling: report

Hezbollah-Future start sixth round of talks

Hezbollah and the Future Movement started the sixth dialogue session Wednesday Speaker Nabih Berri’s Beirut residence.

Policeman wounded in grenade attack during north Lebanon terror raid

Policeman wounded in grenade attack during north Lebanon terror raid

A police officer was wounded during a late-Wednesday raid after a terror suspect tossed a grenade at him in a north...