Lebanese Prime Minister Najib Mikati at the Presidential Palace in Baabda, on Aug. 5, 2021. (Credit: Dalati and Nohra)
BEIRUT — Caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati, who was charged in 2019 for illicit enrichment in relation to subsidized housing loans, denied that new proceedings have been initiated against him in Europe, as old messages between the Monaco judiciary and the Lebanese judiciary have resurfaced.
In a statement issued Friday, Mikati's press office said the leaked document "conceals well-known political objectives," at a time when the Sunni billionaire from Tripoli is reportedly the favorite candidate for his own succession as head the government.
Mikati noted that "old messages sent by the Monaco judiciary to the Lebanese judiciary, via the Lebanese Embassy in Paris, to request judicial assistance, and in which the names of the caretaker premier, his son Maher and his Brother Taha, are circulating again. "These messages had come in response to a letter sent by the Lebanese judiciary during the period when an investigation into commercial loans obtained by members of the Mikati family was conducted," the press office said, pointing out that "the justice of Monaco obtained the required response and this file was closed."
"It is clear that the leak of this document at this particular time in particular hides well-known political objectives, under the leadership of political and judicial figures acting in the interest of this application," continued the text, noting that this "file is invoked and exploited politically at every deadline." These remarks come as President Michel Aoun is expected to begin binding parliamentary consultations next Thursday to appoint a new head of government following the May 15 legislative elections. Mikati's candidacy for this position is reportedly being considered by several political forces.
Reacting to these developments, Mount Lebanon Appeals Court Public Prosecutor Ghada Aoun, who had filed charges in 2019 against Mikati, his son Maher and his nephew Azami, son of Taha Mikati, the prime minister's brother, denied that she had contacted the judiciary in Monaco. "I have not contacted the authorities in Monaco at all. If it had happened, it would have been through the Ministry of Justice, which did not happen," the state-run National News Agency quoted her as saying.
In 2018, journalist Salem Zahrane reported that politicians and wealthy individuals had benefited in the past from subsidized housing loans from Banque du Liban. He documented that several companies run by members of Mikati's family benefited between 2010 and 2013 from nine subsidized housing loans worth a total of $14 million. With personal fortunes of about $2.8 billion, the brothers Najib and Taha Mikati are regulars in the top 1,000 wealthiest people in the world list published annually by Forbes. An adviser to Mikati assured that these loans had been granted in accordance with BDL's regulations.
This article was originally published in French in L'Orient-Le Jour.
