BEIRUT: Lebanon’s Fransabank on Wednesday closed all of its branches in the country following a judicial order freezing its assets based on a lawsuit filed by a depositor, a Fransabank source told Reuters.
Lebanese banks have frozen most savers out of their hard currency deposits since a financial meltdown in 2019, but the controls were never formalized in law and have been challenged in courts.
The judicial order required Fransabank to reopen the account of Egyptian depositor Ayad Ibrahim and pay out his deposit in cash, or else the bank’s assets would be seized, his lawyer Rami Ollaik said.
The judge who issued the order and Ibrahim could not be reached for comment.
The Fransabank source said that following the order the bank would not be able to make any payments, including of salaries, because its assets have been frozen. The bank has roughly 50 branches, the source said.
“We closed because the order is on all the belongings of the bank, including the safes, at the tellers, where you can get the cash. I can’t get (cash), and I can’t receive,” the Fransabank source said.
Fransabank had issued Ibrahim a cheque for the value of his deposit and he was therefore no longer a client, the Fransabank source said, adding that he had signed for the cheque at a notary.
A spokesperson for United For Lebanon, an anti-corruption group that is representing Ibrahim in the case, said he had “signed for the cheque but with reservation.”
Lebanon’s Fransabank closes all branches after judicial order, source says
https://arab.news/2psdv
Lebanon’s Fransabank closes all branches after judicial order, source says
- Lebanese banks have frozen most savers out of their hard currency deposits since a financial meltdown in 2019
- The judicial order required Fransabank to reopen the account of Egyptian depositor Ayad Ibrahim and pay out his deposit in cash
Israel far-right finance minister warns won't back Gaza deal that halts war
"The proposed agreement is a catastrophe for Israel's national security," Smotrich said on X. "We will not be part of a surrender deal that involves releasing dangerous terrorists, halting the war, squandering the hard-won achievements paid for in blood, and abandoning many hostages still in captivity.
"Now is the time to intensify our efforts, using all available force to fully secure and cleanse the Gaza Strip," he continued.
"We must take decisive control of humanitarian aid to prevent its exploitation by Hamas, and open the gates of hell on Gaza until Hamas surrenders unconditionally and all hostages are safely returned."
Smotrich, a key member of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's ruling coalition, has repeatedly opposed halting the war in Gaza.
His latest comments come as indirect negotiations mediated by Qatar, Egypt and the United States have resumed for a Gaza ceasefire and hostage release deal.
On Sunday, Netanyahu briefed outgoing US President Joe Biden on the ongoing negotiations in Doha.
"The prime minister discussed with the American president the progress in the negotiations for the release of our hostages and updated him on the mandate he has given to the negotiating team in Doha, aimed at advancing the release of the hostages," Netanyahu's office said in a statement.
Several previous rounds of negotiations held last year have failed to produce a deal.
The war in Gaza was sparked by Hamas's attack on October 7, 2023, which resulted in the deaths of 1,210 people on the Israeli side, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally of official Israeli figures.
On that day militants also took 251 people hostage, 94 of whom are still held captive in Gaza, including 34 the Israeli military says are dead.
Israel's retaliatory military offensive in Gaza has killed 46,584 people, a majority of them civilians, according to Hamas-run territory's health ministry figures that the United Nations says are reliable.
Six EU nations call for temporary Syria sanctions relief
- EU foreign ministers are set to discuss relaxing Syria sanctions during a meeting in Brussels on Jan. 27
Six member states of the European Union have called for the bloc to temporarily suspend sanctions on Syria in areas such as transport, energy and banking, according to a paper seen by Reuters.
EU foreign ministers are set to discuss relaxing Syria sanctions during a meeting in Brussels on Jan. 27.
European leaders began reassessing their policy toward Damascus after the ousting of president Bashar Assad by insurgent forces led by the Islamist Hayat Tahrir Al-Sham (HTS), which is designated as a terrorist group by the United States and most other countries, as well as the United Nations.
The document, signed by Germany, France, the Netherlands, Spain, Finland and Denmark, said the EU “should immediately begin adjusting our sanctions regime.”
Nevertheless, the paper also warned that if EU expectations of respect for human rights and minorities are not met, further sanctions may not be lifted and a snapback mechanism could be applied to sanctions already removed.
The US last week issued a sanctions exemption for transactions with governing institutions in Syria for six months in an effort to ease the flow of humanitarian assistance.
The six EU members said the bloc should lift sanctions to facilitate civilian flights, reevaluate sanctions on high-value goods, remove an export ban on oil and gas technology, and reopen financial channels between the EU and Syria.
They also said sanctions against members of the Assad administration and its supporters should remain in place.
Lifting sanctions on HTS would have to be discussed at the United Nations level and coordinated with close partners, the paper said, adding that “it will depend on our joint assessment of the listed entity HTS and its leader (Ahmed) Al-Shara’a and of the evolution on the ground in Syria”.
Kaja Kallas, the bloc’s foreign policy chief, met Syria’s new foreign minister, Asaad Hassan Al-Shibani, on Sunday in Riyadh, where top Middle Eastern and Western diplomats gathered to discuss the situation in the country.
“Now is the time for Syria’s new leadership to deliver on the hope they have created – through a peaceful & inclusive transition that protects all minorities,” she said.
“Next, we will discuss with EU Foreign Ministers how to ease sanctions,” she added.
Tanker hit by Houthis salvaged, Red Sea disaster averted
- Extinguishing the fires on board took three weeks in difficult climate conditions
- Greece had urged all nations to assist with the case with political negotiations extending from the Houthis
ATHENS: A risky operation to salvage an oil tanker attacked by Houthi militants in the Red Sea and avert what could have been one of the largest oil spills in recorded history has been completed, British maritime security company Ambrey and Greece have said.
The 900-foot Greek-registered MT Sounion, carrying 150,000 tons of crude oil, was struck by several missiles and drones and caught fire on Aug. 21, triggering fears of an oil spill that could cause catastrophic environmental damage in the area.
Months later, the vessel has been declared safe and its cargo has been removed, said Ambrey, which led the salvage operation.
Greece had urged all nations to assist with the case with political negotiations extending from the Houthis, who eventually allowed salvage teams to tow the ship, to Saudi Arabia, a key player in the region.
“It’s a great relief, mainly due to the environmental disaster risk. It was a very complex operation,” Greek Shipping Minister Christos Stylianides told Reuters on Monday. “I feel relieved and content.”
In mid-September, Sounion, which was hit 58 miles off the Yemeni coast, was towed to a safe location 150 miles to the north by a flotilla of seven salvage vessels escorted by the European Union’s naval force Aspides.
Extinguishing the fires on board took three weeks in difficult climate conditions, Ambrey said, and the vessel was later towed north to Suez for her cargo to be removed.
More than 200 people and six companies — Megatugs Salvage & Towage, Diaplous, Offmain, Fire Aid, Pro Liquid and Ambipar Response, were involved in the projects.
As Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis visited Saudi Arabia on Monday, a Greek government official said the salvage of Sounion was pivotal in boosting bilateral ties.
Norway to host talks on Mideast two-state solution
- It will be the third meeting of the Global Alliance for the Implementation of the Two-State Solution
OSLO: Dozens of countries will send delegates to Norway on Wednesday as part of a global alliance aiming to find a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, Norway’s foreign ministry said on Monday.
Palestinian Prime Minister Mohammed Mustafa, the head of the UN’s Palestinian refugee agency UNRWA Philippe Lazzarini, and UN envoy to the Middle East Tor Wennesland are among those due to attend.
It will be the third meeting of the Global Alliance for the Implementation of the Two-State Solution, whose creation was announced in September on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly in New York.
“While we must continue to work for an end to the war (in Gaza), we must also work for a lasting solution to the conflict that guarantees self-determination, security and justice for both the Palestinians and the Israelis,” Norway’s Foreign Minister Espen Barth Eide said in a statement.
“There is broad support for a two-state solution, but the international community must do more to make it a reality.”
Representatives of more than 80 countries and organizations are expected to take part in the meeting, though no official Israeli delegation has been announced.
Israel was angered when several countries — including Norway — decided to recognize the Palestinian state.
The war in Gaza, sparked by the Palestinian Islamist group Hamas’s attack on Israeli soil on October 7, 2023, has revived discussions of a two-state solution.
Analysts say however the possibility remains more remote than ever, with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu — firmly backed by US President-elect Donald Trump — vehemently opposed to the creation of a Palestinian state.
The first two meetings of the global alliance were held in Saudia Arabia in late October and in Brussels in late November.
Turkiye detains 2013 bombing suspect inside Syria
ANKARA: Turkiye’s intelligence agency conducted a cross-border operation inside Syria and seized a man suspected of perpetrating a 2013 bomb attack near the Syrian border that killed dozens of people, a Turkish security source said on Monday.
Twin car bombs ripped through the border town of Reyhanli in Hatay province on May 11, 2013, killing 53 people. At the time, Turkiye accused a group loyal to Syria’s then-President Bashar Assad of carrying out the attacks. Damascus denied any involvement.
Turkiye’s National Intelligence Agency (MIT) found out that Muhammed Dib Korali, who was suspected of planning the attack and providing the bombs, was inside Syria, the source said. The MIT captured him in a cross-border operation into Syria and handed him over to Hatay police, the source added.
Yusuf Nazik, a Turkish national who was sentenced to life in prison for planning the 2013 bomb attack, was also seized inside Syria by the MIT in 2018.
