Tuesday, Aug 16, 2016

Beirut: Weeks after a local dispute delayed the reopening of the Khalifa Bin Zayed Hospital in Shebaa, along the southern border, UAE Ambassador to Lebanon Hamad Saeed Al Shamsi announced plans to restart operations at the emirates-built facility.

The hospital, which is aimed to serve about 35,000 local residents, opened in 2008 after the devastating 2006 Hezbollah war with Israel. It stopped full-fledged operations a few weeks back over internal disputes, fuelled by local competition over protection, the control of benefits, and similar largesse distributed to local families.

Ambassador Al Shamsi announced that the hospital would reopen its doors in September and “benefit thousands of families” throughout the area, according to remarks posted to the National News Agency.

Though difficult to confirm, there have been rumours that lingering disputes were settled after the death of a local resident, who might have survived a car accident had he been treated at a local facility instead of being transferred to a distant hospital.

Meanwhile, several members of Lebanon’s two main Shiite parties, Hezbollah and the Amal Movement, clashed in the southern town of Sarafand over the right to post political banners in their respective neighbourhoods. This was not the first such confrontation, as recurring disputes erupted between Hezbollah supporters who wanted to hang posters showing their chief Hassan Nasrallah and Amal supporters who wanted to give prominence to posters of Speaker Nabih Berri.

Security sources confirmed that shots were fired though a joint Hezbollah-Amal security committee, and not the Internal Security Forces, intervened to end the skirmish. Lebanese Army units were deployed in Sarafand on Monday after gunmen withdrew from the scene. Though nominal allies, Hezbollah and Amal cooperated when their interests coincided, and regularly clashed when higher concerns prevailed.

— The Daily Star

By Joseph A. Kechichian Senior Writer

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