Lebanese Health Ministry: One killed in South Lebanon's Khiam
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LBCI
9 hours ago
- LBCI
Selective accountability: Lebanese Parliament acts on Bouchikian amid demands for broader justice
Report by Maroun Nassif, English adaptation by Yasmine Jaroudi In a rare and sudden move, the Lebanese Parliament is set to vote Wednesday on lifting the parliamentary immunity of MP and former Minister George Bouchikian, allowing the judiciary to proceed with an investigation into allegations of corruption, bribery, embezzlement, and extortion involving factory owners. The decision follows two meetings in recent weeks between the Parliament's Bureau and the Administration and Justice Committee, which led to the formation of a parliamentary investigative committee. That committee, comprising MPs Georges Adwan, Alain Aoun, and Marwan Hamadeh, has submitted a formal recommendation to the General Assembly to lift Bouchikian's immunity. The vote requires a simple majority—only 65 MPs need to be present, and just 33 votes are necessary to pass the motion, making approval all but certain. The anticipated move would mark a rare moment of accountability in Lebanese legislative history. The last time Parliament lifted a member's immunity was in 2000, when MPs Habib Hakim and Yehya Chamas faced legal proceedings. Before that, it was Chahé Barsoumian in 1999. While the decision is being welcomed as a positive step toward enabling judicial investigations, it has raised broader questions about selective accountability. Critics are questioning why the Parliament failed to act on similar requests from Judge Tarek Bitar in the Beirut Port blast case, specifically involving MPs Ali Hassan Khalil and Ghazi Zaiter—both of whom have long benefited from political protection. Observers note that Bouchikian's expulsion from the Armenian Tashnag party's parliamentary bloc may have made him an easier political target. The concern, they say, is whether the move signals genuine reform or simply a convenient exception. Calls for broader accountability persist. The Parliament is also expected to vote on the formation of a committee to investigate alleged corruption in the Telecommunications Ministry during the tenures of former ministers Nicolas Sehnaoui, Boutros Harb, and Jamal Jarrah. That effort also requires 65 votes, a number insiders believe can be secured. Still, activists and citizens alike are asking why the Parliament has not launched similar probes into numerous other allegations of corruption and public fund mismanagement involving former ministers from key portfolios such as finance, public works, energy, interior, foreign affairs, and the displaced. For many, lifting Bouchikian's immunity will only carry weight if it marks the beginning of a broader effort to hold all officials accountable—regardless of their political affiliations.
LBCI
9 hours ago
- LBCI
Israeli strike targets vehicle near Tebnine Governmental Hospital
An Israeli attack struck a vehicle in the town of Tebnine, near the Tebnine Governmental Hospital in South Lebanon, according to the National News Agency (NNA). Details about casualties or damage have not been released yet.
L'Orient-Le Jour
13 hours ago
- L'Orient-Le Jour
Syrian American Druze killed in Sweida
BEIRUT — A U.S. citizen was killed last week during sectarian clashes between pro-government Sunni Bedouin tribes and Druze factions in Syria's Sweida province, the State Department confirmed Monday. According to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, more than 1,260 people have been killed in these clashes, which began July 13 between Druze militiamen and Sunni Bedouin fighters in Sweida, backed by government forces deployed in the city by order of Damascus' authorities. The latest toll provided by the NGO Monday evening reports 505 Druze fighters and 298 Druze civilians killed, including 194 "summarily executed by members of the Defense and Interior Ministries." The toll also includes 408 members of government security forces and 35 Sunni Bedouins, including three civilians "summarily executed by Druze fighters." In addition, 15 government soldiers were killed in Israeli airstrikes, according to the Observatory. 'He was supposed to return to the USA at the end of the month' Among the civilian victims is the Syrian American, Houssam Saraya, a 35-year-old Druze. Contacted by the Washington-based media outlet al-Monitor, a State Department official confirmed Monday the death of an American citizen in Sweida, without identifying him. "We are deeply saddened by the death of Houssam Saraya, tragically executed along with other members of his family in Syria," Oklahoma Republican Senator James Lankford, where the victim had resided in the U.S., confirmed on X. "We pray for his family, friends and the entire Druze community mourning this senseless loss," he added. Photos of Houssam Saraya's American passport also circulated widely on social media, as did videos purportedly showing his execution in a public square in Sweida. In footage posted online on Wednesday, July 16 — the day after Syrian government forces entered the city — a man in his thirties is seen being forced to walk in a single line down a street with seven other people. They are under threat from armed men, some dressed in military fatigues. Moments later, the group is coldly executed by bursts of automatic gunfire in Techrine Square, downtown. The gunmen shout "Allahu akbar" as the executions take place. The military uniforms worn by some of the assailants appear to indicate they are members of government forces. A source close to the family confirmed the authenticity of these videos to L'Orient Today. The person said that several members of the Saraya family, including Houssam, were indeed killed in Techrine Square on July 16. Among the eight people lined up at the time of the execution, one survived, she said. Contacted by phone Tuesday by L'Orient Today, a relative of the victim, who requested anonymity, said Houssam Saraya received American citizenship five years ago after earning his master's degree at Oklahoma Christian University in 2016. He subsequently founded an online teaching platform aimed at Syrian students. This relative confirmed that other Saraya family members were also executed, including Houssam's brother, Karim, and father, Ghassan, the only one holding American nationality. Other victims were named Walid, Yehya, Ali and Ismail, all cousins of the Saraya family. "They (the assailants) stormed the house Wednesday morning and forcibly took all the men there. We found their bodies the next day and then buried them," the relative said. "Houssam returned to Sweida about a year ago to care for his sick father. He was supposed to return to the United States at the end of the month," she said. On Friday, U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Turk stated there are "credible reports" that Syrian government forces, as well as Druze and local Bedouin fighters, committed "arbitrary executions, abductions and looting" during this latest wave of large-scale violence that has bereaved Syria since the fall of the Assad regime last December. 'Bring the perpetrators to justice' This third round of sectarian bloodshed, after the attack in March against the Alawite community on the Syrian coast, and then (again) the Druze community in late April on the outskirts of Damascus, has led to the forced displacement of more than 128,500 people since it began July 13. A fragile truce, supported by the United States, took effect July 17 after Damascus withdrew its forces from the southern province, where a precarious calm has since returned this weekend after security was officially handed over to local Druze factions by the Syrian government led by Ahmad al-Sharaa. On Saturday, the U.S. envoy for Lebanon and Syria, Tom Barrack, also announced a cease-fire between Syria and Israel, which had carried out airstrikes targeting Syrian security forces in Sweida as well as several government buildings in Damascus. For his part, U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio called on Damascus to "mobilize its forces to prevent violent jihadists from committing massacres" and to "bring those found guilty of atrocities to justice, including within [its] own ranks."
