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A30 world news
Diasabra 4 December 2021

Vatican takes in 12 migrants as pope denounces indifference

ments, had arranged to bring in total. would be “confined, tortured
the asylum-seekers from and enslaved.”
Cyprus to Italy in the com- Francis himself didn’t con-
ing weeks. It said 12 people firm the initiative during a It was a reference to the mi-
would be initially transferred. Friday evening prayer service grant crisis at the European
Earlier, the Cypriot Interior with migrants in the Church Union’s border in Poland
Ministry had thanked Francis of the Holy Cross in Nicosia, with Belarus, as well as the
and the Holy See for the ini- the Mediterranean island na- conditions in Libyan com-
tiative to relocate 50 people, tion’s capital. But he made pounds for refugees who are
saying it was a recognition of it clear that countries had a sent back. Francis called them
Cyprus’ inability to continue moral obligation to accept “lagers” similar to Nazi and
to absorb migrants and refu- those who flee war, hatred Stalin-era detention camps.
gees. and oppression — often to
face barbed wire at borders “Today, we wonder how
The Vatican didn’t imme- before they are rejected and that happened (in the past),
(AP) — Pope Francis on diately respond when asked returned. but this is happening to our
Friday denounced the The transfer, formally an- about the discrepancy, though brothers and sisters today, on
“culture of indifference” nounced on the second day of presumably more could be Francis referred to the prob- nearby coasts,” he said.
that the West shows mi- Francis’ visit to Cyprus, came relocated at a later date since lems Cyprus was undergo-
grants as the Vatican con- on the eve of his scheduled Sant’Egidio for years has run ing, saying he recognized that Others, he said, never make
firmed that at least a doz- arrival in Greece, from where “humanitarian corridor” ser- governments can’t take in ev- it and die at sea.
en asylum-seekers would he brought a dozen Syrian vices to bring migrants to eryone and that “we have to
be transferred from Cy- Muslim refugees home with Italy legally. understand the limits.” The global indifference, he
prus to Italy in a gesture him aboard the papal plane in said, is “a serious illness and
of solidarity with Euro- 2016. Cyprus’ interior minister, But he also voiced disgust at there’s no antibiotic for it. We
pean countries that have Nicos Nouris, insisted to how the “developed civiliza- have to go against this vice of
received a disproportion- The Vatican said the Rome- The Associated Press that ar- tions of the West” refuse to getting used to these trag-
ate share of would-be ref- based Sant’Egidio Commu- rangements had been made accept migrants or send them edies.”
ugees. nity, working with govern- to transfer 50 asylum-seekers back to countries where they

Lebanese minister resigns in bid to ease crisis with Saudis

(AP) — Lebanon’s infor- lomatic crisis. has plunged more than three TV, Kordahi was hailed as a with Hezbollah would resign
mation minister resigned Saudi Arabia, which has quarters of the nation’s pop- “national hero” who stepped if Kordahi goes.
Friday, a move many hope been joined by other Gulf ulation of 6 million, includ- down for the national good,
could open the way for Arab states in a boycott of ing a million Syrian refugees, without changing his views. Mikati’s government is em-
easing an unprecedent- Lebanon, is unhappy with into poverty. broiled in another crisis, trig-
ed diplomatic row with the dominance of the Iran- In his remarks that triggered gered when Hezbollah pro-
Saudi Arabia and other backed militant Hezbollah The Saudi measures have the spat, Kordahi said in a tested the course of the state’s
Gulf Arab nations that has group and its allies on the le- caused anxiety, particularly televised interview that the investigation into the massive
compounded the small vers of power in Lebanon. among hundreds of thou- war in Yemen was futile and Beirut port explosion last
country’s multiple crises. sands of Lebanese who work called it an aggression by year. It criticized Tarek Bi-
“The Saudi view is that any in the Gulf Arab countries the Saudi-led coalition. The tar, the judge leading the in-
George Kordahi, the minis- initiative that does not ad- and send home millions of conflict began with the 2014 vestigation, saying his probe
ter and a prominent former dress that core issue will dollars every year. takeover of Yemen’s capital, was politicized, and called
game show host, said he took not succeed nor receive its Sanaa, by the Houthi rebels, on the government to ensure
the decision to step down blessing,” said the risk con- For weeks, Kordahi, backed who control much of the his removal. Local media re-
ahead of French President sultancy Eurasia Group in by Hezbollah and its allies, country’s north. The Saudi- ported there were mediations
Emmanuel Macron’s visit a statement Friday. “As a re- refused to resign, saying the led coalition entered the war to trade Bitar’s removal from
to Saudi Arabia on Saturday. sult, a minister’s resignation comments were made before the following year, deter- the probe with Kordahi’s res-
The resignation, Kordahi will be viewed as somewhat he was named minister and mined to restore the interna- ignation.
said at a press conference in constructive but largely ir- that he meant no offense. tionally recognized govern-
the Lebanese capital, may relevant to the much larger ment and oust the rebels. Macron, who is due in Ri-
help Macron start a dialogue issue at hand.” On Friday, he said he was re- yadh on Saturday, backs Mi-
to help restore Beirut-Riyadh signing even though he was The standoff with Saudi kati’s government and has
relations. Prospects of significant fi- unconvinced that this was Arabia has further paralyzed taken the lead among the
nancial assistance to Lebanon needed, adding that “Leba- Lebanon’s government, international community in
But the crisis goes deeper are therefore dim, the group non does not deserve this which has been unable to helping the small Mideast
than Kordahi’s comments said. treatment” from Saudi Ara- convene since Oct. 12 amid country, a former French
aired in late October, in bia. reports that ministers allied protectorate.
which he was critical of the That crisis has added to im-
Saudi-led war in Yemen. His mense economic troubles “Lebanon is more important
resignation is unlikely go- facing Lebanon, already than George Kordahi,” he
ing to be a game changer in mired in a financial melt- said. “I hope that this resig-
the dynamics of the crisis. It down. Following Kordahi’s nation opens the window”
is rooted in Saudi Arabia’s televised comments, the for better relations with Gulf
uneasiness over the rising in- kingdom recalled its am- Arab countries.
fluence of Iran in the region, bassador from Beirut and
including in Lebanon, once a banned all Lebanese imports, Prime Minister Najib Mikati
traditional Saudi ally and re- affecting hundreds of busi- welcomed Kordahi’s resigna-
cipient of financial assistance nesses and cutting off hun- tion, saying it was “necessary”
from the oil-rich kingdom. dreds of millions in foreign and “could open the door for
currency to Lebanon. tackling the problem with the
It is also unlikely to diffuse brothers in the kingdom and
internal divisions in Lebanon That aggravated Lebanon’s the Gulf nations.”
and a government paralysis economic crisis, the worst
made worse during the dip- in its modern history, which On Hezbollah’s Al-Manar