President rebukes Future Movement, Hezbollah’s elections slogan, Lebanese men’s basketball triumph: Everything you need to know to start your Thursday

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President Michel Aoun yesterday denied claims that he ordered the arrest of central bank Governor Riad Salameh. A statement issued by his office described the allegation, made by the Future Movement in the wake of State Security efforts to apprehend the Banque du Liban chief, as an “absolute lie” and “baseless.” On Tuesday, State Security arrived at two of Salameh’s homes and his office at the central bank in Hamra to execute a subpoena issued by Mount Lebanon Public Prosecutor Judge Ghada Aoun after Salameh failed on multiple occasions to show up for questioning in relation to a lawsuit filed against him. However, the officers were unable to locate the governor, leading Judge Aoun to question whether the Internal Security Forces were actively protecting him from arrest. The ISF was quick to deny such claims, but this did not stop Judge Aoun from yesterday charging ISF chief Imad Othman with obstruction of a judicial warrant and breach of duty. Still leveling criticism at the president, the Future Movement spoke out in support of Othman, saying he was only doing his job by “protecting a public figure that the security forces were assigned to protect.” Meanwhile, Salameh, the subject of investigations into financial wrongdoing in multiple jurisdictions, remains unquestioned.

Hassan Nasrallah announced yesterday “we will protect and build” as his party’s slogan for the upcoming parliamentary elections. In a televised address yesterday commemorating the death of prominent Hezbollah commanders, Nasrallah refuted claims that his party wanted to postpone the polls, saying that on the contrary, it is ready to contest the elections. This sentiment was echoed by his deputy, Naim Qassem, in a speech in the Beirut neighborhood of Zoqaq al-Blatt, saying the party was “one of the most enthusiastic” about the May 15 polls. The Hezbollah head also used the speech to boast about the group’s military prowess saying that it has been making drones in Lebanon “for a long time” and has the ability to convert rockets into precision missiles. On a regional level, his address also tackled the recent normalizations of relations with Israel by Arab countries. This follows the first visit by an Israeli prime minister to Bahrain on Tuesday after a similar trip to the United Arab Emirates late last year. Hezbollah also made media waves on Tuesday in a video released by the armed group showcasing its fighters camouflaged in white and performing military drills in the snow. This also coincided with similar, but unrelated, visual media released by the Lebanese Army and UNIFIL, separately.

The Lebanese team was crowned the winner of the Arab Nations Men’s Basketball Championship. Lebanon’s Wednesday night win in the tournament, played in Dubai, was the first in its history. In the final, Lebanon faced off against Tunisia, which had eliminated Algeria in the semi-finals on Tuesday. Lebanon had beaten Somalia (87-72) on Monday in the semi-finals. Wednesday night's match was as close as it was exciting, with the Cedars eking out a narrow three-point win over Tunisia. The team will return to Lebanon on Thursday afternoon at 3 p.m. Beirut time, and will soon play qualifying matches for the FIBA Basketball World Cup, taking place in 2023.

The Lebanese army says it has seized another large quantity of captagon pills. In a statement released yesterday, the army said it had busted the smugglers on Tuesday at a checkpoint in the Hermal district which is close to Lebanon’s border with Syria. It added that it also seized 10 kilograms of hashish. An investigation has been launched into the matter. The news comes after a failed attempt in early February to smuggle 27 kilograms of captagon powder hidden in a box of chocolates to Kuwait. In recent months, Lebanon has stepped up efforts to stop the smuggling of drugs into the Gulf countries. Last year, Saudi Arabia banned all fruit and vegetable imports from Lebanon when it found 5 million pills of captagon hidden inside a shipment of pomegranates that arrived in the kingdom from Lebanon. The ban was later expanded to all imports from Lebanon after a diplomatic fallout between Beirut and Riyadh in the wake of a statement made by then-Information Minister George Kurdahi about Saudi Arabia's involvement in the war in Yemen. As part of efforts to mend relations with the Gulf, the so-called Kuwaiti initiative calls on Lebanon to control its borders and crossing points to prevent the smuggling of drugs to Saudi Arabia.

In case you missed it, here’s our must-read story from yesterday: “Water infrastructure on the brink: Amid ongoing electricity crisis, Lebanese communities struggle with water cuts”