Lebanon seizes Captagon haul in raid on lab near Syrian border
The production plant was found in Harf Al Samaka in the Hermel area, where last month the army intercepted a vehicle loaded with the equipment and raw materials needed to make Captagon.
The often porous, demarcated Syria-Lebanon border has long been the site of rampant smuggling of people, weapons and drugs.
Captagon was state-produced on a mass scale in Syria during the recent years of the Bashar Al Assad regime, providing a vital income source to help prop up the government during the prolonged civil war.
The drug was often smuggled into Lebanon through border areas where Hezbollah – the Lebanese armed group and political party that supported the Assad regime – held sway.
Mr Al Assad was overthrown in a rebel offensive in December. Syria's new rulers have sought to eliminate production networks and publicly destroyed seizures of vast amounts of the drug.
Lebanon often seizes of vast amounts of Captagon and other drugs. In 2023, an estimated 10 million Captagon pills meant to be smuggled to Senegal then on to Saudi Arabia were intercepted.
In April 2021, Riyadh suspended fruit and vegetable imports from Lebanon after it said shipments were being used as cover for drug smuggling.
It came amid a deterioration of relations between Lebanon and Gulf countries, and a perceived rise in Hezbollah and Iran's influence over Lebanese affairs.
With a new Lebanese government and Hezbollah severely weakened, there have been signs of closer ties developing between Lebanon and Gulf countries.
At the weekend, the UAE announced it was lifting a ban on its citizens travelling to Lebanon – days after Lebanese President Joseph Aoun visited the capital Abu Dhabi.
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These houses are not just stones; they hold memory, history – social, political, and cultural,' said Ali Mazraani, a historian from Nabatieh who has written books on the city's heritage. 'This house, unfortunately, is now in ruins, having been destroyed by recent Israeli attacks,' he said, standing by the ruins of what was another famous home in Nabatieh, this one belonging to the Shaheen family, with white and blue floor tiles scattered across the site. He showed a colour photograph of the home as it was - a stately white villa with a colonnaded front, sitting amid lush lawns. 'We lost a large part of our social, cultural and heritage memory in these raids. We didn't just lose stones; we lost a part of our memory that has vanished and disappeared. 'Only a small minority have rebuilt at their own expense. Without urgent action, more of these houses could collapse and vanish forever,' said Mr Mazraani. 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French MEP questioned by police for praising Palestine 'struggle'
French Member of the European Parliament (MEP) Emma Fourreau was questioned by the Caen judicial police on Wednesday as part of an investigation into "apology for terrorism", French media reported. Fourreau, who is a member of the left-wing La France Insoumise (France Unbowed, LFI) party, is under investigation for her comments welcoming the release of Georges Ibrahim Abdallah, a Lebanese pro-Palestine activist imprisoned for over 40 years in France. "FINALLY! After 41 years in prison, Georges Ibrahim Abdallah will be released on 25 July. He was the oldest political prisoner, and France should be ashamed for keeping him locked up for so long. Long live his struggle, long live Palestine!" she wrote on X on 17 July. The 25-year-old elected official said the investigation was launched by the prosecutor's office after reports of her post were sent via Pharos, the public platform for reporting illegal online content. 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French scholar acquitted of 'apology for terrorism' charges after Palestine tweets Read More » The police hearing was on a voluntary basis, which meant that she was allowed to leave the premises at any time, and lasted for 90 minutes. "I believe I can be held accountable for my public statements, so I went," she told France 3 television network. However, she said, the investigation was unjustified. "I believe I had nothing to do in this office for 'apology for terrorism' when we have dozens of tweets every day that truly condone the genocide taking place in Gaza," she said. The MEP indicated that it was the "long live his struggle" part of her tweet that was targeted by the proceedings. "This is a bad-faith interpretation of my tweet... when I talk about [Abdallah's] fight, I'm talking about his commitment to Palestine, which is understandable when we're in the midst of a genocide, with shots aimed at journalists and bombs raining down," she said. 'Political police' The MEP was on board the humanitarian ship Handala that recently attempted to break Israel's blockade of Gaza. The ship was intercepted by the Israeli army on 27 July, after which Fourreau was placed under arrest and eventually deported to France on 29 July. Regarding her support for Abdallah, she said: "It's a just fight, anti-imperialist, pro-Palestinian and against the Israeli government. His voice counts in this fight, and I salute his freedom." Abdallah was one of the longest-serving prisoners in France, where most convicts serving life sentences are freed after fewer than 30 years. A former guerrilla with the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP), he was sentenced to life imprisonment in 1987 for his alleged involvement in the assassinations of US military attache Charles Robert Ray and Israeli diplomat Yacov Barsimantov in Paris in 1982. Lebanese pro-Palestine activist to be freed after 40 years in French jail Read More » Abdallah had been eligible for release since 1999 but his requests to be freed had been repeatedly rejected until the Paris Appeals Court ordered the 74-year-old to be released on 25 July, on the condition that he leaves France and never returns. The United States opposed his release. In France, LFI has openly advocated for Palestine, a long-standing position that has led to the party being labeled antisemitic. After Fourreau's police summon, LFI founder and former presidential candidate Jean-Luc Melenchon denounced on X "the government's grotesque winks to [Israeli Prime Minister] Netanyahu" and accused the presidential majority of reinventing "the political police" in France. LFI leader and MP Mathilde Panot, who was also summoned for questioning by French police in 2024 for an investigation into suspected "apology for terrorism" over her criticism of Israel, has come out in support of Fourreau. "Full support for Emma Fourreau. Criminalising voices for peace and absolutely refusing any sanctions against Netanyahu, a criminal prosecuted by the International Criminal Court and responsible for the genocide in Gaza. [French President] Macron's France brings us shame!" she wrote on X. Fourreau also received support from Anasse Kazib, an activist in the Marxist organisation Revolution Permanente who was also targeted by an investigation for a series of tweets in support of Palestine. "This is France: in the front, we parachute a few supplies to pretend, but in the backroom, we continue to try to silence those who speak out against the genocide," Kazib wrote on X.
