BEIRUT: The chief of Lebanon’s militant Hezbollah group on Friday called on the country’s central bank governor to resign amid mounting legal troubles.
The governor, Riad Salameh, should either step down or be stripped of his responsibilities, Hassan Nasrallah, the leader of the Iran-backed Hezbollah, said in a televised speech commemorating the Israeli withdrawal from southern Lebanon in 2000.
On Wednesday, Salameh was questioned by a Lebanese judge and his Lebanese and French passports were confiscated, following an arrest warrant from France over corruption charges. He is a dual citizen.
The development effectively prevents Salameh from traveling abroad. Lebanon does not extradite its citizens to foreign countries or international tribunals.
“In Hezbollah, we believe that there are two options. The first is for the governor to step down of his own volition,” Nasrallah said. The second, he said, is for the judiciary to take legal steps against Salameh and relieve from his post.
Nasrallah’s remarks were the first time he called for Salameh’s resignation. A number of government officials have made similar calls but a Monday meeting of the Cabinet did not come up with a formal decision.
France, Germany and Luxembourg are investigating Salameh and his associates over myriad alleged financial crimes, including illicit enrichment and laundering of $330 million. A French investigative judge on May 16 issued an international arrest warrant, followed by an Interpol red notice, for the 72-year-old Salameh after he failed to show up in Paris for questioning.
Once seen as the guardian of Lebanon’s financial stability, Salameh is now widely blamed for an economic meltdown that began in 2019. The Lebanese pound has since plummeted in value and wiped out much of the savings of ordinary Lebanese, plunging an estimated three-quarters of the population into poverty.
Salameh, who is also under investigation in Lebanon, has repeatedly denied all corruption allegations, saying he made his wealth from his years working as an investment banker at Merrill Lynch, inherited properties, and investments. He said he would only resign if convicted of a crime. He also said last week he plans to appeal the Interpol red notice.
Salameh has held his post for almost 30 years, but says he intends to step down after his current term ends in July.
Hezbollah chief calls on Lebanon’s central bank governor to resign amid mounting legal troubles
https://arab.news/mqdjy
Hezbollah chief calls on Lebanon’s central bank governor to resign amid mounting legal troubles
- Hassan Nasrallah: Riad Salameh should either step down or be stripped of his responsibilities
- France, Germany and Luxembourg are investigating Salameh and his associates over alleged financial crimes
US military operations ‘ahead of schedule,’ Iranian leaders want to talk: Trump
- Trump also said Sunday that 48 Iranian leaders have been killed in the US-Israeli bombardments
- Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian said a leadership council had temporarily assumed duties
WASHINGTON: US President Donald Trump said on Sunday that Iran’s new leadership wants to talk to him and that he has agreed, according to an interview with the Atlantic magazine.
“They want to talk, and I have agreed to talk, so I will be talking to them. They should have done it sooner. They should have given what was very practical and easy to do sooner. They waited too long,” Trump said in the interview from his Florida residence. Trump did not specify who he would be speaking with or say whether it would occur on Sunday or Monday.
Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian said a leadership council composed of himself, the judiciary head and a member of the powerful Guardians Council had temporarily assumed the duties of supreme leader following the death of Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. Trump said some of the people who were involved in recent talks with the US are no longer alive.
“Most of those people are gone. Some of the people we were dealing with are gone, because that was a big — that was a big hit,” he was quoted as saying in the interview with Atlantic staff writer Michael Scherer. “They should have done it sooner, Michael. They could have made a deal. They should’ve done it sooner. They played too cute.”
Offensive moving ‘ahead of schedule’
Trump also said Sunday that 48 Iranian leaders have been killed in the US-Israeli bombardments of the country and that the offensive is “very positive.”
“Nobody can believe the success we’re having, 48 leaders are gone in one shot. And it’s moving along rapidly,” Trump was quoted as saying in an interview by Fox News.
Trump claimed overall success in the war, which was launched Saturday with the goal of removing Iran’s leadership and destroying its military. Iran has confirmed the death of its supreme leader, Ali Khamenei.
“We’re doing our job not just for us but for the world. And everything is ahead of schedule,” Trump was quoted as saying in a separate interview with CNBC.
“Things are evolving in a very positive way right now, a very positive way,” he said.
The interviews were conducted before the US military for the first time announced casualties in the war: three unidentified service members killed, five seriously wounded and several others more lightly injured.
Central Command (CENTCOM) also announced that the US had sunk an Iranian warship at a dock in the Gulf of Oman.
