Lebanon Says It Will Pay UN Dues after Losing Voting Rights

Protesters carry flags near the entrance leading to parliament building, in support of independent lawmakers who are staging a sit-in at parliament to pile pressure on dominant factions to elect a new president, in Beirut, Lebanon January 20, 2023. (Reuters)

Lebanon will pay arrears to the United Nations to regain its rights at the world body, its foreign ministry said on Friday, after the country, which is in deep financial crisis, lost UN voting rights for the second time in three years due to unpaid contributions. 

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, in a Jan. 17 letter, listed Lebanon along with Dominica, Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, South Sudan and Venezuela as countries that had currently lost their UN General Assembly vote.