BEIRUT: Lebanon’s former prime minister Hassan Diab said on Monday he had given up shares in a company he was linked to in a leak of financial documents, and denied wrongdoing.
A statement by his office said he had taken part in founding the company in 2015 and owned 17 shares, but that the firm had no activity since then and he had since resigned his management role and sold his stake.
A Lebanese news organization, Daraj, was one of a number of international media outlets that reported the “Pandora Papers,” a set of leaked documents purported to reveal offshore transactions involving global political and business figures.
Reuters has not verified the reports or the documents. The use of offshore companies is not illegal and not evidence of wrongdoing on its own, but the news organizations that published the trove said such arrangements could be intended to hide transactions from tax collectors or other authorities.
Daraj reported that top political figures in Lebanon, including Prime Minister Najib Mikati, had embraced offshore havens.
“Is founding a company against the law?” Diab said, adding that he reserved the right to sue anyone who tries to defame him.
Lebanon’s former PM Diab says he gave up shares in company mentioned in ‘Pandora Papers’
https://arab.news/6vbqu
Lebanon’s former PM Diab says he gave up shares in company mentioned in ‘Pandora Papers’
- Diab’s office said he had taken part in founding the company in 2015 and owned 17 shares
- Lebanese news organisation, Daraj, was one of a number of international media outlets that reported the "Pandora Papers"
US resumes food aid to Somalia
- The United States on Thursday announced the resumption of food distribution in Somalia, weeks after the destruction of a US-funded World Food Programme (WFP) warehouse at Mogadishu’s port
NAIROBI: The United States on Thursday announced the resumption of food distribution in Somalia, weeks after the destruction of a US-funded World Food Programme (WFP) warehouse at Mogadishu’s port.
In early January, Washington suspended aid to Somalia over reports of theft and government interference, saying Somali officials had “illegally seized 76 metric tons of donor-funded food aid meant for vulnerable Somalis.”
US officials then warned any future aid would depend on the Somali government taking accountability, a stance Mogadishu countered by saying the warehouse demolition was part of the port’s “expansion and repurposing works.”
On Wednesday, however, the Somali government said “all WFP commodities affected by port expansion have been returned.”
In a statement Somalia said it “takes full responsibility” and has “provided the World Food Program with a larger and more suitable warehouse within the Mogadishu port area.”
The US State Department said in a post on X that: “We will resume WFP food distribution while continuing to review our broader assistance posture in Somalia.”
“The Trump Administration maintains a firm zero tolerance policy for waste, theft, or diversion of US resources,” it said.
US president Donald Trump has slashed aid over the past year globally.
Somalis in the United States have also become a particular target for the administration in recent weeks, targeted in immigration raids.
They have also been accused of large-scale public benefit fraud in Minnesota, which has the largest Somali community in the country with around 80,000 members.
