BEIRUT: Lebanon’s ambassador to France is being investigated over rape and assault allegations following complaints by two former embassy employees, with French authorities requesting the lifting of his diplomatic immunity.
The Lebanese Foreign Ministry claimed on Saturday that it did not receive any French request to lift immunity for Rami Adwan, 48.
But the French Foreign Ministry told AFP late on Friday: “In view of the seriousness of the facts mentioned, we consider it necessary for the Lebanese authorities to lift the immunity of the Lebanese ambassador in Paris in order to facilitate the work of the French judicial authorities.”
Authorities in France opened an investigation into Adwan following the complaints issued by the two former embassy employees.
Adwan’s lawyer, Karim Beylouni, told AFP: “My client contests all accusations of aggression in any shape or form: verbal, moral, sexual.
“Between 2018 and 2022 he had with these two women romantic relationships punctuated by arguments and breakups.”
A Lebanese lawyer and expert in international law told Arab News on condition of anonymity that “lifting the immunity of the Lebanese ambassador is taken by the competent minister, the minister of foreign affairs, without referring to the Cabinet, which appoints ambassadors to their positions.”
The lawyer added: “However, the matter requires the Ministry of Justice to request the French Foreign Ministry to provide the file of the diplomat targeted by the investigations. After studying the file, the Lebanese Foreign Ministry gives permission to prosecute him in France because the alleged crime was committed in France.”
French investigative website Mediapart reported that the investigation was being conducted based on a complaint “filed by a former employee of the Lebanese Embassy named Ava, who is 31 years old and who said in the police report that she was raped in May 2020 in a private apartment belonging to Ambassador Adwan.”
According to the complaint report, Ava “expressed her refusal to have a sexual relationship and resorted to screaming and crying.”
The 31-year-old alleged that Adwan assaulted her during a fight in his office, but she did not file a complaint “because she did not want to destroy the life of this man, who is married and has a family.”
However, the ambassador “denied raising his hand against her and denounced the baseless accusations.”
He said that Ava “was trying to use their relationship to enhance her position within the embassy.”
In April 2021, the employee informed Adwan that she was leaving her position, and immediately filed a report.
Mediapart reported that Ava “provided the police with WhatsApp messages on that evening and the following day, explicitly accusing him (Adwan) of rape.”
The newspaper said that the French judicial investigation is also communicating with a second complainant, “a 28-year-old Lebanese student named Gabrielle, who had a close relationship with Adwan after starting her internship at the embassy in 2018.
“She worked in the embassy for four years until the end of 2022 and filed a complaint in February of last year, alleging that she was subjected to a series of physical assaults, often resulting from her refusal to have a sexual relationship.”
The report quoted one of Gabrielle’s neighbors, who was also contacted by Mediapart and questioned by the police, as saying that she “woke up around 2 a.m. that night and heard muffled screams.”
The neighbor said she had met the Lebanese ambassador several times and recognized him.
Adwan, previously envoy to Monaco, was appointed ambassador to France in 2017.
France urges Lebanon to lift immunity of envoy accused of rape, violence
https://arab.news/ccvvm
France urges Lebanon to lift immunity of envoy accused of rape, violence
- The Lebanese Foreign Ministry claimed on Saturday that it did not receive any French request to lift immunity for Rami Adwan
- Authorities in France opened an investigation into Adwan following the complaints issued by the two former embassy employees
US military launches strikes in Syria against Daesh fighters after American deaths
- “This is not the beginning of a war — it is a declaration of vengeance,” Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth says
- President Trump earlier pledged “very serious retaliation” but stressed that Syria was fighting alongside US troops
WASHINGTON: The Trump administration launched military strikes Friday in Syria to “eliminate” Daesh group fighters and weapons sites in retaliation for an ambush attack that killed two US troops and an American interpreter almost a week ago.
A US official described it as “a large-scale” strike that hit 70 targets in areas across central Syria that had Daesh (also known as Islamic State or IS) infrastructure and weapons. Another US official, who also spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss sensitive operations, said more strikes should be expected.
The attack was conducted using F-15 Eagle jets, A-10 Thunderbolt ground attack aircraft and AH-64 Apache helicopters, the officials said. F-16 fighter jets from Jordan and HIMARS rocket artillery also were used, one official said.
“This is not the beginning of a war — it is a declaration of vengeance. The United States of America, under President Trump’s leadership, will never hesitate and never relent to defend our people,” Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said on social media.
President Donald Trump had pledged “very serious retaliation” after the shooting in the Syrian desert, for which he blamed Daesh. The troops were among hundreds of US troops deployed in eastern Syria as part of a coalition fighting the terrorist group.
Trump in a social media post said the strikes were targeting Daesh “strongholds.” He reiterated his support for Syrian President Ahmad Al-Sharaa, who he said was “fully in support” of the US effort to target the militant group.
Trump also offered an all-caps threat, warning the group against attacking US personnel again.
“All terrorists who are evil enough to attack Americans are hereby warned — YOU WILL BE HIT HARDER THAN YOU HAVE EVER BEEN HIT BEFORE IF YOU, IN ANY WAY, ATTACK OR THREATEN THE USA.,” the president added.
The attack was a major test for the warming ties between the United States and Syria since the ouster of autocratic leader Bashar Assad a year ago. Trump has stressed that Syria was fighting alongside US troops and said Al-Sharaa was “extremely angry and disturbed by this attack,” which came as the US military is expanding its cooperation with Syrian security forces.
Syria’s foreign ministry in a statement on X following the launch of US strikes said that last week’s attack “underscores the urgent necessity of strengthening international cooperation to combat terrorism in all its forms” and that Syria is committed “to fighting Daesh and ensuring that it has no safe havens on Syrian territory and will continue to intensify military operations against it wherever it poses a threat.”
Daesh has not claimed responsibility for the attack on the US service members, but the group has claimed responsibility for two attacks on Syrian security forces since, one of which killed four Syrian soldiers in Idlib province. The group in its statements described Al-Sharaa’s government and army as “apostates.” While Al-Sharaa once led a group affiliated with Al-Qaeda, he has had a long-running enmity with Daesh.
Syrian state television reported that the US strikes hit targets in rural areas of Deir ez-Zor and Raqqa provinces and in the Jabal Al-Amour area near Palmyra. It said they targeted “weapons storage sites and headquarters used by Daesh as launching points for its operations in the region.”
Trump this week met privately with the families of the slain Americans at Dover Air Force Base in Delaware before he joined top military officials and other dignitaries on the tarmac for the dignified transfer, a solemn and largely silent ritual honoring US service members killed in action.
The guardsmen killed in Syria last Saturday were Sgt. Edgar Brian Torres-Tovar, 25, of Des Moines, and Sgt. William Nathaniel Howard, 29, of Marshalltown, according to the US Army. Ayad Mansoor Sakat, of Macomb, Michigan, a US civilian working as an interpreter, was also killed.
The shooting nearly a week ago near the historic city of Palmyra also wounded three other US troops as well as members of Syria’s security forces, and the gunman was killed. The assailant had joined Syria’s internal security forces as a base security guard two months ago and recently was reassigned because of suspicions that he might be affiliated with Daesh, Interior Ministry spokesperson Nour Al-Din Al-Baba has said.
The man stormed a meeting between US and Syrian security officials who were having lunch together and opened fire after clashing with Syrian guards.
When asked for further information, the Pentagon referred AP to Hegseth’s social media post.
