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2021-07-17 Syria-Lebanon-Iran
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Timeline: Lebanon's Spiraling Crisis and Political Impasse
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[AnNahar] Leb
 ...an Iranian colony situated on the eastern Mediterranean, conveniently adjacent to Israel. Formerly inhabited by hardy Phoenecian traders, its official language is now Arabic, with the usual unpleasant side effects. The Leb civil war, between 1975 and 1990, lasted a little over 145 years and produced 120,000 fatalities. The average length of a ceasefire was measured in seconds. The Lebs maintain a precarious sectarian balance among Shiites, Sunnis, and about a dozeen flavors of Christians. It is the home of Hezbollah, which periodically starts a war with the Zionist Entity, gets Beirut pounded to rubble, and then declares victory and has a parade. The Lebs have the curious habit of periodically murdering their heads of state or prime ministers, a practice dating back to the heady human sacrifice days of Baal Moloch. In 2020 Hezbollah blew up a considerable portion of Beirut and many of its inhabitants when its ammonium nitrate facility exploded. They blamed it on... somebody else. It wasn't them though. Trust them on that...
has been mired since late 2019 in a deep economic and financial crisis, exacerbated by a political deadlock which intensified on Thursday when prime minister-designate Saad Hariri
...Second son of Rafik Hariri, the Leb PM who was assassinated in 2005. He has was prime minister in his own right from 2009 through early 2011. He was born in Riyadh to an Iraqi mother and graduated from Georgetown University. He managed his father's business interests in Riyadh until his father's assassination. When his father died he inherited a fortune of some $4.1 billion, which won't do him much good if Hizbullah has him bumped off, too....
stepped down.
Continued from Page 2
- DOLLAR SHORTAGES -
Anxiety at the lack of availability of dollars emerges on September 29, 2019, when hundreds of people take to the streets of central Beirut to protest economic hardship.
Among the worst hit are petrol station owners, who need dollars to pay their suppliers. But media report that banks and exchange offices are limiting dollar sales for fear of running out.
- PROTESTS -
Mass protests follow a government announcement on October 17 of a planned tax on voice calls made over messaging services such as WhatsApp.
With the economy already in crisis, many see the tax as the last straw, with some demanding "the fall of the regime".
The government of Saad Hariri scraps the tax the same day.
But protests continue over the next weeks, culminating in huge demonstrations calling for an overhaul of the ruling class in place for decades, and accused of corruption.
Hariri's government resigns in late October under pressure from the street.
- DEFAULT -
Lebanon, whose debt burden is equivalent to nearly 170 percent of its gross domestic product, announces in March 2020 that it will default on its entire debt of a $1.2-billion Eurobond.
The next month, after three nights of violent mostly peaceful festivities in Tripoli
...a confusing city, one end of which is located in Lebanon and the other end of which is the capital of Libya. Its chief distinction is being mentioned in the Marine Hymn...
, then prime minister Hassan Diab says Lebanon will seek help from the International Monetary Fund after the government approves a plan to rescue the economy.
But negotiations with the IMF quickly go off the rails.
- CATASTROPHIC EXPLOSION -
A massive explosion on August 4 at Beirut's port devastates entire quarters of the city, killing more than 200 people, injuring at least 6,500 others and leaving hundreds of thousands homeless.
The government says the blast appears to have been caused by a fire igniting tons of ammonium nitrate left unsecured in a warehouse for six years.
The blast inflames popular anger, which had been put on hold due to the pandemic.
Top officials are investigated over the earth-shattering kaboom, but not a single politician was arrested.
- POLITICAL IMPASSE -
Diab announces the resignation of his government on August 10, 2020, after just over seven months in power.
Mustafa Adib, a diplomat, is named as Lebanon's new premier vowing to make reforms and a deal with the IMF.
But Adib bows out after less than a month.
Hariri, already prime minister three times, is named on October 22.
- ONE OF WORST CRISES -
The authorities announce in February 2021 that the price of bread will be increased by around a fifth.
In June, the World Bank says Lebanon's economic collapse is likely to rank among the world's worst financial crises since the mid-19th century.
Later that month, protesters try to storm central bank offices in the northern city of Tripoli and Sidon in the south, after the national currency plunges to a new record low on the black market.
Days later, the government hikes fuel prices by more than 30 percent as it reduces subsidies and customers queue for short supplies at service stations.
Lebanon's medicine importers on July 4 say they have run out of key drugs, and warn of more shortages.
- HARIRI STEPS DOWN -
After nine months of horsetrading, Hariri steps down on July 15, saying he was unable to form a government. 
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Posted by trailing wife 2021-07-17 00:00||
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