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US Ambassador to Lebanon Dorothy Shay said Monday that Free Patriotic Movement leader Gebran Bassil had expressed his willingness to separate from the Hezbollah group, denying Basil’s claim that he had categorically rejected the idea.
Dorothy confirmed that Bassil made several inaccurate points in his recent speech about the sanctions imposed by the United States, and that he took his words out of context, indicating that he might think that the leak of selective and out of context information about the debate that took place between them serving their cause.
He confirmed that he expressed his willingness to dissociate himself from the Lebanese Hezbollah, but with certain conditions, and expressed his gratitude, because the United States made him see how this relationship is not favorable for his party.
An attempt to break through the party and the stream
Basil’s office issued a statement describing Shay’s remarks as an “attempt to drive a wedge” between the Free Patriotic Movement and Hezbollah, and said this method “will not work.”
Bassil was the target of massive demonstrations in October 2019 against a political elite whom protesters accused of corruption, waste and mismanagement of state resources.
Bassil denied the corruption allegations and said he would appeal the sanctions in US courts and demand compensation. President Michel Aoun also said Lebanon will ask Washington to provide evidence against Bassil.
Bassil described the sanctions as unjust and politically motivated, and said they were imposed after he refused to comply with a US demand to cut ties with Hezbollah to preserve national unity and peace in Lebanon.
On Friday, Washington imposed sanctions on Bassil, the son-in-law of President Michel Aoun and the leader of the country’s largest Christian political bloc, on charges of corruption and ties to Hezbollah, which the United States classifies as a terrorist group.
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