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The US sanctions Bassil in the first blacklisting of a Lebanese politician under the Magnitsky act

The US sanctions Bassil in the first blacklisting of a Lebanese politician under the Magnitsky act

The US provided few details of Bassil's alleged corruption. (AFP/Attila Kisbenedek)

BEIRUT — The US, in what appears to be the final days of the Trump administration, has doubled down on sanctioning Lebanese politicians with its dramatic designation of Free Patriotic Movement leader Gebran Bassil for corruption.

In a statement Thursday, the US Treasury Department announced that it sanctioned Bassil, an MP representing the Batroun district, pursuant to an executive order that builds on the Global Magnitsky Human Rights Accountability Act, the first time the 2016 legislation has been invoked for a Lebanese individual.

Bassil responded to the news with a cryptic tweet, saying, “Neither the sanctions frightened me nor the promises tempted me,” while adding that he will not turn against fellow Lebanese and has become “accustomed to injustice.”

Washington was short on specifics of Bassil’s purported corruption, saying that the FPM leader “has been marked by significant allegations of corruption” during his tenure leading the ministries of Telecommunications, Energy as well as Foreign Affairs, posts he shuffled through from 2008 until Hassan Diab became premier in January 2020.

The US Treasury did narrow its allegations down with one specific contention, saying in its statement that while minister of energy in 2014, “Bassil was involved in approving several projects that would have steered Lebanese government funds to individuals close to him through a group of front companies.”

The identity of these front companies and projects, however, was not clarified. Bassil was energy minister for just the first month and a half of 2014, and only acting in a caretaker capacity.

A US government official on a conference call with the press asked banking regulators in Lebanon and around the world to investigate companies that may be operating on Bassil’s behalf.

The most political yet of US sanctions involving Lebanon, Bassil’s blacklisting comes two weeks after Saad Hariri was designated to form a new government. The country’s political class has since been jockeying over the composition of a new cabinet, amid public professions of a “positive atmosphere” surrounding talks.

It’s been over 12 weeks since Diab’s cabinet resigned amid protests against the political class following the Aug. 4 explosion at the Beirut port.

A US official told the press that “Bassil has repeatedly used his influence to stall government formation efforts, most recently in the current process,” while stressing that the sanctioning of the FPM leader had nothing to do with either Hariri’s latest attempt to cobble together a cabinet or the US presidential elections, which have yet to be decided.

The US official added that his government encourages Lebanon to form a cabinet that “excludes politicians known to have engaged in corruption,” without elaborating further.

While the US Treasury made no reference to Hezbollah in its statement, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo — a policy hawk regarding Iran and its Lebanese allies — called out the organization in his statement on Bassil’s designation.

“Through his corrupt activities, Bassil has also undermined good governance and contributed to the prevailing system of corruption and political patronage that plagues Lebanon, which has aided and abetted Hezbollah’s destabilizing activities,” Pompeo said.

Bassil’s sanctioning comes two months after the US blacklisted MP Ali Hasan Khalil (Amal/Marjayoun-Hasbaya), a right-hand man of Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri, and Youssef Fenianos, who is aligned with the Marada Movement.

In these Sept. 6 designations, which labeled the two former ministers as “specially designated global terrorists,” the US said that Khalil and Fenianos were both engaging in corruption — not normally an activity covered by Washington’s counterterrorism sanctions actions — and said they were materially supporting Hezbollah.

To date, the US has not sanctioned any Lebanese politician ostensibly opposed to Hezbollah.

Bassil now faces ostracism from the international financial system, dominated by US banks. Pursuant to his listing, US citizens and entities are generally barred from engaging in business with Bassil, as are foreign companies and individuals based in the US.

Most banks across the world, including Lebanese ones that have regularly vowed their compliance with foreign sanctions, will shy away from transacting with Bassil, as they will want to maintain access to the US financial system.

BEIRUT — The US, in what appears to be the final days of the Trump administration, has doubled down on sanctioning Lebanese politicians with its dramatic designation of Free Patriotic Movement leader Gebran Bassil for corruption.In a statement Thursday, the US Treasury Department announced that it sanctioned Bassil, an MP representing the Batroun district, pursuant to an executive order that...