Adib has serbed as Lebanon’s ambassador to Germnay for over a decade, and has taught in several political science fields [Getty/file photo]
Lebanon has nominated diplomat Mustapha Adib for membership at the International Criminal Court (ICJ) on Tuesday, Lebanese media reported, and could play a key role in the world court’s case against Israel’s war on Gaza.
If successfully appointed, Adib will represent Lebanon at the ICJ and replace Nawaf Salam, who sat at the international court from 2018 on a nine-year term, before becoming its president last year.
Salam was appointed as Lebanon’s prime minister-designate earlier this month, in the aftermath of Joseph Aoun’s election as the country’s president, ending a two-year vacuum.
The Security Council has set 27 May 2025 as the date for the election of a new member to succeed Salam in his previous position in the ICJ, which in July last year found Israel’s occupation of the West Bank and east Jerusalem unlawful, and said it was “plausible” that Israel’s actions in Gaza violated the Genocide Convention.
Adib is currently Lebanon’s ambassador to Germany, having served since 2013, and the country’s Permanent Delegate at UNESCO since September.
According to the Lebanese embassy in Germany website, Adib is a holder of a PhD in Law and Political Science from the University of Montpellier and has taught public international law, constitutional law, geopolitics, and international relations at various universities in Lebanon and France.
In 2020, the top diplomat served a short-lived term as prime minister-designate following the Beirut blast which killed at least 218 people in August of that year, and provoked widespread protests and anger at the authorities’ failure to adequately respond to the deadly incident.
This prompted the resignation of then-Prime Minister Hassan Diab and his cabinet, before which Adib was named as his successor, and was tasked with forming a new government.
The ambassador received the support of many Lebanese major political parties, including the Future Movement party, which is affiliated with the Sunni sect of Islam and was founded by Rafic Hariri.
He was also nominated by outgoing Prime Minister Najib Mikati, a close associate of his and also hailing from Tripoli, in north Lebanon.
From 2000 to 2004, he worked as an advisor to Mikati and was appointed as head of his cabinet in 2011.
Adib was officially appointed on 31 August of that year, one day before the deadline set by French President Emmanuel Macron who had demanded that a new, corruption-free cabinet be formed.
Adib failed to meet the Lebanese parliament’s demands to form a new government, and resigned less than a month later on 20 September, plunging the country further into a political crisis.
His appointment at the time was not well-received by the opposition and Lebanese activists, who have been seeking to remove Lebanon’s political class from the fold, as well as eradicate corruption, nepotism and incompetency.
