Lebanese Prime Minister Najib Mikati is scheduled to visit Iraq in the coming hours, responding to the invitation from Prime Minister Mohammed Shia' al-Sudani. The Lebanese newspaper "Al-Jumhouria" reported that Mikati will be accompanied by a ministerial delegation including Minister of Energy Walid Fayyad, Minister of Economy Amin Salam, Minister of Agriculture Abbas al-Haj Hassan, and Minister of Industry George Bouchikian, along with several advisors.
The Iraqi government agreed earlier this July to unload a shipment of fuel oil despite Beirut's failure to settle its financial obligations to Baghdad. This follows a phone call made by Lebanese Prime Minister Najib Mikati to his Iraqi counterpart Mohammed Shia' al-Sudani, and after Minister Fayyad had conducted several calls with Iraqi Oil Minister Hayyan Abdul-Ghany, the Iraqi government, and the Iraqi embassy in Lebanon to address the fuel oil dues crisis and to avoid total blackout in Lebanon.
The Lebanese minister had previously announced that the Iraqi Oil Marketing Company "SOMO" had halted the unloading of fuel oil ships exported to Lebanon due to non-payment for the second consecutive year. Fayyad stated that "for the fifth consecutive month, the Central Bank of Lebanon has not transferred payment for the fuel oil shipments to the Iraqi government’s account, leaving Lebanon financially exposed to Iraq, as the funds due have not been transferred for the second year in a row," according to the Lebanese newspaper "Al-Akhbar."
