Lebanon risks being taken over by regional powers unless Beirut acts to address Hezbollah’s weapons stockpiles, US special envoy Tom Barrack warned on Friday.
Mr Barrack, who is the special envoy for Syria and US ambassador to Turkey, told The National in an exclusive interview that Lebanon needs to resolve the issue or else it could face an existential threat.
“I honestly think that they are going to say ‘the world will pass us by’. Why? You have Israel on one side, you have Iran on the other, and now you have Syria manifesting itself so quickly that if Lebanon doesn’t move, it’s going to be Bilad Al Sham again,” he said, using the historical name for the Syria region.
“Syrians say Lebanon is our beach resort. So we need to move. And I know how frustrated the Lebanese people are. It frustrates me.”
Mr Barrack said the US, Saudi Arabia and Qatar are ready to help if Lebanon takes the lead.
On Saturday, Mr Barrack posted on social media that his comments were intended to praise “Syria’s impressive strides’’ rather than being a “threat to Lebanon”.
“I can assure that Syria’s leaders only want co-existence and mutual prosperity with Lebanon, and the United States is committed to supporting that relationship between two equal and sovereign neighbours enjoying peace and prosperity,” he said on X.
Last month, Mr Barrack presented Lebanese officials with a proposal to disarm Hezbollah and implement economic reforms, to help lift the country out of its six-year financial crisis – one of the worst in modern history.
The US proposal ties reconstruction aid and a halt to Israeli army operations to Hezbollah’s full disarmament across the country.
Since a US-brokered ceasefire began in November, the Iran-backed group has withdrawn most of its troops from the Israeli border. Israel insists it must be disarmed nationwide.
In response to the proposal, Lebanese authorities submitted a seven-page document calling for a full Israeli withdrawal from disputed territory, including Shebaa Farms, and reaffirming state control over all weapons while pledging to dismantle Hezbollah’s arms in south Lebanon.
The document stopped short of agreeing to disarm Hezbollah nationwide.
“I thought it was responsive, very responsive,” Mr Barrack said, while acknowledging that sticking points remain.
“There are issues that we have to arm wrestle with each other over to come to a final conclusion. Remember, we have an agreement … it was a great agreement. The problem is, nobody followed it."
He stressed the urgency for Lebanon to act.
When asked if Hezbollah agreeing to lay down its arms and become a purely political party would prompt President Donald Trump's administration to remove the group from the US foreign terrorist list, as it did with Hayat Tahrir Al Sham in Syria, Mr Barrack declined to elaborate.
“I’m not running from the answer, but I can’t answer it,” he told journalists in New York earlier on Friday.
Asked why Lebanon's President Joseph Aoun has not publicly committed to a disarmament timetable, Mr Barrack said: “He doesn’t want to start a civil war.”
The Lebanese armed forces are widely viewed as the “best, neutral, reliable mediator” in the current crisis but face severe funding shortages due to Lebanon’s economic collapse, Mr Barrack said.
He noted that despite the Lebanese army’s credibility, it operates “on a shoestring budget”, forcing UN peacekeepers in Lebanon, Unifil, to fill the gap with 10,000 troops.
“God bless the United Nations and the Unifil troops, but they don’t really have command and control over harsh things,” Mr Barrack said.
Mr Barrack acknowledged that any attempt to fully disarm Hezbollah could be volatile and risk sparking a civil war.
He suggested a possible path could involve Hezbollah agreeing to voluntarily disarm its heavy weapons, including rockets and drones, handing them over to monitored depots under a “mechanism” involving the US, France, Israel and the Lebanese army.
Mr Barrack said the Lebanese army lacks the resources and manpower to take on such a mission.
“We don’t have the soldiers on the ground for the LAF to be able to do that yet, because they don’t have the money. They’re using equipment that’s 60 years old,” he said.
As a result, Hezbollah argues it cannot rely on the Lebanese army for protection, he added.
“Hezbollah is looking at it saying, ‘We can’t rely on the LAF. We have to rely on ourselves because Israel is bombing us every day, and they’re still occupying our land,’” he said, referring to disputed border areas known as the “five points".
Mr Barrack said addressing these security concerns, while preventing escalation into conflict, would require international support to strengthen Lebanon’s army and a mechanism to manage heavy weapons, with buy-in from all sides.
He said the US has approached its Gulf partners to seek funding for the Lebanese armed forces but has faced resistance.
“The US is going to our valued Gulf partners and saying, ‘We want money to go to the LAF,’” he said. “Why do the Gulf partners not want to do that? Because they’ve given so much money to Lebanon in the past that’s gone to the corrupt leaders. So they’re saying, ‘Yeah, we’re done.’”
He noted that Gulf states are reluctant to invest further without assurances that funds will bypass Lebanon’s entrenched political elite and corruption.
“This is the big dilemma,” Mr Barrack said, adding that without sustained support for the Lebanese army, it will remain under-resourced, complicating any efforts to stabilise the country and reduce Hezbollah’s hold.
“We need to help bolster the LAF,” Mr Barrack said. “We can do it hand-in-hand with the Gulf countries, hand-in-hand with Unifil, as we redefine what their role is on a continued basis.”
The Outsider
Stephen King, Penguin
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Tips for SMEs to cope
- Adapt your business model. Make changes that are future-proof to the new normal
- Make sure you have an online presence
- Open communication with suppliers, especially if they are international. Look for local suppliers to avoid delivery delays
- Open communication with customers to see how they are coping and be flexible about extending terms, etc
Courtesy: Craig Moore, founder and CEO of Beehive, which provides term finance and working capital finance to SMEs. Only SMEs that have been trading for two years are eligible for funding from Beehive.
What is Diwali?
The Hindu festival is at once a celebration of the autumn harvest and the triumph of good over evil, as outlined in the Ramayana.
According to the Sanskrit epic, penned by the sage Valmiki, Diwali marks the time that the exiled king Rama – a mortal with superhuman powers – returned home to the city of Ayodhya with his wife Sita and brother Lakshman, after vanquishing the 10-headed demon Ravana and conquering his kingdom of Lanka. The people of Ayodhya are believed to have lit thousands of earthen lamps to illuminate the city and to guide the royal family home.
In its current iteration, Diwali is celebrated with a puja to welcome the goodness of prosperity Lakshmi (an incarnation of Sita) into the home, which is decorated with diyas (oil lamps) or fairy lights and rangoli designs with coloured powder. Fireworks light up the sky in some parts of the word, and sweetmeats are made (or bought) by most households. It is customary to get new clothes stitched, and visit friends and family to exchange gifts and greetings.
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More from UAE Human Development Report:
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
The biog
Favourite Emirati dish: Fish machboos
Favourite spice: Cumin
Family: mother, three sisters, three brothers and a two-year-old daughter
Results:
CSIL 2-star 145cm One Round with Jump-Off
1. Alice Debany Clero (USA) on Amareusa S 38.83 seconds
2. Anikka Sande (NOR) For Cash 2 39.09
3. Georgia Tame (GBR) Cash Up 39.42
4. Nadia Taryam (UAE) Askaria 3 39.63
5. Miriam Schneider (GER) Fidelius G 47.74
Mercer, the investment consulting arm of US services company Marsh & McLennan, expects its wealth division to at least double its assets under management (AUM) in the Middle East as wealth in the region continues to grow despite economic headwinds, a company official said.
Mercer Wealth, which globally has $160 billion in AUM, plans to boost its AUM in the region to $2-$3bn in the next 2-3 years from the present $1bn, said Yasir AbuShaban, a Dubai-based principal with Mercer Wealth.
“Within the next two to three years, we are looking at reaching $2 to $3 billion as a conservative estimate and we do see an opportunity to do so,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Mercer does not directly make investments, but allocates clients’ money they have discretion to, to professional asset managers. They also provide advice to clients.
“We have buying power. We can negotiate on their (client’s) behalf with asset managers to provide them lower fees than they otherwise would have to get on their own,” he added.
Mercer Wealth’s clients include sovereign wealth funds, family offices, and insurance companies among others.
From its office in Dubai, Mercer also looks after Africa, India and Turkey, where they also see opportunity for growth.
Wealth creation in Middle East and Africa (MEA) grew 8.5 per cent to $8.1 trillion last year from $7.5tn in 2015, higher than last year’s global average of 6 per cent and the second-highest growth in a region after Asia-Pacific which grew 9.9 per cent, according to consultancy Boston Consulting Group (BCG). In the region, where wealth grew just 1.9 per cent in 2015 compared with 2014, a pickup in oil prices has helped in wealth generation.
BCG is forecasting MEA wealth will rise to $12tn by 2021, growing at an annual average of 8 per cent.
Drivers of wealth generation in the region will be split evenly between new wealth creation and growth of performance of existing assets, according to BCG.
Another general trend in the region is clients’ looking for a comprehensive approach to investing, according to Mr AbuShaban.
“Institutional investors or some of the families are seeing a slowdown in the available capital they have to invest and in that sense they are looking at optimizing the way they manage their portfolios and making sure they are not investing haphazardly and different parts of their investment are working together,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Some clients also have a higher appetite for risk, given the low interest-rate environment that does not provide enough yield for some institutional investors. These clients are keen to invest in illiquid assets, such as private equity and infrastructure.
“What we have seen is a desire for higher returns in what has been a low-return environment specifically in various fixed income or bonds,” he said.
“In this environment, we have seen a de facto increase in the risk that clients are taking in things like illiquid investments, private equity investments, infrastructure and private debt, those kind of investments were higher illiquidity results in incrementally higher returns.”
The Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, one of the largest sovereign wealth funds, said in its 2016 report that has gradually increased its exposure in direct private equity and private credit transactions, mainly in Asian markets and especially in China and India. The authority’s private equity department focused on structured equities owing to “their defensive characteristics.”
Ferrari 12Cilindri specs
Engine: naturally aspirated 6.5-liter V12
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BEACH SOCCER WORLD CUP
Group A
Paraguay
Japan
Switzerland
USA
Group B
Uruguay
Mexico
Italy
Tahiti
Group C
Belarus
UAE
Senegal
Russia
Group D
Brazil
Oman
Portugal
Nigeria
RUGBY CHAMPIONSHIP FIXTURES
September 30
South Africa v Australia
Argentina v New Zealand
October 7
South Africa v New Zealand
Argentina v Australia
How much do leading UAE’s UK curriculum schools charge for Year 6?
- Nord Anglia International School (Dubai) – Dh85,032
- Kings School Al Barsha (Dubai) – Dh71,905
- Brighton College Abu Dhabi - Dh68,560
- Jumeirah English Speaking School (Dubai) – Dh59,728
- Gems Wellington International School – Dubai Branch – Dh58,488
- The British School Al Khubairat (Abu Dhabi) - Dh54,170
- Dubai English Speaking School – Dh51,269
*Annual tuition fees covering the 2024/2025 academic year
The specs: 2019 Chevrolet Bolt EV
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