Lebanese Prime Minister Najib Mikati is scheduled to visit Iraq in the coming hours, responding to an invitation from Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani.
The Lebanese newspaper "Al-Jumhuriya" quoted government sources in the country as saying that Mikati will be accompanied on his visit by a ministerial delegation that includes: Minister of Energy Walid Fayyad, Minister of Economy Amin Salam, Minister of Agriculture Abbas Hajj Hassan, and Minister of Industry George Bouchikian, in addition to a number of advisors.
The Iraqi government agreed in July to unload the fuel shipment despite Beirut not paying the financial dues it owes to Baghdad.
This comes after a call made by Lebanese Prime Minister Najib Mikati to his Iraqi counterpart, Mohammed Shia al-Sudani, and after Minister Fayyad had made several calls to his counterpart, Iraqi Oil Minister Hayan Abdul Ghani, the Iraqi Prime Minister’s Office, and the Iraqi Embassy in Lebanon, to address the fuel dues crisis and spare Lebanon total darkness.
The Lebanese Minister had previously announced that the Iraqi Oil Marketing Company (SOMO) had stopped unloading fuel oil tankers exported to Lebanon due to non-payment of the due funds for the second year in a row.
Fayyad said, "For the fifth consecutive month, the Central Bank of Lebanon has not transferred the price of fuel shipments to the Iraqi government's account, and thus Lebanon becomes financially exposed to Iraq, as the due funds have not been transferred for the second consecutive year," according to the Lebanese newspaper Al-Akhbar. LINK
No comments:
Post a Comment