Banque du Liban governor Riad Salameh speaks during an interview for Reuters Next conference, in Beirut, Lebanon Nov. 23, 2021. (Credit: Mohamed Azakir/Reuters)
European investigators are scheduled to continue their probe into Banque du Liban (BDL) governor Riad Salameh with a third visit to Lebanon on April 24, sources told Reuters. The investigators requested meetings with Riad’s brother, Raja Salameh, and his former assistant, Marianne Howayek. Last month, Riad Salameh appeared as a witness before a delegation of European judges during a hearing held by the Lebanese judiciary, who directed hundreds of questions from the foreign magistrates to the central bank chief. Salameh is the subject of at least five European probes and also faces local charges of embezzlement, illicit enrichment and money laundering. He has repeatedly denied any wrongdoing and is attempting to reclaim assets seized by the French judiciary worth tens of millions of euros. These assets are suspected to have been acquired via misappropriated commissions from the sale of BDL assets through Forry Associates, a Virgin Islands-registered company, which lists Raja Salameh as its main financial beneficiary.
A document allegedly leaked from the Finance Ministry to local television channel LBCI showed that Lebanon only has one-third of its IMF Special Drawing Rights left, listing loan payments, subsidies and fuel imports as the main expenditures. Fuel imports for state power provider Electricité du Liban (EDL), wheat and drug subsidies and outstanding loans account for $698 million of the $746.638 million spent so far from the IMF disbursement. The document states that passport printing and Justice Ministry fees account for the remaining two-thirds of the spent SDRs. SDRs are a financial instrument used by the IMF and its members to boost governments’ foreign exchange reserves by exchanging them at below-market interest rates, thereby increasing liquidity. In September 2021, the IMF allocated $1.139 billion in SDRs to Lebanon following the formation of caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati’s government. Caretaker Finance Minister Youssef Khalil has not yet confirmed the figures reported by Information International — which estimate that Lebanon has spent three-quarters of its SDRs — or provided details on expenditure items.
The Lebanese Foreign Ministry joined a host of world leaders in condemning an Israeli police attack on the Al-Aqsa mosque complex in Jerusalem. The ministry called for an intervention from the international community, condemning the perceived impunity with which Israeli authorities “violate Muslim and Christian holy places and repeat the attacks against their homes, properties and lands.” Israeli police announced the arrest of more than 350 people — described by Israeli authorities as “agitators” who had “desecrated” the mosque — during a raid on Al-Aqsa. Palestinian Islamist movement Hamas denounced the Israeli police aggression as an "unprecedented crime" while calling for widespread mobilization to the holy site. The Palestinian Red Crescent reported at least a dozen injuries from the incident, linked to rubber bullets and beatings, adding that Israeli forces prevented its medics from treating injured people at the scene. A worshiper present at the mosque during the Israeli police raid claimed authorities fired tear gas and stun grenades, which one elderly woman, speaking to Reuters, said hit her in the chest while she was “sitting on a chair reciting [Quran].” Several rockets were also fired from the northern Gaza Strip toward Israeli-controlled territory, according to AFP journalists and witnesses.
Maronite Patriarch Bechara al-Rai urged Christian MPs assembled for a “day of prayer” to move forward on electing a president amid a sixth month of dual executive vacuum. “What have you done to facilitate the election of a president and reactivate the institutions of the state after five months of vacancy?” Rai asked the 53 MPs from the Lebanese Forces, Free Patriotic Movement, Kataeb, Tashnag, Marada and Renewal bloc attending the spiritual retreat in Harissa. Lebanon has been without a president since the end of Michel Aoun’s term on Oct. 31, 2022, and MPs have repeatedly failed to elect his successor. Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri said a new election session will be scheduled when more candidates are nominated. Berri and Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah announced their support for Marada Movement leader Sleiman Frangieh — whose name appeared only once amid a slew of blank ballots opposing then-sole frontrunner, Zgharta MP Michel Moawad, who is backed by the Lebanese Forces and their allies. Rai said he is seeking a candidate with broad political backing.
In case you missed it, here’s our must-read story from yesterday: “Odes from the frontiers of sound”
Compiled by Abbas Mahfouz