Al-Habtoor said his decisions were made after careful analysis and monitoring [Getty]
Khalaf Ahmad Al-Habtoor, the head of Dubai conglomerate Al Habtoor Group, said on X on Tuesday he had cancelled all planned investments in Lebanon due to continuing instability and would sell all his properties and investments in the country.
Al-Habtoor said separately in a statement the unrest and instability in Lebanon by “factions loyal to armed militias in the country paint a grim picture”, likely referring to Shia movement Hezbollah which has been a key player in the war against Israel in the country’s south.
It comes after the Emirati business magnet pledged to reinvest in Gaza following the election of a ‘pro-West’ president and prime minister.
“The continued dominance of armed militias (the Shiite militias) and the failure to establish rule of law make it impossible for any investor to proceed with confidence in such an environment,” Habtoor said.
Unless the new government took a firm stance against those seeking to destabilise the country, he said that hopes for a “new Lebanon” would remain unfulfilled.
Al-Habtoor said his decisions were made after careful analysis and monitoring and said that neither he nor his family or group managers would be travelling to Lebanon.
Gulf states, a majority of whom are Sunni Muslim, have shunned Lebanon for years due to the strong influence of the Iranian-backed Shia armed movement Hezbollah in state affairs.
Hezbollah was the most powerful political and military force in Lebanon before it went to war with Israel who dealt heavy blows to the movement, assassinating its top leaders including Hassan Nasrallah.
Al-Habtoor, a major businessman in the Middle East, said he had suffered losses worth $1.4 billion due to his investments in Lebanon.
Last year, Al-Habtoor issued a notice of investment treaty dispute against Lebanon after it imposed restrictions that prevented the group from transferring its funds, which followed capital restrictions on bank deposits following a financial crisis.
The Al Habtoor Group is a multi-billion-dollar global conglomerate with interests ranging from luxury hotels to shopping malls. As of January last year, its investments in Lebanon amounted to about $1 billion.
Last week, Al-Habtoor had expressed an intention to invest in Lebanon once a new government was formed, as the UAEÂ reopened its embassy in Beirut after shutting it for more than three years following tensions with the Iran-leaning government.
The UAE withdrew its diplomats and closed the embassy in October 2021, aligning with Saudi Arabia, after Lebanon’s then-information minister criticised the Saudi-led coalition’s involvement in Yemen.
Agencies contributed to this report.
