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Beirut – Gebran Bassil, a prominent Lebanese Christian politician and son-in-law of President Michel Aoun, confirmed Sunday that the sanctions imposed by the United States are unjust, politically motivated and were imposed after he refused to end his relationship with Hezbollah to protect Lebanon.
The former Lebanese foreign minister said: “The United States offered to cut its ties with Hezbollah to avoid imposing economic sanctions on it, before it took this step, accusing it of corruption.”
The United States imposed sanctions on Bassil, the leader of the largest Christian political bloc in Lebanon, on Friday, accusing him of corruption and ties to Hezbollah, which Washington classifies as a terrorist group.
Bassil added in a televised speech on Sunday that he had recently been informed, “from the US ambassador, that four demands must be met immediately, otherwise US sanctions will be imposed, and the whole conversation did not mention the word corruption.”
He indicated that the first demand is “to immediately dismantle the relationship with Hezbollah,” without revealing the other demands.
According to him, the Americans gave him several grace periods, and then abandoned his pending demands, “and limited his demand to break the relationship with Hezbollah”, against which Washington imposes sanctions and considers him a “terrorist”.
Following his rejection of the US request, the sanctions were passed, which turned out “to be related to corruption. I hardly mentioned Hezbollah when they only told me about it,” according to Bassil, who denied the corruption allegations against him.
A senior US official said Bassil’s support for Hezbollah was the only reason to target him with sanctions.
Bassil described the penalties against him as a “crime”, and said that he would assign a law firm to petition the US judiciary to “annul the decision” and “request moral and material compensation.”
And the US Department of the Treasury declared that Bassil is “responsible, an accomplice or was directly or indirectly involved in corruption, including the misappropriation of state assets and the confiscation of private assets for personal gain.”
A US official accused him of using his influence to delay the formation of a government in Lebanon and said his political association with Hezbollah allowed him to “expand his influence.”
Bassil emphasized: “We cannot stab Hezbollah,” and said: “We do not leave (Hezbollah) under external pressure, if we want to leave it for internal reasons,” while stating that there are several differences with the party, including “peace in the region and the existence of Israel. “
Bassil, 50, is one of Aoun’s closest people. He is the head of the Free Patriotic Movement, headed by the President of the Republic, and a close ally of Hezbollah, according to an understanding agreement dating from 2006.
For the first time, US sanctions have hit a high-ranking political official who is a Christian ally of Hezbollah.
The US sanctions against Bassil come as Washington continues to tighten the screws on the Shiite community by clipping its wings in order to curb its growing prominence inside and outside Lebanon.
Washington also imposed sanctions in September on former Hezbollah-allied Christian Marada Movement minister Yusef Fenianos and former Finance Minister Ali Hassan Khalil of the Shiite Amal Movement, led by Speaker of Parliament Nabih Berri, a key Hezbollah ally.
On Saturday, Aoun requested the evidence that led Washington to impose sanctions on Bassil.
