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The US Ambassador to Lebanon, Dorothy Shea, spoke during a seminar organized by the “Beirut Institute” on Wednesday that there were reports that between 22 and 24 Lebanese personalities were included in the sanctions list, emphasizing in exchange that they did not he could predict who would be next.
A US diplomatic source confirmed to Al-Araby Al-Jadeed that “the sanctions against Lebanese personalities will be issued successively when they are ready to be implemented. They will include businessmen and politicians who do not necessarily belong to the circle of the March 8 team, that is , Hezbollah and its allies. Sanctions are imposed on the individual, not on the group or the party as a whole, and affect all corrupt or conspirators who have made personal gains at the expense of the Lebanese people, who are suffering the worst economic crisis in its history, and those who helped expand Hezbollah’s influence in Lebanon and in the administrations and institutions of the state and abroad, “as he said.
The sanctions will include businessmen and politicians who are not necessarily from the March 8 team.
The source stressed that “the United States will continue to confront Hezbollah with sanctions, ending its financial capacity and obstructing its operations in all parts of the world.”
The United States Treasury Office of Foreign Assets Control continues to impose sanctions on Lebanese personalities and entities that have provided support to “Hezbollah” and are considered part of the corruption in Lebanon, the most recent of which is the chief of the Free Patriotic Movement and the son-in-law of the President of the Republic, Representative Gebran Bassil, under the Magnitsky Global Responsibility Law. The field of human rights.
On September 8, the United States Treasury listed the two former Lebanese government ministers, Youssef Fenianos (belonging to the Marada Movement led by Suleiman Franjieh) and Ali Hassan Khalil (belonging to the Amal Movement led by Speaker of Parliament Nabih Berri) , under the pretext of providing material support to Hezbollah along with accusations of corruption and labor abuse to approve agreements.
On the other hand, and as a continuation of the ongoing battle between the US ambassador and Bassil, which resulted in revealing the content of the meetings and conversations of the two parties, Shea said today that Bassil “thanked her and the United States of America for confronting him with details related to Hezbollah, “accusing him of altering the content of the meetings between them, and confirming that the sanctions that were recently imposed on him are related to corruption in the country, and is the greatest example of how Washington holds accountable to the corrupt.
He previously “leaked” that “Basil has expressed his willingness to separate from Hezbollah, under certain conditions, and expressed his gratitude that the United States made him see how the relationship is not favorable to the movement.”
Bassil’s media office was satisfied with issuing a statement confirming that “there is no need to respond again to the US ambassador as long as she repeats herself without giving any evidence about the accusation of corruption by the head of the Free Patriotic Movement, and while the Lebanese state does not receive any file containing information, document or presumption. “
The media office addressed the Lebanese Foreign Ministry, which met with Ambassador Shea a few days ago, and was careful not to place the meeting in the circle of calls, and to limit it to “periodic meetings”, reminding him of “the need to respect diplomatic principles and not interfere in the internal affairs of Lebanon, especially in terms of unacceptable exposure to parliamentarians. ” Representatives of the Lebanese people “.
In another context, the US ambassador emphasized during the symposium the urgent need to reform Lebanon, adding: “We believe that the Lebanese government is deprived annually of at least 500 million dollars of customs revenue in the port and the airport. Beirut International “.
The sanctions imposed by the United States on Bassil were some of the obstacles that hampered the formation of the head of the Future Movement, Saad Hariri, prompting Hezbollah to strengthen its support for the leader of the Free Patriotic Movement and his ministerial demands. Meanwhile, Hariri is afraid to include any name related to the party in his ministerial formation, and is willing to choose figures far removed from the Hezbollah circle, whether narrow or broad, to avoid any American reaction, as confirmed by a leader of the “Movement of the Future “to” Al-Arabi “. the new”.
And Shea previously announced that the United States did not support the government of Hassan Diab, whose godfather was the party, nor did it send aid to the Lebanese Minister of Health to confront Corona because of his closeness to “Hezbollah” and preferred to deal with friendly and reliable institutions, and it will determine its position on the Hariri government according to its form.
Regarding the government file, the Maronite Patriarch Bechara Al-Rahi, on Wednesday, after a meeting with Lebanese President Michel Aoun at the Republican Palace of Baabda, sent a clear and forceful message to the designated prime minister, Saad Hariri, of the need to prepare the complete formation of the cabinet to be studied with the President of the Republic. The pastor said: “The country is dying and this is not how governments are formed, so let us be allowed.”
Patriarch Al-Rahi after his meeting with President Aoun: The President-designate must attend all government formation to study it with His Excellency the President. The country is dying and governments are not being formed. Let us, and the country cannot bear the delay even for a day. We want an exceptional, impartial and apolitical rescue government. pic.twitter.com/ZJzXJCM8Zr
– Lebanese Presidency (@LBpresidency) November 25, 2020
Patriarch Al-Rahi, who placed President Aoun in the context of his visit to the Vatican to meet with Pope Francis to thank him for his support for Lebanon after the Beirut port explosion, stressed that “the country cannot bear the delay, not even for a day, and we want an exceptional, impartial and apolitical rescue government. “
The Development and Liberation Bloc headed by the President of Parliament, Nabih Berri, after its weekly meeting on Wednesday, highlighted the need to speed up the formation of a competition government in accordance with the stipulations of the French initiative, far from hiding or suffocate, sometimes behind the “standards unit” and at other times rotating and betting on regional variables. And internationally, in response to the positions of the President of the Republic, Michel Aoun and his son-in-law Basil, who focus on the unity of standards and explicitly refuse to give up the money bag to the “Amal Movement”, in accordance with the principle of integral rotation in the ministerial portfolios, which is rejected by Berri and his parliamentary bloc, which puts the Ministry of Finance outside the framework of deliberation. And adhering to it, and appointing the ministers of the Shiite community, which would widen the gap between Presidents Aoun and Berri, as is the case between the Prime Minister-designate and President Aoun in light of the dearth of meetings between them. and the interruption of communication in recent days.
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