Latest news with #MayaGebeily
Yahoo
3 days ago
- Business
- Yahoo
IMF sees 'some progress' on Lebanon reforms, says external support needed
By Maya Gebeily BEIRUT (Reuters) -Lebanon has made progress on reforms needed to revive its economy but still has key steps to take and will need external funding on concessional terms, the International Monetary Fund said on Thursday after a week of meetings in Beirut. Lebanon's economy went into a tailspin in late 2019, prompted by decades of profligate spending by the country's ruling elite. Reforms required to access IMF funding were repeatedly derailed by political and private interests. Lebanon's new president and prime minister, both of whom took office in early 2025, pledged to prioritise reforms and secure an IMF financing agreement - but the country now faces additional needs with the widespread destruction and displacement caused by Israel's military campaign last year. "The authorities have made some progress recently, including the amendment of the Bank Secrecy Law and submission of a new bank resolution law to Parliament," the IMF's Lebanon mission chief Ramirez Rigo said in a written statement. Rigo said his mission held "productive discussions" with Lebanese officials, including on restoring the viability of the banking sector, fiscal and debt sustainability and enhancing anti-money laundering and terrorism financing measures. He said Lebanon's medium-term fiscal framework should support the restructuring of Eurobond debts, which Lebanon defaulted on in 2020, leading to a sovereign default on its $31 billion of outstanding international bonds. "Given Lebanon's substantial reconstruction needs, limited fiscal space and lack of capacity to borrow, the country will require significant support from external partners on highly concessional terms," the IMF statement said. The World Bank estimated Lebanon's recovery and reconstruction needs following Israel's military campaign at $11 billion. But the U.S. has said it opposes any reconstruction funds to Lebanon until Hezbollah - the Iran-backed Lebanese armed group that fought Israel last year - is disarmed.
Yahoo
26-04-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Exclusive-Syrian letter delivers response to US conditions for sanctions relief
By Timour Azhari and Maya Gebeily BEIRUT (Reuters) - Syria has responded in writing to a list of U.S. conditions for possible partial sanctions relief, saying it had acted on most of them but others required "mutual understandings" with Washington, according to a copy of the letter seen by Reuters. The United States last month handed Syria a list of eight conditions it wants Damascus to fulfill, including destroying any remaining chemical weapons stockpiles and ensuring foreigners are not given senior governing roles. Syria is in desperate need of sanctions relief to kickstart an economy collapsed by 14 years of war, during which the United States, Britain and Europe imposed tough sanctions in a bid to put pressure on former president Bashar al-Assad. In January, the U.S. issued a six-month exemption for some sanctions to encourage aid, but this has had limited effect. In exchange for fulfilling all the U.S. demands, Washington would extend that suspension for two years and possibly issue another exemption, sources told Reuters in March. Reuters was first to report that senior U.S. official Natasha Franceschi handed the list of conditions to Syrian Foreign Minister Asaad al-Shibani at an in-person meeting on the sidelines of a Syria donor conference in Brussels on March 18. Shibani, in his first address to the United Nations Security Council on Friday, sought to show that Syria was already addressing the demands, including on chemical weapons and the search for missing Americans in Syria. His public comments were consistent with the contents of Syria's private letter to the U.S., an undated copy of which was seen by Reuters. Its contents have not been previously reported. Two Western officials and a Syrian official briefed on the letter said it was consistent with the copy seen by Reuters. In the four-page document, Syria pledges to set up a liaison office at the foreign ministry to find missing U.S. journalist Austin Tice and details its work to tackle chemical weapons stockpiles, including closer ties with a global arms watchdog. But it had less to say on other key demands, including removing foreign fighters and granting the U.S. permission for counterterrorism strikes, according to the letter. A State Department spokesperson confirmed Washington had received a response from Syrian authorities to a U.S. request for them to take "specific, detailed confidence building measures'. 'We are now evaluating the response and do not have anything to share at this time,' the spokesperson said, adding that the U.S. 'does not recognize any entity as the government of Syria and that any future normalization of relations will be determined by the interim authorities' actions. " Syria's foreign ministry did not immediately respond to a request for comment. FOREIGN FIGHTERS The letter said Syrian officials had discussed foreign fighters with former U.S. envoy Daniel Rubinstein but that the issue "requires a broader consultative session." "What can be confirmed for now is that the issuance of military ranks has been suspended following the earlier announcement regarding the promotion of six individuals," the letter says, an apparent reference to the appointment in December of foreign fighters including Uyghurs, a Jordanian and a Turk to positions in the country's armed force. It did not say whether those appointed ranks had been removed from the foreign fighters and did not list future steps to be taken. A source briefed on the Syrian government's approach to the issue said Damascus would delay addressing it as much as possible given its view that non-Syrian rebels who helped oust Assad should be treated well. On a U.S. request for coordination on counterterrorism matters and the ability to carry out strikes on terror targets, the letter said the "matter requires mutual understandings." It pledged that Syria's new government would not tolerate any threats to U.S. or Western interests in Syria and vowed to put in place "appropriate legal measures," without elaborating. Syria's interim President Ahmed al-Sharaa had said in an interview earlier this year that U.S. troops deployed in Syria were there without government approval, adding any such presence should be agreed with the state. A Syrian official briefed on the letter said Syrian officials were brainstorming other ways to weaken extremists without explicitly giving the U.S. permission to carry out strikes, seeing that as a controversial move after years of foreign air forces bombing Syria during its war. VOWS NOT TO THREATEN ISRAEL A senior diplomat and another person briefed on the letter told Reuters that they deemed it addressed five demands in full, but that the remaining were left "outstanding". They said the letter was sent on April 14 - just 10 days before Shibani arrived in New York to address the Security Council. It was unclear whether the United States had sent a reply to Syria's letter. A Syrian official and a U.S. source briefed on the letter both said Shibani was set to discuss its contents with U.S. officials during his trip to New York. Syria's letter said it hoped the actions taken, which it described as "guarantees," could lead to a meeting to discuss each point in detail, including reopening embassies and lifting sanctions. On Palestinian militants in Syria, it said Sharaa had formed a committee "to monitor the activities of Palestinian factions," and that armed factions outside state control will not be permitted. It was sent just days before Syria detained two Palestinian officials from the Islamic Jihad militant group. "While discussions on this matter can continue, the overarching position is that we will not allow Syria to become a source of threat to any party, including Israel," it said. The letter also acknowledged "ongoing communication" between Syria's counterterrorism authorities and U.S. representatives in Amman over combating Islamic State, and said Syria was inclined to expand that collaboration. The direct talks between Syria and the U.S. in Amman have not previously been reported.
Yahoo
18-04-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
IMF-World Bank meetings to discuss restoring support for Syria, UN official says
By Maya Gebeily DAMASCUS (Reuters) - Officials will discuss major steps to restore support for Syria from the World Bank and International Monetary Fund at spring meetings next week, though sanctions remain a major obstacle to rebuilding the country, a U.N. official said on Friday. Abdallah Dardari, assistant secretary-general for the U.N. Development Programme, told Reuters in Damascus that a roundtable on Syria hosted by the Saudi government and World Bank would take place on the sidelines of the annual meetings of the international financial bodies in Washington. "It gives a signal to the rest of the world and to the people of Syria that you have these biggest financial institutions ready to support," he said. Reuters reported last week that Saudi Arabia plans to pay off around $15 million in Syrian arrears to the World Bank, paving the way for millions of dollars in possible grants for reconstruction and other economic support to Syria. Sources have since told Reuters that the Saudis made the payments. Dardari told Reuters that pay-off would allow the World Bank to support Syria through its International Development Association which provides funds for low-income countries. "This is a big ticket item for Syria to negotiate with the World Bank. There's also the Special Drawing Rights at the IMF. Again, that's a big ticket item, in addition to all the policy and technical assistance that the Bank and the Fund can provide Syria," Dardari said. Since former Syrian leader Bashar al-Assad was toppled last year after a nearly 14-year civil war, his successors have called on the international community to lift sanctions imposed against the country during his rule. So far, most of those sanctions remain in place, with the United States and other Western countries saying the new authorities still need to demonstrate a commitment to peaceful and inclusive rule. Syria has $563 million in Special Drawing Rights (SDRs) at the IMF. But using the funds requires approval by IMF members holding 85% of the total votes, giving the United States, with 16.5% of the votes, an effective veto. Syria's finance minister, central bank governor and foreign minister are planning on attending the spring meetings next week, Reuters reported earlier this month. It would be the first visit to the meetings by a high-level Syrian government delegation in at least two decades, and the first high-level visit by Syria's new authorities to the U.S. Assad's fall. Washington has handed Syria a list of conditions which, if fulfilled, could lead to some sanctions relief, Reuters reported last month. Dardari said that sanctions remained "a considerable obstacle" to Syria's growth trajectory. "Syria needs tens of billions of dollars in investments and in technical assistance and so on, and that cannot happen with such heavy sanctions imposed on the country," he said. "So even suspension of sanctions will not be sufficient. If I were an investor and I want to invest $100 million in a power plant, I cannot take the risk of sanctions resuming next year, so sanctions have to be lifted in a comprehensive manner. Dardari said UNDP had secured a sanctions exemption from the U.S. Treasury to mobilize up to $50 million to repair the Deir Ali power plant south of Damascus. Three sources familiar with the issue told Reuters the World Bank is exploring hundreds of millions of dollars in grants to improve Syria's electricity grid and support the public sector. Syria's central bank governor Abdelkader Husrieh told Reuters that his country wanted to be compliant with global financial standards but that sanctions were still "blocking the economy from going forward". "We want to be part of the international financial system and hope that the international community will help us to remove any obstacle to this integration," he said.
Ya Libnan
27-03-2025
- Politics
- Ya Libnan
Syria's sectarian violence reached capital, terrorizing Alawites, Reuters
BY Maya Gebeily, Timour Azhari and Feras Dalatey Highlights Raids targeting Alawite community took place in early March in Damascus, witnesses say Witnesses report masked men detaining more than 2 dozen Alawites in al-Qadam neighborhood Human Rights Watch researcher calls for investigation into alleged sectarian killings, disappearances DAMASCUS – Close to midnight on March 6, as a wave of sectarian killings began in western Syria, masked men stormed the homes of Alawite families in the capital Damascus and detained more than two dozen unarmed men, according to a dozen witnesses. Those taken from the neighbourhood of al-Qadam included a retired teacher, an engineering student and a mechanic, all of them Alawite – the minority sect of toppled leader Bashar al-Assad. A group of Alawites loyal to Assad had launched a fledgling insurgency hours earlier in coastal areas, some 200 miles (320 km) to the northwest. That unleashed a spree of revenge killings there that left hundreds of Alawites dead. Syria's interim president Ahmed al-Sharaa told Reuters he dispatched his forces the next day to halt the violence on the coast but that some fighters who flooded the region to crush the uprising did so without defence ministry authorisation. Amid fears of wider sectarian conflict across Syria, Sharaa's government took pains to emphasize in the wake of the violence that the killings were geographically limited. It named a fact-finding committee to investigate 'the events on the coast'. The accounts by the dozen witnesses in Damascus, however, indicate that sectarian violence unfolded in the southern edges of Syria's capital, a few kilometres from the presidential palace. The details of the alleged raids, kidnappings and killings have not been previously reported. 'Any Alawite home, they knocked the door down and took the men from inside,' said one resident, whose relative, 48-year-old telecoms engineer Ihsan Zeidan, was taken by masked men in the early hours of March 7. 'They took him purely because he's Alawite.' All the witnesses who spoke to Reuters requested anonymity out of fear of reprisals. The neighborhood of al-Qadam is well-known to be home to many Alawite families. In total, the witnesses said, at least 25 men were taken. At least eight of them were later confirmed dead, according to relatives and neighbours, who said they either saw photographs of the bodies or found them dead nearby. The rest of the men have not been heard from. Four of the witnesses said some of the armed men who came to al-Qadam identified themselves as members of General Security Service (GSS), a new Syrian agency comprising former rebels. A spokesperson for the interior ministry, under which the GSS operates, told Reuters the force 'did not target Alawites directly. The security forces are confiscating weapons from all sects.' The spokesperson did not respond to further questions, including why unarmed men were allegedly taken in these operations. Yasser Farhan, spokesman for the committee investigating the sectarian violence, said its work has been geographically limited to the coast, so it had not investigated cases in al-Qadam. 'But there may be deliberations within the committee at a later time to expand our work,' he told Reuters. Alawites comprise around 10% of Syria's population, concentrated in the coastal heartlands of Latakia and Tartus. Thousands of Alawite families have also lived in Damascus for decades, and in provincial cities such as Homs and Hama. CYCLE OF IMPUNITY Human Rights Watch researcher Hiba Zayadin called for a thorough investigation of the alleged raids, in response to Reuters' reporting. 'Families deserve answers, and the authorities must ensure that those responsible are held accountable, no matter their affiliation,' she said. 'Until that happens, the cycle of violence and impunity will continue.' Four of the men confirmed dead in Damascus were from the same extended family, according to a relative who escaped the raid by hiding on an upper floor with the family's young children. They were Mohsen Mahmoud Badran, 77, Fadi Mohsen Badran, 41, Ayham Hussein Badran, a 40-year-old born with two fingers on his right hand, a birth defect that disqualified him from army service, and their brother-in-law Firas Mohammad Maarouf, 45. Relatives visited the Mujtahid Hospital in central Damascus in search of their bodies but staff denied them access to the morgue and referred them to the GSS branch in al-Qadam, the witness said. An official there showed them photographs on a phone of all four men, dead. No cause of death was given and none could be ascertained from the images, the relative said. The official told the family to collect the bodies from the Mujtahid hospital but staff there denied they had them. 'We haven't been able to find them, and we're too scared to ask anyone,' the relative told Reuters. Mohammad Halbouni, Mujtahid Hospital's director, told Reuters that any bodies from al-Qadam were taken directly to the forensic medicine department next door. Staff there said they had no information to share. The interior ministry spokesperson did not respond to questions about whether the forces at al-Qadam station were linked to the deaths. Sharaa has announced the dissolution of all rebel groups and their planned integration into Syria's restructured defense ministry. But full command-and-control over the various, sometimes rival, factions remains elusive. Four other men seized the same night were found in an orchard near al-Qadam, with gunshot wounds indicating they were killed 'execution-style,' according to a second resident, who told Reuters the family swiftly buried the bodies. Reuters was unable to confirm independently the details of her account. Most of those seized remain missing. They include university student Ali Rustom, 25, and his father Tamim Rustom, a 65-year-old retired maths teacher, two relatives told Reuters. 'We have no proof, no bodies, no information,' one said. 'ALL I WANT IS TO LEAVE' A relative of Rabih Aqel, a mechanic, said his family had inquired at the local police station and other security agencies but were told they had no information on Aqel's whereabouts. She drew parallels with forced disappearances under Assad, when thousands vanished into a labyrinthine prison system. In many cases, families would learn years later their relatives had died in detention. She and the other witnesses said they have not been approached by the fact-finding committee. Farhan, the spokesman for the committee, told reporters on Tuesday its members had interviewed witnesses in several coastal districts and had two more cities there to visit. He did not mention Damascus. All the witnesses said they felt under pressure to leave al-Qadam specifically because they were Alawite. Some already had. One young resident said armed men had come to his home several times in the weeks after Assad's ouster, demanding proof the family owned the house and had not been affiliated to the ousted Assad family. He and his family have since fled, asking Sunni Muslim neighbours to look after their home. Others said they had stopped going to work or were only moving around in the daytime to avoid possible arrest. Another woman in her sixties said she was looking to sell her house in al-Qadam because of the risks her husband or sons would be taken. 'After what happened, all I want is to leave the area.' REUTERS
Yahoo
27-03-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Exclusive-Syria's sectarian violence reached capital, terrorizing Alawites, residents say
By Maya Gebeily, Timour Azhari and Feras Dalatey DAMASCUS (Reuters) - Close to midnight on March 6, as a wave of sectarian killings began in western Syria, masked men stormed the homes of Alawite families in the capital Damascus and detained more than two dozen unarmed men, according to a dozen witnesses. Those taken from the neighbourhood of al-Qadam included a retired teacher, an engineering student and a mechanic, all of them Alawite - the minority sect of toppled leader Bashar al-Assad. A group of Alawites loyal to Assad had launched a fledgling insurgency hours earlier in coastal areas, some 200 miles (320 km) to the northwest. That unleashed a spree of revenge killings there that left hundreds of Alawites dead. Syria's interim president Ahmed al-Sharaa told Reuters he dispatched his forces the next day to halt the violence on the coast but that some fighters who flooded the region to crush the uprising did so without defence ministry authorisation. Amid fears of wider sectarian conflict across Syria, Sharaa's government took pains to emphasize in the wake of the violence that the killings were geographically limited. It named a fact-finding committee to investigate "the events on the coast". The accounts by the dozen witnesses in Damascus, however, indicate that sectarian violence unfolded in the southern edges of Syria's capital, a few kilometres from the presidential palace. The details of the alleged raids, kidnappings and killings have not been previously reported. "Any Alawite home, they knocked the door down and took the men from inside," said one resident, whose relative, 48-year-old telecoms engineer Ihsan Zeidan, was taken by masked men in the early hours of March 7. "They took him purely because he's Alawite." All the witnesses who spoke to Reuters requested anonymity out of fear of reprisals. The neighbourhood of al-Qadam is well-known to be home to many Alawite families. In total, the witnesses said, at least 25 men were taken. At least eight of them were later confirmed dead, according to relatives and neighbours, who said they either saw photographs of the bodies or found them dead nearby. The rest of the men have not been heard from. Four of the witnesses said some of the armed men who came to al-Qadam identified themselves as members of General Security Service (GSS), a new Syrian agency comprising former rebels. A spokesperson for the interior ministry, under which the GSS operates, told Reuters the force "did not target Alawites directly. The security forces are confiscating weapons from all sects." The spokesperson did not respond to further questions, including why unarmed men were allegedly taken in these operations. Yasser Farhan, spokesman for the committee investigating the sectarian violence, said its work has been geographically limited to the coast, so it had not investigated cases in al-Qadam. "But there may be deliberations within the committee at a later time to expand our work,' he told Reuters. Alawites comprise around 10% of Syria's population, concentrated in the coastal heartlands of Latakia and Tartus. Thousands of Alawite families have also lived in Damascus for decades, and in provincial cities such as Homs and Hama. CYCLE OF IMPUNITY Human Rights Watch researcher Hiba Zayadin called for a thorough investigation of the alleged raids, in response to Reuters' reporting. "Families deserve answers, and the authorities must ensure that those responsible are held accountable, no matter their affiliation," he said. "Until that happens, the cycle of violence and impunity will continue." Four of the men confirmed dead in Damascus were from the same extended family, according to a relative who escaped the raid by hiding on an upper floor with the family's young children. They were Mohsen Mahmoud Badran, 77, Fadi Mohsen Badran, 41, Ayham Hussein Badran, a 40-year-old born with two fingers on his right hand, a birth defect that disqualified him from army service, and their brother-in-law Firas Mohammad Maarouf, 45. Relatives visited the Mujtahid Hospital in central Damascus in search of their bodies but staff denied them access to the morgue and referred them to the GSS branch in al-Qadam, the witness said. An official there showed them photographs on a phone of all four men, dead. No cause of death was given and none could be ascertained from the images, the relative said. The official told the family to collect the bodies from the Mujtahid hospital but staff there denied they had them. "We haven't been able to find them, and we're too scared to ask anyone," the relative told Reuters. Mohammad Halbouni, Mujtahid Hospital's director, told Reuters that any bodies from al-Qadam were taken directly to the forensic medicine department next door. Staff there said they had no information to share. The interior ministry spokesperson did not respond to questions about whether the forces at al-Qadam station were linked to the deaths. Sharaa has announced the dissolution of all rebel groups and their planned integration into Syria's restructured defence ministry. But full command-and-control over the various, sometimes rival, factions remains elusive. Four other men seized the same night were found in an orchard near al-Qadam, with gunshot wounds indicating they were killed "execution-style," according to a second resident, who told Reuters the family swiftly buried the bodies. Reuters was unable to confirm independently the details of her account. Most of those seized remain missing. They include university student Ali Rustom, 25, and his father Tamim Rustom, a 65-year-old retired maths teacher, two relatives told Reuters. "We have no proof, no bodies, no information," one said. 'ALL I WANT IS TO LEAVE' A relative of Rabih Aqel, a mechanic, said his family had inquired at the local police station and other security agencies but were told they had no information on Aqel's whereabouts. She drew parallels with forced disappearances under Assad, when thousands vanished into a labyrinthine prison system. In many cases, families would learn years later their relatives had died in detention. She and the other witnesses said they have not been approached by the fact-finding committee. Farhan, the spokesman for the committee, told reporters on Tuesday its members had interviewed witnesses in several coastal districts and had two more cities there to visit. He did not mention Damascus. All the witnesses said they felt under pressure to leave al-Qadam specifically because they were Alawite. Some already had. One young resident said armed men had come to his home several times in the weeks after Assad's ouster, demanding proof the family owned the house and had not been affiliated to the ousted Assad family. He and his family have since fled, asking Sunni Muslim neighbours to look after their home. Others said they had stopped going to work or were only moving around in the daytime to avoid possible arrest. Another woman in her sixties said she was looking to sell her house in al-Qadam because of the risks her husband or sons would be taken. "After what happened, all I want is to leave the area."
