DIRS.INFO The most relevant business & tech news

☆ Arabs bring Syria's Assad back into fold but want action on drugs trade
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-09 | by ( Maya Gebeily | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +6 min

Hezbollah, which deployed fighters to Syria to aid Assad's war efforts, has denied any role in the drugs trade. Aided by Iran and Russia, Assad steadily beat back his rebel enemies, some of whom had support from U.S.-allied Arab states that have now restored ties. The United States, United Kingdom and European Union have all placed new sanctions on Damascus in recent weeks over captagon. The United States has said it will not normalize ties with Assad and its sanctions remain in full effect. "I would put ending the captagon trade right at the top alongside the other issues", she said.

☆ Factbox: FACTBOX Islamic Jihad, a Palestinian faction with rockets and Iranian backing
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-09 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

Following are some facts about Islamic Jihad:* Founded in the late 1970s by Fathi Shiqaqi and Abdel-Aziz Odeh, Islamic Jihad gained support among Palestinians disillusioned with Yasser Arafat’s Palestine Liberation Organisation (PLO). * Islamic Jihad has the second-biggest armed network in Gaza after that of the enclave's governing militant group Hamas. Islamic Jihad does not disclose such information. * Unlike Hamas, Islamic Jihad has not contested Palestinian parliamentary elections and appears to have no ambition to form a government in Gaza or the West Bank. * Islamic Jihad is designated a terrorist group by Israel, the United States and European countries.

☆ Syria's Assad boosted by return to Arab fold
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-08 | by ( Tom Perry | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +7 min

[1/3] Syria's President Bashar al-Assad addresses the new members of parliament in Damascus, Syria in this handout released by SANA on August 12, 2020. Now, as Arab states bring him back into the fold, the logic appears to have worked for him once again. In exchange for ending Syria's isolation, Arab states want action, notably towards ending trafficking of the highly-addictive and lucrative amphetamine captagon across Syria's borders towards the Gulf. The threat of a U.S. missile strike was averted when Moscow brokered a deal for Syria's chemical weapons to be destroyed by the following year. But while Assad remained a pariah to the West, Arab states which once backed his opponents began opening doors to him.

☆ Syrians split over government readmission into Arab League
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-08 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

Readmitting Syria into the Arab League was a "shock" for Syrians and would "kill the political process", said Bader Jamous, the head of the opposition's negotiating team in stalled United Nations peace talks. The opposition was for years backed by countries now supporting normalisation, including Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates. Writing on Twitter, Jamous said Assad's opponents had "not been consulted" about the Arab League decisions. Some Syrian political activists with ties to the government - including former deputy prime minister Qadri Jamil - cautiously encouraged the move in an online statement. And a Facebook page publishing news from the campuses of various Syrian universities posted a stock photograph of Syria's seat at the Arab League with the caption: "After 12 years, the Arab League comes back to life."

☆ Lebanon central bank chief's brother questioned at European fraud probe hearing
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-04 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

In a nearly five-hour session in which Raja was questioned about his brother's wealth, he told investigators that Forry was solely owned by him. He said $155 million in funds he amassed came from investment profits made over ten years from accrued interest and foreign exchange transactions. The documents say prosecutors suspect Riad used fake banking documents in Raja's name to cover up illicit sources of wealth. The European investigators are also set on Friday to question caretaker finance minister Youssef el-Khalil , who still serves as the central bank's head of financial operations. French prosecutors have informed Riad that they intend to press charges of fraud and aggravated money laundering during a planned hearing in France on May 16.

☆ The President, the Soccer Hooligans and an Underworld ‘House of Horrors’
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-03 | by ( Robert F. Worth | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +3 min

direction, and he chose not to.” Serwer speculated that Vucic has concluded the reforms required to join the E.U. The notion that Serbia can “balance” the West against Russia is largely a mirage, Bassuener said. One afternoon in Belgrade, I spent an hour talking to Boris Tadic, who served as Serbia’s president from 2004 until 2012, when he lost to Vucic’s party. Vucic, he said, had “helped put criminals in power” with the belief that he could control them. “What is the final outcome of your power if you’re going to destroy the foundations of society with hooligans and criminals?” he asked.

journalist Austin Tice, reacts after a news conference in Beirut, Lebanon December 4, 2018. Austin Tice, a former U.S. Marine and a freelance journalist, was kidnapped in August 2012 while reporting in Damascus on the uprising against Syrian President Bashar al-Assad. President Joe Biden last year said Washington knows "with certainty" that Tice has at times been held by the Syrian government. "We’re extensively engaged with regard to Austin – engaged with Syria, engaged with third countries – seeking to find a way to get him home. The Wall Street Journal on Wednesday reported that the Biden administration has renewed direct talks with Syria over Tice's case and those of other Americans, citing Middle East officials familiar with the efforts.

ANKARA/BAGHDAD, May 2 (Reuters) - ISIS leader Abu Hussein al-Qurashi's six-month rule ended when he detonated a suicide vest during a Turkish special forces raid in northwest Syria on Saturday after refusing to surrender, a senior Turkish security official said. Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan said on Sunday Qurashi "was neutralized" as part of the intelligence forces' operation. Images of the site provided by the security official showed a red-roofed building with most of the walls on its ground floor blown out. An Iraqi intelligence official said: "The only safe haven for the senior Daesh (ISIS) leaders is in Syria, and specifically in areas bordering Turkey." A Turkish security official declined to comment on any Iraqi intelligence involvement in the operation.

☆ Syrian refugees deported from Lebanon face arrest, conscription, say relatives
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-01 | by ( Maya Gebeily | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +5 min

[1/5] Youssef, a Syrian refugee and single father of two girls, attends an interview with Reuters, in Beirut, Lebanon April 26, 2023. One refugee told Reuters he and his three brothers were detained in a raid on a camp in Lebanon in late April. Another refugee said he was briefly held by the Fourth Division after being deported but paid smugglers to return to Lebanon. The Access Center for Human Rights (ACHR), a rights organisation, said it had documented the detention of at least two deported Syrians by the Fourth Division. Youssef, a Syrian refugee and single father-of-two, said he was so afraid of being deported and conscripted that he had stopped leaving his home in Lebanon.

☆ Iranian president to visit Syria next week
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-28 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

BEIRUT, April 28 (Reuters) - Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi will visit Damascus next week, a senior regional source close to the Syrian government told Reuters on Friday. The visit will be the first by an Iranian president to Syrian President Bashar al-Assad since war broke out in Syria in 2011. The senior regional source told Reuters that a warming of ties between Saudi Arabia and Iran, as well as a thaw in Arab states' isolation of Syria, had paved the way for the visit. This month, regional sources revealed that Iran had secretly brought weapons and other military equipment to Syria by disguising the transfers as part of the relief effort following the devastating February earthquakes in Syria and Turkey. Reporting by Laila Bassam, Writing by Maya Gebeily; Editing by Kevin LiffeyOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Saudi Arabia, Iran to reopen embassies 'within days'
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-28 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

BEIRUT, April 28 (Reuters) - Saudi Arabia and Iran will reopen embassies in each other's capitals "within days," Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amirabdollahian said on Friday in a sign of warming relations after the two countries closed their missions seven years ago. "During the last phone call between the foreign ministers of Iran and Saudi Arabia on Eid al-Fitr, we agreed to work in the next coming days on the reopening of the Iranian and Saudi embassies in Tehran and Riyadh," Amirabdollahian said, according to an official Arabic translation. Their relationship started deteriorating in 2015 following the intervention of Saudi Arabia and the UAE in the Yemen war, after the Iran-aligned Houthi movement toppled the Saudi-backed government and seized control of the capital Sanaa. The Iranian foreign minister confirmed President Ebrahim Raisi would visit Syria in "the near future" without providing details. The visit would be the first by an Iranian president to Syrian President Bashar al-Assad since war broke out in Syria in 2011.

☆ Iran foreign minister says embassies in S.Arabia, Iran to open 'within days'
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-28 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

BEIRUT, April 28 (Reuters) - Saudi Arabia and Iran will open embassies in each other's capitals "within days," Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amirabdollahian said on Friday as the relationship between the two regional rivals warms up after years of hostility. The Iranian and Saudi embassies in the respective countries have been closed since 2016. Saudi Arabia accused Iran of providing weapons to the Houthis who attacked Saudi cities with armed drones and ballistic missiles. Iran and Saudi Arabia agreed last month to end their diplomatic raw and restore diplomatic missions under a deal brokered by China. The visit will be the first by an Iranian president to Syrian President Bashar al-Assad since war broke out in Syria in 2011.

☆ European investigators question Lebanon c.bank chief's assistant in fraud probe
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-27 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

BEIRUT, April 27 (Reuters) - European investigators in Beirut questioned an assistant to Lebanon's central bank governor on Thursday as part of a probe into whether the governor embezzled and laundered hundreds of millions of dollars in public funds, local media and a judicial source said. Marianne Houayek, 42 and a longtime assistant to the governor, was scheduled to be questioned as a suspect, according to a schedule for the European investigators seen by Reuters. A French court document seen by Reuters says up to $5 million euros from the central bank ultimately went to Houayek via accounts in Switzerland and Luxembourg. The European investigators questioned the governor in Beirut in March and returned on Monday for further hearings. The European investigators are also set to question caretaker finance minister Youssef el-Khalil, who still serves as the central bank's head of financial operations, as well as other top officials of the bank.

☆ Saadiyat: The 'island of happiness' just off Abu Dhabi
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-21 | by ( Chris Dwyer | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +7 min

Jon Arnold Images Ltd/Alamy Stock PhotoWhile Abu Dhabi itself is home to bombastic contemporary architecture, Saadiyat – an easy 20-minute drive from downtown and Abu Dhabi International Airport – is a natural wonderland, edged by small sand dunes. Elevated boardwalks protect them from beachgoers – part of a conservation project led by Jumeirah at Saadiyat Island Resort and its inhouse marine biologist. Department of Culture and Tourism Abu DhabiOpen year-round, Saadiyat Beach Golf Club is home to a Gary Player signature 18-hole golf course. Luc Castel/Getty ImagesInaugurated in 2017, The Louvre Abu Dhabi is France’s largest cultural project abroad. Louvre Abu Dhabi isn’t the only highbrow place on Saadiyat – behind the dunes there are two world-class educational institutions, too.

☆ French prosecutors accuse Lebanon central bank chief of hiding fraud
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-21 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

BEIRUT/PARIS, April 21 (Reuters) - French prosecutors have told Lebanon's central bank governor Riad Salameh they plan to press preliminary fraud and money laundering charges against him, partly based on allegedly forged bank statements used to conceal his wealth, according to French court documents seen by Reuters. During that hearing, French prosecutors intend to press the preliminary charges and formally name him a suspect. As part of his response to accusations, Salameh sent French prosecutors a 65-page memo supplied by Marwan Kheireddine, the chairman of Lebanon's AM Bank. But according to the French court documents seen by Reuters, French investigators have reached the conclusion the bank statements were fake. Salameh "used fake records of bank accounts at AM Bank… provided by Marwan Kheireddine, to justify in a deceitful manner the origin of his properties or revenues," French prosecutors say in the court documents.

☆ Lebanon postpones local elections by a year to avoid more paralysis
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-18 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

BEIRUT, April 18 (Reuters) - Lebanon's parliament on Tuesday voted to extend the terms of municipal councils and other local officials, delaying elections to avoid further political paralysis in a country still in the throes of an economic meltdown. Staggered municipal and council elections had been scheduled for May but funding has not yet been secured by the state, according to caretaker Interior Minister Bassam Mawlawi. Some parliamentarians, including from the Lebanese Forces party boycotted the vote, saying elections were a right. Others have disputed parliament's ability to legislate at all, arguing that the constitution stipulates it should elect a president before working on laws. Lawmakers have held repeated sessions to elect a new president in recent months but no candidate was able to secure a majority.

Summary Sources: Military equipment disguised as relief suppliesSyria is a conflict zone for Israel and IranIsrael mounts swift campaign against IraniansAMMAN, April 12 (Reuters) - Iran has used earthquake relief flights to bring weapons and military equipment into its strategic ally Syria, nine Syrian, Iranian, Israeli and Western sources said. The sources told Reuters that the goal was to buttress Iran's defences against Israel in Syria and to strengthen Syrian President Bashar al-Assad. The supplies included advanced communications equipment and radar batteries and spare parts required for a planned upgrade of Syria's Iran-provided air defence system in its civil war, said the sources, two regional sources and a Western intelligence source said. Regional sources told Reuters that Israel quickly became aware of the flow of weapons into Syria and mounted an aggressive campaign to counter it. A radar station used for drones was also hit on April 3, the regional source added, corroborating what two Western intelligence sources had told Reuters.

The Lebanese bank did not respond to a message seeking comment. Bank statements seen by Reuters show how the Salameh accounts at AM Bank ballooned from $15 million in 1993 to more than $150 million by 2019. Lebanese prosecutors suspect the accounts, from which regular cash withdrawals were made, were used to conceal money laundering activity, a Lebanese judicial source said on Saturday. According to the lawyer, French prosecutors have summoned his client with a view of naming him a formal suspect. If French prosecutors suspected Salameh of wrongdoing, they could not hear him as a witness, Sur said.

[1/4] Israeli policemen stand next to smoke from a fire following incoming rockets from Lebanon to Israel in Bezet, northern Israel, April 6, 2023. The Israeli military said 34 rockets were launched from Lebanon, of which 25 were intercepted by Israel's Iron Dome, anti-missile system. There was no claim of responsibility but an Israeli military official also said that Israel was working on the assumption that the attack was Palestinian-linked. "It's not Hezbollah shooting, but it's hard to believe that Hezbollah didn't know about it," Tamir Hayman, a former head of Israeli military intelligence said on Twitter. In response, Israel has hit targets in Gaza linked to Hamas, which it holds responsible for any attacks from the blockaded coastal strip.

☆ Factbox: The developing countries facing a debt crisis
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-05 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +7 min

The cocoa, gold and oil producer has already reached a deal to write down domestic debt and last week kicked off formal debt talks with international bondholders. A $1.9 billion IMF loan has been stalled for months as Tunisia's president has shown little sign of action on key reforms. SRI LANKASri Lanka defaulted on its international debt last year after economic mismanagement, exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic, sparked a political crisis and left it without dollars for even essential imports. UKRAINEUkraine just received the first $2.7 billion tranche under a four-year, $15.6 billion IMF loan program. Zambia's currency, the kwacha , has fallen more than 10% against the U.S. dollar this year, which the central bank has said is adding to inflation.

☆ European investigators to revisit Lebanon in central banker fraud case
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-05 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

BEIRUT, April 5 (Reuters) - European investigators will return to Beirut in April to question two key people who have been charged in Lebanon in a case involving alleged fraud by Lebanese central bank governor Riad Salameh, two sources with direct knowledge of the probe told Reuters. Lebanon and at least five European countries are investigating whether Salameh and his brother Raja Salameh took more than $300 million from the central bank between 2002 and 2015. The three have been charged in Lebanon with embezzlement, illicit enrichment and money laundering in two separate cases but have not been detained. The European investigators are due to arrive in Beirut on April 24. The governor enjoyed strong backing from Lebanese elites in his three decades as central bank chief, during which the central bank financed a state rife with corruption and enforced policies that earned commercial banks massive profits.

Gamal Roshdy, spokesperson for the Arab League secretary general, said the organisation is not privy to every move on the bilateral level between Arab countries. Assad's attendance at an Arab League summit would mark the most significant development in his rehabilitation within the Arab world since 2011, when Syria was suspended from the organisation. The Saudi foreign ministry did not confirm an agreement was reached but said it was in talks with the Syrian foreign ministry to resume consular services. Arab League heavyweight Egypt has also resumed contacts with Assad. An Egyptian security source told Reuters the visit was aimed at putting in place steps for Syria's return to the Arab League through Egyptian and Saudi mediation.

☆ Syria says Israel hits Homs outposts, sources say air bases bombed
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-01 | by ( Suleiman Al-Khalidi | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

Iranian military personnel alongside fighters from Lebanon's Hezbollah are stationed at both airports and there is a strong presence of pro-Iranian militias in that area of Homs province, the sources said. Syria denies Western and Israeli allegations that Iran, whose top military officials frequently visit Syria, has an extensive military presence in the country. A Syrian military source said on state media that the strikes caused some material damage with five military personnel injured. Israel has intensified strikes in the last year on Syrian airports and air bases to disrupt what it says is Iran's use of aerial supply lines to deliver arms to militias. read moreIran declined to comment on the Western and Israeli accusations.

☆ Lebanon has 'no other way out' than IMF deal, U.S. official says
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-30 | by ( Maya Gebeily | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

[1/3] Retired Lebanese army officer holds Lebanese pound banknotes during a protest over the deteriorating economic situation in Beirut, Lebanon March 30, 2023. REUTERS/Emilie MadiBEIRUT, March 30 (Reuters) - Lebanon has no alternative for economic recovery but to make progress on a deal with the International Monetary Fund, a senior U.S. official said on Thursday. Leaf said in an online briefing she had urged Lebanese officials to make progress on the full deal and to end a months-long vacuum in the presidency. Leaf said that talks between Israeli and Palestinian officials in Egypt and Jordan in recent weeks had "very slowly, painstakingly" been moving towards de-escalation. Reporting by Maya Gebeily; Editing by Alex Richardson, Alison Williams and Jonathan OatisOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Syria's president appoints new oil minister in reshuffle
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-29 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

DAMASCUS, March 29 (Reuters) - Syrian President Bashar al-Assad has appointed a new oil minister and changed four other ministers in a cabinet reshuffle, state media said on Wednesday. Hassan Kaddour, who was the general director of the Syrian Petroleum Company for the last two years, replaces Bassam Touma as oil minister, the report said. Assad named Mohsen Abdelkarim Ali as internal trade minister, Abdelqader Jokhdar as industry minister, Louay al-Munajjed as social affairs minister and Ahmed Bostachi as a state minister. Assad switched out his defence minister in April 2022. The conflict raging in Syria since 2011 has cost the country much of its domestic oil production, especially with the northeastern oil producing fields outside government control.

Search resuls for: "Beirut"

25 mentions found