BEIRUT: Lebanon may reduce or cancel the $11 million bail imposed for the release of Hannibal Qaddafi, son of deposed Libyan ruler Muammar Qaddafi, his lawyer and a judicial official said Monday.
Lebanese authorities arrested the younger Qaddafi in 2015 and accused him of withholding information about the 1978 disappearance of Lebanese Shiite cleric Mussa Sadr in Libya.
Qaddafi, who is now 49 according to his lawyer, was around two years old at the time of Sadr’s disappearance.
A judicial official, speaking on condition of anonymity, told AFP a Libyan delegation met Lebanese judicial officials and President Joseph Aoun on Monday.
The delegation, he said, presented the judge investigating Sadr’s disappearance with “a copy of the investigations conducted by the Libyan authorities into the Sadr case, as well as transcripts of the interrogations of a number of political and security officials in the regime of ousted president Muammar Qaddafi.”
The official then noted “significant flexibility” from Lebanon in the Hannibal Qaddafi case, “with the $11 million bail to be reduced to the minimum... so that it no longer hinders Hannibal’s release.”
The judge also seemed open to lifting the travel ban imposed on Qaddafi, the official said.
Lawyer Laurent Bayon told AFP that the bail “should be significantly reduced or even canceled.”
According to Bayon, the bail was divided into two parts: “$10 million for the victims and $1 million as an appearance guarantee.”
The judge may decide to retain only the $1 million appearance guarantee, Bayon said, while noting that he nevertheless still aims to have the “unjustified” bail canceled.
Mussa Sadr — the founder of the Amal movement, now an ally of militant group Hezbollah — went missing during an official visit to Libya, along with an aide and a journalist.
Beirut blamed the disappearances on Muammar Qaddafi, who was overthrown and killed decades later in a 2011 uprising.
The official said that “the Lebanese judiciary will review the Libyan file and assess the information it contains to determine whether it helps uncover the fate of Sadr and his companions.”
Lebanon could reduce $11m bail for Hannibal Qaddafi: judicial official to AFP
https://arab.news/jx9c3
Lebanon could reduce $11m bail for Hannibal Qaddafi: judicial official to AFP
- A judicial official said a Libyan delegation met Lebanese judicial officials and President Joseph Aoun
- The official then noted “significant flexibility” from Lebanon in the Hannibal Qaddafi case, “with the $11 million bail to be reduced to the minimum”
Syria’s growth accelerates as sanctions ease, refugees return
- Economy grows much faster than World Bank’s 1% estimate, fueling plans for currency’s relaunch
NEW YORK: Syria’s economy is growing much faster than the World Bank’s 1 percent estimate for 2025 as refugees flow back after the end of a 14-year civil war, fueling plans for the relaunch of the country’s currency and efforts to build a new Middle East financial hub, central bank Governor AbdulKader Husrieh has said.
Speaking via video link at a conference in New York, Husrieh also said he welcomed a deal with Visa to establish digital payment systems and added that the country is working with the International Monetary Fund to develop methods to accurately measure economic data to reflect the resurgence.
The Syrian central bank chief, who is helping guide the war-torn country’s reintegration into the global economy after the fall of Bashar Assad’s regime about a year ago, described the repeal of many US sanctions against Syria as “a miracle.”
The US Treasury on Nov. 10 announced a 180-day extension of the suspension of the so-called Caesar sanctions against Syria; lifting them entirely requires approval by the US Congress.
Husrieh said that based on discussions with US lawmakers, he expects the sanctions to be repealed by the end of 2025, ending “the last episode of the sanctions.”
“Once this happens, this will give comfort to our potential correspondent banks about dealing with Syria,” he said.
Husrieh also said that Syria was working to revamp regulations aimed at combating money laundering and the financing of terrorism, which he said would provide further assurances to international lenders.
Syria’s central bank has recently organized workshops with banks from the US, Turkiye, Jordan and Australia to discuss due diligence in reviewing transactions, he added.
Husrieh said that Syria is preparing to launch a new currency in eight note denominations and confirmed plans to remove two zeroes from them in a bid to restore confidence in the battered pound.
“The new currency will be a signal and symbol for this financial liberation,” Husrieh said. “We are glad that we are working with Visa and Mastercard,” Husrieh said.
