NEW YORK: Gebran Bassil may be the first Lebanese politician to be subjected to sanctions under the Magnitsky Act — designed to punish corruption and human rights violations — but he certainly won’t be the only one.
According to a US official source — who asked to remain anonymous — 23 other Lebanese politicians and individuals have also been blacklisted.
Two months ago, the State Department contacted those designated — in addition to Bassil — and set an ultimatum for them to alter behavior or face isolation through sanctions.
The official told Arab News that, while four managed to get off the list, the other 19 had tried to get around the requirements “by going around, offering to strike deals, hoping to outsmart the US administration.”
Some with close ties to Bassil did not relent in “backstabbing Bassil, thinking that would get them off the hook. It didn’t work out.”
However, the official warned that “no Lebanese politician should be feeling happy. Some of the individuals blacklisted are close to Saad Hariri (the Lebanese Prime Minister), as well. So, no one feels happy about Bassil’s misfortune. Many more Lebanese politicians and their allies will follow. All corruption will be met with sanctions.”
He added that the State Department contacted Bassil again ten days ago and asked him to publicly distance himself from Hezbollah.
Bassil, the head of the Free Patriotic Movement, who is at the center of government formation effort, tried to reason with the Americans: His alliance with Hezbollah could yield benefits that are otherwise impossible to achieve, arguing about the important role he played in facilitating the maritime borders talks between Israel and Lebanon.
But the Americans would have none of it. That was the last Bassil heard from them before sanctions were enacted.
On Friday, Bassil said on Twitter that he was not “scared” of the sanctions and had not been “tempted” by promises.
In September, the US blacklisted two ex-Lebanese government ministers, Hassan Khalil and Youssef Fenianos for providing material support for Hezbollah and engaging in government corruption.
More Lebanese officials to face sanctions after Gebran Bassil
https://arab.news/53kca
More Lebanese officials to face sanctions after Gebran Bassil
- No Lebanese politician should be feeling happy, says US source
- Bassil tried to reason with the Americans but they would have have none of it, the source added
Somali president visits city claimed by breakaway region
MOGADISHU: Somali President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud on Friday visited a provincial capital claimed by the breakaway region of Somaliland -- the first visit there by a sitting president in over 40 years.
The visit to Las Anod, the administrative capital of the Sool region, comes amid heightened diplomatic tensions in the Horn of Africa after Israel officially recognised Somaliland, drawing strong opposition from Mogadishu.
Mohamud was attending the inauguration of the president of the newly created Northeast State, which became Somalia's sixth federal state in August.
It was the first visit by a Somali president since 1984.
Somalia is a federation of semi-autonomous states, some of which have fraught relations with the central government in Mogadishu.
The Northeast State comprises the regions of Sool, Sanaag and Cayn, all territories Somaliland claims as integral to its borders.
Somaliland had controlled Las Anod since 2007 but was forced to withdraw in 2023 after violent clashes with Somali forces and pro-Mogadishu militias left scores dead.
Mohamud's visit "is a symbol of strengthening the unity and efforts of the federal government to enforce the territorial unity of the Somali country and its people", the Somali president's office said.
