TRIPOLI: Libya’s UN-recognised government on Thursday rejected a truce unilaterally called the day before by military strongman Khalifa Haftar, saying it “did not trust” its eastern-based rival.
The move follows successes on the ground for forces loyal to the Tripoli-based Government of National Accord (GNA) against Haftar’s troops in recent weeks, just over a year since he launched an offensive on the capital.
The GNA said in a statement that it did not trust Haftar, who controls the east and swathes of southern Libya, accusing him of violating previous truces.
“These violations make it so we do not trust truce announcements (from Haftar),” the GNA said.
Any “ceasefire needs to have international safeguards and mechanisms” to monitor its implementation and to document violations, it added.
Haftar’s camp had said on Wednesday it would cease hostilities for the duration of Ramadan in response to international calls for a truce.
On April 24, the United Nations, European Union and several countries called for both sides to lay down their arms during the holy month, which began in Libya that day.
The oil-rich North African nation has been gripped by chaos since the 2011 ouster and killing of longtime dictator Moamer Kadhafi, with rival administrations in the east and west vying for power.
“The commander general announces the halting of military operations from his side,” Ahmad al-Mesmari, a spokesman for Haftar, had declared on Wednesday from the eastern city of Benghazi.
He warned violations by the GNA would be met with an “immediate and harsh response.”
However, fighting did not stop in Tripoli after Mesmari’s announcement, with explosions still heard from the centre of the capital, according to an AFP correspondent.
The GNA said in its own statement that it would continue in its “legitimate defence”, attacking “any threat where it exists and putting an end to outlaw groups”, alluding to forces loyal to Haftar.
Since fighting began in April 2019, several ceasefires between Haftar’s forces and the GNA have fallen through, with both sides blaming the other for violations.
Haftar’s opponents accuse him of wanting to establish a new military dictatorship in the country.
On Monday he claimed he had “a popular mandate” to govern, declaring a key 2015 political deal to be finished and vowing to press his assault to seize Tripoli.
But the UN, EU, Washington and other countries have reiterated that the 2015 agreement remains the only framework for recognised institutions in Libya.
Haftar claims legitimacy from an eastern-based parliament elected in 2014, but the body has not said whether it supported his move.
He did not offer specifics on how he had received his “mandate” or from which institution.
Nor did he say whether the parliament, which was forced to move its headquarters after violence ripped apart Tripoli six years ago, would be dissolved.
The GNA dismissed Haftar’s announcement as a “farce”, saying Thursday that he was “not a partner for peace”.
“We have before us a bloodthirsty person obsessed with power,” it added in its statement.
Haftar’s call for a truce comes after several setbacks for his forces in recent weeks, with GNA fighters ousting them from two key coastal cities west of Tripoli.
Backed by Turkey, GNA troops are now encircling Haftar’s main rear base at Tarhuna, 80 kilometres (50 miles) southeast of the capital.
In recent months, foreign military involvement has exacerbated Libya’s conflict, with the United Arab Emirates and Russia backing Haftar and Ankara supplying the GNA.

BEIRUT: Lebanon’s prime minister said Thursday his government will go ahead and seek financial assistance from the International Monetary Fund based on an economic and financial reform plan approved earlier in the day.
Hassan Diab described the plan adopted unanimously by the Cabinet as a comprehensive “roadmap” for dealing with the country’s spiraling financial crisis, the worst since the 1975-90 civil war.
“Today, I can say that we are going the right way to extract Lebanon from its deep financial crisis,” he said.
International donors have long demanded that Lebanon institute major economic changes and anti-corruption measures to unlock billions in pledges made in 2018.
The Cabinet at a meeting earlier on Thursday in Baabda Palace in Beirut endorsed a long-awaited economic rescue plan meant to address a spiraling financial crisis and nationwide protests amid a currency collapse and a surge in prices.
“Today is a historic day for Lebanon, because for the first time it endorses an economic-financial plan, after lack of planning and the lack of prospects for the future that almost brought the country to ruin,” President Michel Aoun said at the beginning of the Cabinet meeting.
The plan was finalized following several days of violent confrontations between protesters and Lebanese security forces that saw dozens of angry youth vandalizing local banks in the northern city of Tripoli and the southern port city of Sidon. The violence left one protester dead and several injured on both sides in some of the most serious anti-government rioting triggered by the economic crisis amid a weeks-long coronavirus lockdown.
Lebanese politicians have traded blame over who is responsible for the crisis, the worst since Lebanon’s 15-year civil war ended in 1990.
International donors have long demanded that Lebanon institute major economic changes and anti-corruption measures to unlock $11 billion in pledges made in 2018. But the country’s economic crisis deepened and the cash-strapped government announced in March it is defaulting on its sovereign debt for the first time.
Most are now looking to the IMF, hoping the economic rescue plan opens the door for talks of financial assistance. So far the IMF has only offered Lebanon technical assistance and the government has not formally sought financial support.
Panic and anger gripped the public as they watched the national currency, the Lebanese pound, which has been pegged to the dollar for almost three decades, plummet, losing more than 60% of its value in recent weeks. Public debt has soared while the economy contracted and foreign inflows dried up in the already heavily indebted country that relies on imports for most of its basic goods.
Meanwhile, banks have imposed informal capital controls, limiting withdrawal of dollars and foreign transfers in the country.
The tiny Mediterranean country of about 5 million people is one the most indebted in the world, with the national debt forming nearly 170% of the GDP. Nationwide protests broke out in October against the country’s political class because of widespread corruption and mismanagement of resources.
Leaks on the economic plan to Lebanese media suggest the country needs $80 billion in funds to get out of the crisis, including $10 to $15 billion in external financing in the next five years.
Diab’s government came to office in January after his predecessor, Saad Hariri, stepped down in the face of mass protests. But the new Cabinet quickly became embroiled in a nationwide health crisis over the novel cornavirus, a crisis that deepened the country’s economic recession.

TSOFAR: Israeli farmers left an agricultural enclave in neighboring Jordan possibly for the last time Thursday, as the extension of a lease enabling their use of the border land expired.
Ghumar, known as Tsofar in Hebrew, is a Jordanian territory south of the Dead Sea that was occupied by Israel during the Six Day War of 1967.
Under the 1994 peace deal, Jordan retained sovereignty over the area, along with another territory called Baqura, seized when Israeli forces infiltrated Jordan in 1950.
As part of the 1994 agreement, Jordan agreed to lease both places to Israel for a renewable 25 years, with a one-year notice period for either party.
The lease expired in November after Jordan’s King Abdullah II notified Israel that it wanted to take back the two areas.
His decision came as the country suffers high unemployment, inflation and poverty, exacerbated by the presence of hundreds of thousands of refugees fleeing the war in neighboring Syria.
Despite the peace agreement, relations with Israel have been tense in recent years.
Baqura, or Naharayim in Hebrew, was reclaimed in November.
But the kingdom gave Israeli farmers six months to finish growing their crops in Ghumar, a period that expired on Thursday.
Erez Gibori, a farmer from Ghumar whose fields were in the enclave, told AFP Jordan’s decision to take back the lands went “against the spirit of the peace agreement.”
Gibori said the last farmers, who had grown peppers in the enclave, had left it by Thursday afternoon.
Opinion polls have repeatedly found that the peace treaty with Israel is overwhelmingly opposed by Jordanians, more than half of whom are of Palestinian origin.

MUSCAT: Oman has ordered state-owned companies to accelerate the process of replacing foreign staff with Omani nationals, especially in senior positions, to create more jobs for its citizens.
The finance ministry gave public sector companies until July 2021 to draw up timetables to appoint Omanis in the place of foreign staff, including in managerial positions.
The ministry said large numbers of expatriates still occupied managerial posts in state-run firms.
Foreigners make up more than 40 percent of Oman’s population of 4.6 million, and have played a major role in the Gulf state’s development for several decades.
Around 25 million foreign nationals, mostly Asians, live and work in the Arab Gulf.
But the region has been hit hard by falling crude prices since 2014, and suffered a new blow with the coronavirus pandemic and its impact on world markets.
Faced with an economic slump and a sharp drop in oil revenues, Oman and other Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) states have been trying hard to create jobs for their own citizens.
The GCC states of Oman, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Kuwait, Qatar and Bahrain are seeking to diversify their economies and integrate millions of new graduates into the workforce.
All have introduced legislation to give nationals preference over foreigners in both the public and private sectors.

DUBAI: As the coronavirus pandemic continues to wreak havoc on the wealth and health of nations, one small Levantine country in particular has its work cut out.

A “revolution of the hungry people” is convulsing Lebanon as food prices skyrocket and the value of the pound plummets, trapping 6.8 million people between economic ruin and political chaos.

Almost every day, demonstrators across the country are defying the COVID-19 lockdowns to vent their fury over the worsening situation.

They are braving bullets to burn tires to block roads in protest against the ruling elite’s handling of the crisis.

To all intents, the street protests that kicked off in October 2019 have made a comeback as people look for ways to make their voices heard despite the exigencies of the health emergency.

Some protesters in the capital Beirut have attempted to maintain social distance by holding protests in their vehicles and wearing medical masks.

A number of commercial stores and supermarkets on Monday joined Lebanon’s long list of shuttered businesses – victims of the relentless erosion of people’s purchasing power.

The pound has been on the slide since October in tandem with a financial crisis that has driven up the prices of essential items beyond the reach of the average Lebanese.

Lebanese banks have responded to the challenge by setting an exchange rate that is more than 50 percent weaker than the currency’s official pegged rate and locking depositors out of their US-dollar savings.

A number of money exchange shops have been ordered to close for not abiding by the country’s Central Bank rules of selling and buying US dollars at 3,200 Lebanese pounds.

The pound (or lira) dropped to record lows on the black market last week, reaching 4,200 to the dollar before currency dealers went on strike.

The dismal outlook has been made worse by the COVID-19 outbreak, the impact of which is almost impossible to estimate despite the precautionary measures taken by the government.

“The government’s uncoordinated and inadequate response to the pandemic has further eroded public trust in its ability to help people weather this pandemic and pull Lebanon out of its worst economic crisis in decades,” said Aya Majzoub, Lebanon and Bahrain researcher at Human Rights Watch (HRW).

“Months before the COVID-19 outbreak, the World Bank predicted that the portion of Lebanon’s population living below the poverty line would rise from 30 percent to 50 percent in 2020.”

Majzoub pointed out that the virus crisis and its associated shutdown measures were bound to further increase poverty and economic hardship.

She noted the direct link between the pound’s loss of nearly half its value in April and the inflation rate, which the Lebanese Ministry of Finance estimates will reach 27 percent in 2020.

“Social Affairs Minister Ramzi Moucharafieh admitted on April 14 that between 70 to 75 percent of Lebanese citizens now need financial assistance,” Majzoub added.

Earlier this month, HRW had warned that more than half of Lebanon’s residents were at risk of going hungry due to the government’s failure to implement a robust, coordinated plan to provide assistance to families who have lost their livelihoods.

No sooner had authorities slightly eased the COVID-19 lockdown measures than clashes erupted between protesters and security forces in the northern Lebanese city of Tripoli.

As dozens of men smashed the fronts of local banks and set fire to an army vehicle, the security forces responded with live ammunition, rubber bullets and tear gas.

Amid the growing political tensions and economic hardship, many suspect the small number of officially confirmed COVID-19 cases in Lebanon conceals the actual picture.

“I don’t know what the future holds. No one knows,” said Dr. Naji Aoun, head of the department of infectious disease at Clemenceau Medical Center in Beirut.

“Seeing what is happening in Europe, Lebanon is a small country, so it may not apply to us. It could be different on our scale. But my thoughts (go out) to the Syrian refugees. Who will take care of them?”

Of Lebanon’s 5.9 million residents, about 1.5 million are Syrian refugees – the highest number per capita ratio in the world.

According to the UN refugee agency UNHCR, the refugees’ socio-economic situation is becoming increasingly dire by the day owing to income loss.

Nonprofit organizations are aware of the gravity of the situation but there are limits to what they can do.

“You can’t offer medical services (as they won’t be) accepted in hospitals, which is an issue,” Aoun said.

With no medical insurance or international aid, the humanitarian crisis can only get worse, he added.

“This will weigh a lot on the refugees. NGOs don’t know what to do. They don’t have any resources and the government can’t help them either because it is bankrupt. They can’t help their own people.”

Aoun is one of the many health workers who have been devoting their time to treat patients, often free of cost.

“We need more support for nurses and doctors because we are going to get infected or bring the infection home with us. This is what happened in Italy and in China, so we need more support – moral, social, psychological and financial – from our government and our society.

“Life is important to everyone and we are dedicating ours to help the community,” he added.

Dr. Clara Chamoun, a pulmonary, sleep and critical care medicine specialist at the Clemenceau Medical Center, said the situation across Lebanon was grim because the COVID-19 outbreak had come amid a severe economic crisis.

“It is harder to convince people that they need to stick to quarantine rules because they live on a daily basis,” she told Arab News.

“We started from a place where we were already facing a shortage of basics. And now, we have got a huge hit due to a lack in ventilators, face masks and alcohol solutions. And there’s no help.”

Proper hygiene is especially difficult in refugee camps, where overcrowding is common and access to basics, such as clean water, soap and detergents, are not a given.

“Those people aren’t going to be in contact with civilians in Beirut, but they are in contact with each other and if one of them is (infected), it would lead to a rapid spread,” Chamoun said.

Earlier this month, the UNHCR announced it required more than $30 million to cover Lebanon’s additional health needs due to the pandemic.

The funds would help expand the Ministry of Public Health’s hotline capacity, procure thermometers for detection, hygiene items for refugees and protective equipment for frontline responders.

The plans also include establishing isolation shelters for 5,600 people, expanding hospital-bed capacity by 800 and intensive care units by 100, conducting 1,200 diagnostic tests and arranging intensive care treatment for 180 refugees.

The UNHCR’s program requires a further $55 million to meet the secondary healthcare needs – both related to COVID-19 and non-COVID-19 – of refugees.

Aoun appealed for international solidarity in providing succor to migrants and refugees in Lebanon.

“They may say it’s not their problem, but the problem is getting worse. No one will go blaming the international community nor the Lebanese authorities – it’s a worldwide problem.

“If countries have medication, they will prioritize it for their people. Europe closed its borders so they prioritized their own population, but we can’t do the same with the refugees,” he said.

With hunger, poverty, joblessness and a deadly pandemic staring Lebanese in the face, Chamoun said the resilience of the people was the country’s only hope.

“We have been through a lot already. But this is truly the biggest challenge,” she said.