Arab League to build new HQ in Lebanon for judicial, legal research

The Arab League announced on Monday that it will build the headquarters for one of its departments in Lebanon.

The organisation said it had completed procedures to allocate a plot of land in Dbayeh, north of Beirut, to construct new offices for the Arab Centre for Legal and Judicial Research, describing it as a "pioneering achievement at all levels".

Assistant Secretary-General of the Arab League Hossam Zaki signed the agreement alongside Lebanese caretaker Justice Minister Henry Khoury.

A statement from the Arab League said the site covers around 3,000 square metres.

Lebanese caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati gave instructions to start on the project's engineering maps "immediately" to then begin with the financing and construction process as soon as possible, the statement added.

Dbayeh is roughly 14 km from Beirut and houses several new residential, leisure and entertainment projects. Other important foreign missions in the coastal town include the US Embassy, located east in the hilly Awkar area.

The Arab League's decision to build the Arab Centre for Legal and Judicial Research in the country is a sign of renewed trust and support in Lebanon, which is gripped by its worst-ever financial and economic crisis since 2019, according to observers.

The small Mediterranean nation is currently without a president since Michel Aoun's term ended on 31 October, and no candidate has yet been able to win a parliamentary majority.

The 22-member league recently held a summit in Algeria for the first time since the Covid-19 outbreak.

Syria, however, is still suspended since late 2011 due to the regime’s brutal crackdown on protesters, despite efforts by some countries in the region to readmit it.