Mikati-Safadi dispute out in public

Lebanese Finance Minister Mohammad Safadi dropped a political bomb on Thursday that put his relationship with Prime Minister Najib Mikati on the brink of ruin. Relations between the two had already worsened during a dispute on power-generating sea vessels. Safadi, in an interview with the TV programme “Kalam an-Nas” (People’s Talk) on the Lebanese Broadcasting Corporation (LBC) channel harshly criticised Mikati. "The prime minister told everybody, including Speaker Nabih Berri and Walid Jumblatt, that I wanted to receive kickbacks from the power-ships case," said Safadi. Safadi said that as he did not want make a big issue out of the prime minister's accusations, economic minister Nicolas Nahas, allegedly an ally of Mikati, said the minister "did not care about taxpayers' money". Safadi added: “An investigation must be opened in the cabinet and parliament to see why the minister of finance is not entrusted with public funds.”