Lebanon dysfunction hits new peak on 48th anniversary of war

Judge Ghada Aoun has lifted a ban on Central Bank Governor Riad Salameh ahead of his summoning in Paris next month and the municipal elections are likely to canceled for the second year in a row.
A boy stands in the balcony of a building ravaged by Lebanon's Civil War, in Beirut's Ras al-Nabeh district on April 13, 2023. - The Lebanese civil war broke out on April 13, 1975 and ended in 1990 with the Taef agreement. (Photo by ANWAR AMRO / AFP) (Photo by ANWAR AMRO/afp/AFP via Getty Images)
A boy stands in the balcony of a building ravaged by Lebanon's civil war, in Beirut's Ras al-Nabeh district on April 13, 2023. - ANWAR AMRO/AFP via Getty Images
Beatrice Farhat headshot
Beatrice Farhat
@beatricefarhat

BEIRUT — On the 48th anniversary of the Lebanese civil war Thursday, Beirut is paralyzed. Municipal elections planned for next month are now stalled, the presidential void is entering its sixth month and the judiciary has flip-flopped by lifting a travel ban on the head of the Central Bank, Riad Salameh. 

The lifting of the travel ban came ahead of his scheduled hearing in Paris next month concerning a number of alleged money laundering and other financial crimes, The Associated Press reported on Thursday.

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