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A10 WORLD NEWS
Friday 1 February 2019
Breakthrough: Lebanon gets a new government to save economy

By SARAH EL DEEB which has one of the coun- trative development by the
BEIRUT (AP) — Lebanese try's largest budgets. Hariri Christian Lebanese Forces
political factions agreed had warned against Hez- group. Another woman,
Thursday to form a new bollah holding the Health Nada Bustani, was named
government, breaking a Ministry fearing it would be by the president's political
nine-month deadlock that hit with sanctions too. faction to hold the strate-
only deepened the coun- The new health minister, gic post of energy minister.
try' economic woes. Jamil Jabbak, is not a Gebran Bassil, the son-in-
Rival political groups had member of Hezbollah but law of the Lebanese Presi-
been locked in disagree- is believed to be close to dent, remains foreign min-
ment over the make-up of the group's leader, Hassan ister. But Lebanon loses its
a new government since Nasrallah, and his personal human rights ministry.
May, after the country's first physician at one point. The main pressure ap-
parliamentary elections in The Finance Ministry re- peared to be Lebanon's
nine years. mained in the hands of a deepening economic
Lebanon's powerful Shiite Hezbollah ally, Ali Hassan woes and Hariri told report-
group Hezbollah made Newly-assigned Lebanese Prime Minister Saad Hariri, speaks to Khalil. ers the economy will be pri-
journalists at the presidential palace in Baabda, east of Beirut,
significant gains at the ex- Lebanon, Thursday, Jan. 31, 2019. For the first time, the Leba- ority.
pense of the largest Sunni Associated Press nese government includes "There isn't any more time
party, headed by Prime four women ministers, to waste," he said. "We owe
Minister Saad Hariri, further tician who has held the job lit up the Beirut sky, and ral- doubling their representa- the Lebanese an apology
contributing to traditional since 2016. The post always lies in support of Hariri. tion. They include Raya al- for the delay, especially to
horse trading among rival goes to a Sunni politician Hariri called the new gov- Hassan, who was named the young men and wom-
factions to form govern- under the country's politi- ernment "a reflection of to the powerful Ministry of en waiting for a glimmer of
ments in Lebanon. cal system. Lebanon's image in 2019." Interior in charge of internal hope to fix conditions."
A breakthrough became The announcement was The 30-seat government security. Al-Hassan, a mem- Hariri dodged a question
possible after weeks of expected to ease anxi- sees an increase in the ber of Hariri's party, was a about a contentious issue:
backroom deals as eco- ety over Lebanon's sinking number of ministries affiliat- former Cabinet minister. relations with Syria. Leba-
nomic pressures mounted. economic credentials af- ed with the Iranian-backed Hariri's party also named nese factions have been
The rival factions worked ter international agencies Hezbollah group, which is Violette Safadi to be state divided over the war in
out a compromise allowing downgraded the country's under tightening sanctions minister for women's affairs, neighboring Syria. Hezbol-
representation of Sunni law- credit ratings over con- from the United States that a post previously held by a lah has thrown its weight
makers backed by Hezbol- cerns about the govern- labels the group a terrorist man behind the Syrian govern-
lah, increasing the group's ment's ability to pay its organization. May Chidiac, who lost her ment in the civil war that
allies in the government. massive debt. The group now holds two arm and leg in an assas- broke out in 2011, while
The new government will Celebrations broke out af- ministries and a ministry of sination attempt in a 2005 Hariri and his political allies
be headed by Hariri, the ter the announcement, in- state, including for the first bombing, was named were critical, supporting at
Western-backed Sunni poli- cluding huge fireworks that time the Ministry of Health, state minister for adminis- times the opposition.q

Greece to ratify Macedonia's NATO

accession in 'coming days'

ment spokesman Dimitris
Tzanakopoulos said. He
didn't give a specific date.
The name change deal,
dubbed the Prespa Agree-
ment after the border lake
where it was signed last
year, ends a 27-year dis-
pute between the two
neighbors that had kept
the former Yugoslav repub-
lic out of NATO and the
European Union. Greece
argued that the use of the
name "Macedonia" im-
Members of the Greek parliament debate the Prespa Agree- plied territorial claims on
ment in Athens, Friday, Jan. 25, 2019. its own northern province
Associated Press of the same name and
usurped Greek history and
ATHENS, Greece (AP) — try's name to North Mace- culture, and had blocked
Greece will bring Mace- donia. Once parliament its neighbor's efforts to join
donia's NATO accession ratifies the NATO protocol, NATO over the issue.
agreement to parliament Greece's foreign ministry Tzanakopoulos said the
for ratification "in the com- will inform Macedonia's for- nearly three-decade dis-
ing days," the government eign ministry of the result, a pute had given rise to "the
spokesman said Thursday, move which will automati- monster of lies, nationalism
which will bring into effect cally bring into effect the and extreme historic revi-
the change of the coun- name change, govern- sionism" in Greece. q