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Salam resigns as UN court head, clearing way to be prime minister of Lebanon

“The good news: Hezbollah wanted the other guy,” wrote Hillel Neuer, of UN Watch. “The bad news: Salam is a longtime supporter of Ayatollah Khamenei, Fidel Castro and Bashar Assad.”

Nawaf Salam, judge and president of the International Court of Justice, during the court's ruling that Israel must cease military operations in Rafah, the southernmost city in the Gaza Strip, May 24, 2024. Credit: Bastiaan Musscher/U.N. Photo/ICJ-CIJ.
Nawaf Salam, judge and president of the International Court of Justice, during the court's ruling that Israel must cease military operations in Rafah, the southernmost city in the Gaza Strip, May 24, 2024. Credit: Bastiaan Musscher/U.N. Photo/ICJ-CIJ.

Nawaf Salam resigned as president of the International Court of Justice, a U.N. body in The Hague, on Jan. 14, marking the next step in his bid to become the next Lebanese prime minister.

The U.N. Security Council will now “fix the date for the election of his successor by the General Assembly and the Security Council,” the court stated.

The successor will complete Salam’s term, which is slated to expire on Feb. 5, 2027.

Salam was called on by newly elected Lebanese President Michael Aoun to form a government on Monday after having been endorsed by a majority of the country’s lawmakers.

“Judge Salam became a member of the court on Feb. 6, 2018, and its president on Feb. 6, 2024,” per the court. He was previously the Lebanese ambassador to the global body in New York, from 2007 to 2017.

Salam’s career as a diplomat and justice on the global court has been rife with anti-Israel sentiment.

“The good news: Hezbollah wanted the other guy,” wrote Hillel Neuer, executive director of UN Watch. “The bad news: Salam is a longtime supporter of Ayatollah Khamenei, Fidel Castro and Bashar Assad.”

International Court of Justice
Members and registrar of the International Court of Justice at the foot of the grand staircase of the Peace Palace in The Hague in July 2024. Credit: Frank van Beek/U.N. Photo/ICJ-CIJ.
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