This is how the US ambassador commented yesterday on the words of Gebran Bassil

The US Ambassador to Lebanon, Dorothy Shea, commented on the US sanctions against the leader of the Free Patriotic Movement, Representative Gebran Bassil, in a video clip in which she said:

Good evening, I will give a few words about the appointment of Gebran Bassil, head of the Free Patriotic Movement, former Minister of Foreign Affairs and former Minister of Energy, Water and Telecommunications.

We will not refute all the inaccurate points made in Mr. Basil’s speech yesterday. There have been many of them, where there has been a misunderstanding of how sanctions work, and a lack of understanding of US policy and how to create them.

Regarding sanctions:

1) First, they are sanctions against an individual, not a party. The United States is not punishing or “destroying” the Free Patriotic Movement.

2) Everyone seems to want to know what evidence was in the files that led to the imposition of the sanctions against them. On that, all I can say is that we strive to make the most of the information available when we advertise the labels, but as is often the case, some of this information is not publishable.

I have. Mr. Bassil indicated that he would like the appointment to be challenged in a United States court of law. You are welcome to do so and go through the appropriate discovery process.

In his speech, Mr. Bassil complained that I had not warned him in advance that he would be punished for corruption, as if it was my responsibility to reveal that before naming. Things are not like that. There are several powers under the United States Penal Code.

The fact that Mr. Basil has been appointed at this time under the Global Magnitsky Act does not mean that he or anyone else will not be able to be appointed under other penalties, at a later time.

With regard to the conduct of the American policy process, Mr. Bassil seemed to want to demonstrate that the leaders of the United States had intentional intentions.

This label has nothing to do with the American elections. Simply put, the naming process has reached the point where it is ready for implementation.

Following instructions from Washington, as a courtesy, I followed up on this through high-level phone calls where this issue was discussed.

Mr. Bassil might think that leaking selective information out of context about our mutual discussion serves his cause. This is not the way I normally work, but I will reveal one thing.

He himself expressed his willingness to separate from Hezbollah, under certain conditions. In fact, he expressed his gratitude that the United States had made him see how the relationship was unfavorable for the current. Even key advisers told me that they had encouraged Mr. Basil to make this historic decision.

In closing, I would like to emphasize that the United States has taken this step in solidarity with the Lebanese people who, for more than a year, have asked their political leaders to end “business as usual” by working to chart a new direction dedicated to reform and transparency and uprooting rampant corruption.