New airport master plan nearly complete but Captagon fight goes on, Lebanese PM says

Nawaf Salam rules out normalisation with Israel without Palestinian statehood and return of refugees

Lebanese Prime Minister Nawaf Salam speaks to The National and other media outlets in Dubai. Chris Whiteoak / The National

Lebanese Prime Minister Nawaf Salam announced on Wednesday that the master plan for a second airport will be unveiled within a month, vowing to open the project to foreign investors.

In an interview with The National and other UAE-based media outlets, Mr Salam said the war-scarred country, emerging from a devastating conflict with Israel, is looking to reopen its economy.

He outlined parallel priorities for the state, from restoring a monopoly on arms to encouraging foreign support, and pledged to continue the fight against Captagon smuggling, which has strained relations with Arab states.

“We are not going back to the old days of asking for donations and loans. We need to prepare a suitable environment for investment,” Mr Salam said.

“The responsibility for reform and restoring the state’s sovereignty lies with us, first and foremost. But with Arab and international support, we’ll be better positioned to succeed.”

The UAE has sought to bolster bilateral ties with Lebanon in recent months as it emerges from years of political turmoil.

In April, Lebanese President Joseph Aoun held talks with President Sheikh Mohamed, marking the first formal visit by a Lebanese head of state to the Emirates in more than a decade. A long-standing ban on UAE citizens travelling to Lebanon was lifted on May 7, highlighting the success of the visit.

On Tuesday, Sheikh Mohamed set out the UAE's support for Lebanon during talks with Mr Salam.

Priorities and challenges

Leading a reformist government backed by the US and Arab states, Mr Salam's task is far from easy. The small country needs $14 billion to rebuild after the war between Israel and the Iranian-backed militant group Hezbollah.

“There are many priorities, major challenges and numerous files, making it difficult to set fixed priorities. That’s why it’s important to work on parallel tracks,” he said.

President Sheikh Mohamed with Lebanese Prime Minister Nawaf Salam in Abu Dhabi. AFP

Efforts are focused on attracting investment to key infrastructure projects, he added, primarily the Port of Beirut, which was devastated by a massive blast in 2020, the northern port of Tripoli close to Turkey and a second airport in the east.

“The master plan for the new airport, the Rene Mouawad Airport in Qlayaat, will be presented in the coming weeks – in less than a month,” he said.

“We’ve started work on this quickly, and the project will be open to investment. We haven’t yet finalised the exact model, whether it will be a tender or not, but it has significant potential.”

Lebanon, with its strategic location in the Mediterranean on the doorstep of Europe, has long struggled to keep its only airport in Beirut fully operational due to political instability and its proximity to areas prone to unrest.

A second airport could help it regain some of the status it enjoyed before the civil war began in 1975. “It could serve in cargo operations and low-cost aviation,” Mr Salam said.

Another key asset for Lebanon is its gold reserves, about 286.8 tonnes valued at about $27 billion. This accounts for more than 76 per cent of the country’s GDP, giving Lebanon the highest gold-to-GDP ratio in the world. However, Mr Salam has said the gold remains off-limits for now.

“Any tampering with Lebanon’s gold reserves today could have negative consequences. The risks outweigh any potential gains from investing or liquidating part of it,” he said.

We are firmly committed to the Arab Peace Initiative

Lebanese PM Nawaf Salam

While Lebanon seeks support to reopen its economy and rebuild, it continues to address a critical issue: stopping the smuggling of Captagon to Arab states, a phenomenon that has led several countries to boycott Lebanese agricultural and manufactured goods.

As the civil war broke out in 2011 in neighbouring Syria, millions of Captagon pills were produced under Bashar Al Assad’s regime and shipped through Lebanon and other countries, accounting for about 80 per cent of the world's production, according to several estimates.

This shadow economy has largely halted in Syria after the fall of the regime in December, but for Lebanon, the fight continues, both within its borders and along the frontier with Syria.

A member of the Internal Security Forces with a box containing Captagon tablets in Beirut. EPA

“We are looking to facilitate exports to Gulf countries, and we must do our part to ensure that red lines are not crossed, particularly those that have concerned Gulf states in the past, like the trafficking of Captagon drugs through Lebanon,” Mr Salam said.

“These drugs were produced in Syria, passed through Lebanon, took on a Lebanese cover, and were exported from here. Today, with the tightening of our border with the Syrian regime, smuggling and drug exports are more controlled. But that doesn’t mean the problem is over.”

A major factory on the Lebanese-Syrian border was dismantled in the last month, Mr Salam said.

No state, no peace

On the diplomatic front, Lebanon faces mounting pressure to swiftly reduce Hezbollah’s political influence after the group’s heavy defeat in its war with Israel, and to establish a clear path towards its disarmament and the disarmament of Palestinian factions in refugee camps.

Success on this front is key to securing Arab and western support for Lebanon’s reform and reconstruction efforts.

Mr Aoun on Monday confirmed the process to disarm refugee camps will begin in mid-June after a visit to Beirut by Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas.

“We have reached an understanding on the issue of weapons collection. We are ready to co-operate on mechanisms to hand over weapons, even removing them from the country,” said Mr Salam.

A banner depicting late Palestinian president Yasser Arafat hangs in an alley of the Burj al Barajneh camp for Palestinian refugees in Beirut. AFP

“The PLO [Palestine Liberation Organisation] is the recognised Palestinian representative by Lebanon and all Arab countries. Other groups, like Hamas or other factions, may have a different view, but we care that anyone carrying weapons falls under this agreement. We cannot negotiate with each party separately,” he added.

Mr Salam also announced that “all the weapons caches that were outside the camps are gone. Those were Syrian weapons under Palestinian names”.

Political sources in Beirut have suggested in recent months that Lebanon may come under pressure to pursue a path towards normalising relations with Israel in exchange for US and western support, as well as an Israeli withdrawal from the territories it still occupies in southern Lebanon.

Mr Salam denied any such pressure and reiterated that there will be no relations with Israel until a Palestinian state is established.

“Our goal is peace, but peace based on conditions that guarantee its sustainability, which requires a just peace. And there is no just peace without a two-state solution, not just any state, but a state with East Jerusalem as its capital and the right of return for Palestinians guaranteed,” he said. “We are firmly committed to the Arab Peace Initiative.”