BEIRUT: A European judicial team pressed on with its corruption probe of Lebanon’s embattled Central Bank governor on Thursday, questioning one of his aides and summoning his brother for another hearing next week, officials said.
The delegation from France, Germany, and Luxembourg is on its third visit to Lebanon to interrogate suspects and witnesses in an ongoing investigation of Gov. Riad Salameh and associates over several financial crimes and the laundering of some $330 million.
Salameh’s associate, Marianne Hoayek, was questioned for several hours Thursday, two Lebanese officials said, speaking on condition of anonymity to discuss the probe. Her questioning is to continue on Friday, they said.
The European team also summoned Raja Salameh, the governor’s brother, for questioning next Wednesday after he did not show up at a session earlier this week, citing illness. Next week, the team will question Lebanon’s caretaker Finance Minister Youssef Khalil, who was a close associated for Salameh for years.
The three European governments in March 2022 froze more than $130 million in assets linked to the investigation. Last month, the European delegation questioned Riad Salameh about the Central Bank’s assets and investments outside Lebanon, a Paris apartment owned by Salameh, and Forry Associates Ltd, a brokerage firm owned by his brother. Raja Salameh is to appear before French prosecutors in mid-May.
Separately, France has questioned the chairman of Lebanon’s AM Bank, Marwan Kheireddine, on several charges, including money laundering. Reports in Lebanon say the governor and his associates had used commercial banks to siphon off public money.
The 72-year-old governor has repeatedly denied all allegations against him, insisting that his wealth comes from his previous job as an investment banker for Merrill Lynch, inherited properties, and through investments.
Riad Salameh is also being investigated by Lebanese authorities. In late February, Beirut’s public prosecutor, Raja Hamoush, charged Salameh, his brother and Hoayek with corruption, including embezzling public funds, forgery, illicit enrichment, money-laundering and violation of tax laws.
Salameh — who has held his post for almost 30 years — was once hailed as the guardian of Lebanon’s financial stability. However, since Lebanon’s economic crisis erupted in 2019, many have criticized the governor, saying he precipitated the meltdown. The crisis has plunged three-quarters of the Mediterranean country’s population of 6 million into poverty.
EU team presses on with probe of Lebanon Central Bank chief
https://arab.news/c5bk3
EU team presses on with probe of Lebanon Central Bank chief
- Salameh’s associate, Marianne Hoayek, was questioned for several hours Thursday, two Lebanese officials said
- The European team also summoned Raja Salameh, the governor’s brother, for questioning next Wednesday
Lebanese PM, speaker of UAE advisory parliament discuss regional issues
- Saqr Ghobash congratulated Nawaf Salam on forming a Lebanese government in February
- Salam praised the UAE for promoting regional stability, development
LONDON: Lebanese Prime Minister Nawaf Salam discussed the strong fraternal relations between Abu Dhabi and Beirut with Saqr Ghobash, speaker of the UAE Federal National Council, on Thursday.
Ghobash made an official visit to Lebanon, where he extended the wishes of the Emirati leadership to Lebanon and its people for continued progress, prosperity and development, the Emirates News Agency reported.
Salam and Ghobash discussed ways to strengthen and expand cooperation in various cultural, economic and humanitarian fields, and exchanged views on several regional and international issues of mutual interest, WAM added.
Ghobash congratulated Salam on forming a Lebanese government in February and reaffirmed the UAE’s strong support for Lebanon’s sovereignty, stability and development. He said that the UAE is committed to providing unwavering support to the Lebanese people.
Salam praised the UAE for promoting stability and development across the region, and expressed appreciation for its continuous support of Lebanon during recent challenging times, WAM reported.
France says Tunisian political dissidents did not receive fair trial
- The comments by France came amid growing criticism of the government of President Kais Saied over its crackdown on dissent
- The French Foreign Ministry said: “We regret the failure to respect fair trial conditions“
TUNIS: France on Wednesday criticized the lengthy sentences handed down by a Tunisian court against opposition leaders and businessmen on conspiracy charges on the weekend, saying the conditions for a fair trial were not met.
The comments by France, the first country to speak out on the trial, came amid growing criticism of the government of President Kais Saied over its crackdown on dissent.
Rights groups said the mass conviction of dissidents is a disturbing indication of the authorities’ willingness to go ahead with its crackdown on peaceful dissent.
Tunisia’s opposition has said the trial was fabricated and aimed at silencing critical voices and consolidating the authoritarian rule.
“We learned with concern of the harsh sentences...against several individuals accused of conspiring against state security, including French nationals,” the French Foreign Ministry said.
“We regret the failure to respect fair trial conditions,” it added. Journalists, diplomats, and civil society were barred from attending the trial.
The trial highlights Saied’s full control over the judiciary since he dissolved parliament in 2021 and began ruling by decree. He also dissolved the independent Supreme Judicial Council and sacked dozens of judges in 2022.
Forty people were prosecuted in the trial, which started in March. More than 20 have fled abroad since being charged.
Lawyers said the maximum sentence was 66 years for businessman Kamel Ltaif, while opposition politician Khyam Turki received a 48-year sentence.
The court also sentenced prominent opposition figures including Ghazi Chaouachi, Issam Chebbi, Jawahar Ben Mbrak and Ridha BelHajj to 18 years in prison. They have been in custody since being detained in 2023.
Saied said in 2023 that the politicians were “traitors and terrorists” and that judges who would acquit them were their accomplices.
The opposition leaders involved in the case rejected the charges and said they were preparing an initiative aimed at uniting the fragmented opposition to face the democratic setback in the cradle of the Arab Spring uprisings.
Lebanon parliament approves changes to banking secrecy law
- The international community has long demanded major fiscal reforms to unlock billions of dollars in aid to restart the Lebanese economy
- The crash since 2019 has seen the local currency lose most of its value against the US dollar
BEIRUT: Lebanon’s parliament on Thursday approved amendments to banking secrecy legislation, a key reform demanded by the International Monetary Fund, as Lebanese officials hold meetings with global finance institutions in Washington.
A statement from speaker Nabih Berri’s office said parliament passed amendments to “the law related to banking secrecy” and to monetary legislation.
The international community has long demanded major fiscal reforms to unlock billions of dollars in aid to restart the Lebanese economy in the wake of a five-year economic collapse widely blamed on mismanagement and corruption.
The crash since 2019 has seen the local currency lose most of its value against the US dollar and has pushed much of the population into poverty, with ordinary people locked out of their savings.
The recent war between Israel and Lebanon’s Iran-backed Hezbollah group has worsened matters, with the cash-strapped country now also needing funds for reconstruction.
Lebanese rights group Legal Agenda said the amendments allow “banking supervisory and regulatory bodies... to request access to all banking information without linking the request to a specific objective.”
These bodies will now be able to access information including customer names and deposit details, and look into possible suspicious activity, the group said.
Lebanon has long had strict rules over bank account privacy that critics have said makes it susceptible to money laundering.
The cabinet had approved the amendment earlier this month, saying it would apply retroactively for 10 years from the date of request.
That means it would apply to the start of the economic crisis, when bankers were accused of assisting influential individuals to transfer large amounts of money overseas.
Parliament’s approval comes with Finance Minister Yassine Jaber, Economy Minister Amer Bizat and new central bank governor Karim Souaid in Washington for meetings with the World Bank and IMF.
Jaber said earlier this week that parliamentary approval of the banking secrecy amendment would give a “boost” to the delegation’s meetings.
In April 2022, Lebanon and the IMF reached conditional agreement on a $3-billion loan package, but painful reforms that the 46-month financing program would require have largely not happened.
In February, the IMF said it was open to a new loan agreement with Beirut following discussions with the newly appointed Jaber.
The new government has pledged to implement other required reforms, and approved draft legislation on restructuring the banking sector earlier this month.
UK ends sanctions on Syria defense, interior ministries
- Sanctions against various media groups and intelligence agencies were also lifted
- New Syrian government is aiming to persuade Western capitals that sanctions should be lifted
LONDON: The UK government announced on Thursday it was lifting sanctions that were imposed on Syria’s interior and defense ministries during the rule of the now-deposed Bashar Assad.
“The following entries have been removed from the Consolidated List and are no longer subject to an asset freeze – Ministry of Interior, Ministry of Defense,” the Office of Financial Sanctions Implementation said in a notice.
Sanctions against various media groups and intelligence agencies were also lifted, although Syria’s new rulers dissolved the Assad-era spy bodies in January.
Those targeted by the sanctions were “involved in repressing the civilian population in Syria” or had been “involved in supporting or benefitting from the Syrian regime,” said the notice.
The new Syrian government is aiming to persuade Western capitals that the militant origins of the rebels who toppled Assad in December, after 14 years in charge, are confined to the past, and that crippling international sanctions should be lifted.
Amnesty denounces Algeria over ‘alarming’ crackdown
- Amnesty said the 23 were detained “solely for the peaceful exercise of their human rights”
- Amnesty singled out accelerated judicial procedures, which it said did not give several detainees time for adequate defense
TUNIS: Amnesty International on Thursday denounced what it called a “crackdown on peaceful dissent” in Algeria in response to an online protest campaign.
“Algerian authorities have intensified their relentless clampdown on peaceful dissent through arbitrary arrests and unjust prosecutions leading to lengthy prison sentences,” the rights group said in a statement.
It said the authorities have arrested and sentenced at least 23 activists and journalists over their purported support for an online protest movement dubbed Manich Radi (which loosely translates as “I do not agree“).
The campaign, Amnesty said, was launched in December 2024 “to denounce restrictions on human rights and difficult socioeconomic conditions in the country.”
Amnesty said the 23 were detained “solely for the peaceful exercise of their human rights.”
Its regional director for the Middle East and North Africa Heba Morayef said: “The trajectory of suffocating online activism pursued by the Algerian authorities is alarming and must be reversed.
“Nothing can justify detaining and jailing people solely for having expressed dissatisfaction about political and socioeconomic conditions,” she added.
The crackdown coincided with the lead-up to the sixth anniversary in February of the pro-democracy Hirak movement.
Amnesty singled out accelerated judicial procedures, which it said did not give several detainees time for adequate defense.
Among several cases, it cited the March sentencing of activists Soheib Debbaghi and Mahdi Bazizi to 18-month jail terms for their ties to the “Manich Radi” movement.
Debbaghi was convicted of “publishing content harmful to national interest,” Amnesty said.
It urged the authorities in Algeria to “end their crackdown on peaceful dissent and stop punishing the legitimate exercise of the right to freedom of expression.”
