Reasons behind the sudden postponement of Bou Habib's trip to New York

Days after the Ministry of Foreign Affairs announced that Minister Abdullah Bou Habib would be traveling to New York on Tuesday, the trip was suddenly postponed.

This article was originally published in and translated from Lebanese newspaper Nidaa al-Watan. 

The trip had been planned so that Bou Habib could participate in a United Nations Security Council session at the end of August dedicated to extending the mandate of the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL).

Speculation arose surrounding the sudden postponement of the trip, and Bou Habib attempted to soften the impact of the news by stating that "the reasons are technical and administrative."
However, it was revealed that the issue was related to the Ministry of Finance's failure to provide the necessary advance payment to cover the trip's expenses, amounting to USD 10,000. 

In the late hours of Tuesday evening, the "white smoke" emerged from the "chimney" of the Ministry of Finance, allowing for funding the costs of Bou Habib's trip to New York on Wednesday, accompanied by two individuals from his office.

In fact, according to Nidaa Al-Watan sources, diplomatic sources expressed astonishment at the point that the Foreign Minister did not secure travel allowances for himself and the accompanying delegation after the travel date had been set.

He and the Ministry of Finance were previously aware that the allowances for special missions had been exhausted, and there were no longer sufficient funds to cover the expenses of the Foreign Minister's trips.

Covering such missions requires a legal formula not explicitly mentioned in the ministry's budget, and the cost of the new trip cannot be accounted for from the budgets allocated for missions.

The same sources stated that this is not the first time such a situation has occurred, but on previous occasions, travel expenses were covered through contributions and assistance from friends.

Additionally, the sources regretted that such an incident occurred when Lebanon should have been preparing for the battle of renewing UNIFIL's mandate.

Furthermore, sources within the Ministry of Foreign Affairs mentioned that the ministry had previously requested an advance payment to cover the expenses of the New York trip. Still, the advance was not disbursed within the specified timeframe.

They also noted that Bou Habib had previously covered the costs of work trips from his personal funds, but he had not been able to reimburse them, which is no longer feasible this time.

Moreover, it was revealed that the state-owned Middle East Airlines had suspended the issuance of travel tickets for any ministries or officials until the payment had been made.