The headquarters of the Banque du Liban in Hamra, Beirut. (Credit: Ahmad Azakir/Reuters)
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European investigators probing alleged corruption by Banque du Liban (BDL) governor Riad Salameh concluded their two-week visit to Beirut by questioning caretaker Finance Minister and former central bank head of operations Youssef Khalil. During the three hours of questioning with the French, German and Luxembourgian judges, Khalil claimed “all transactions that took place at the central bank during his tenure were legal,” a judicial source anonymously told AFP. The same source said Khalil denied knowing about the accounts of Forry Associates Ltd, a Virgin Islands-registered firm — which lists Salameh’s brother, Raja, as a beneficiary — suspected of having been used to covertly siphon hundreds of millions of dollars in commissions from the sale of BDL assets. The European judiciary suspects that the allegedly embezzled funds were concealed in bank accounts and real estate in their jurisdictions, leading to the seizure of assets linked to Salameh worth hundreds of millions of euros. This is the third visit by foreign magistrates investigating Salameh, who faces probes in at least five European countries. They have so far questioned the Salameh brothers, the central bank chief’s former assistant Marianne Hoayek, AM Bank chairman Marwan Kheireddine, banking officials and private auditors who worked on BDL accounts. Salameh has repeatedly denied wrongdoing.
California police have arrested the suspected murderer of Karim Abou Najm, a Lebanese student at the University of California, who was stabbed to death on April 29 in the city of Davis, California, the university announced in a tweet Friday. “We urge the community not to rush to conclusions or speculate until all facts are known,” UC Davis’ tweet said, announcing the arrest of one of their former students, Carlos Dominguez, who now faces two murder charges and one attempted murder charge. Dominguez allegedly killed Abou Najm and David Breaux, and left a third victim in critical condition. “Karim went to Davis High School first, and was full of ambition. We are proud of him,” his father, Madji Abou Najm, told US media, noting that his son, a computer engineering student, “was six weeks away from graduating.”
Resumed excavation works in Amchit, north of Jbeil, threaten a habitat for Mediterranean monk seals, the sixth most endangered animal according to the International Union for Conservation of Nature, environmental awareness-raising NGO TERRE Liban said in a statement Sunday. Dozens of activists and residents protested in Amchit against excavation works, estimated by TERRE Liban head Paul Abi Rached to be “only two meters away from the seals’ cave,” for the construction of a private chalet. The construction halted last June after local residents complained to the Environment Ministry. Abi Rached quoted a claim by caretaker Environment Minister Nasser Yassin of an environmental study having been completed to allow the construction to resume. The head of Amchit’s municipality, Antoine Issa, told L’Orient Today that the project’s owners obtained the necessary permits to continue, adding that “even if this cave was destroyed, the seal has many other caves that it can reside in.”
Encroachments on the Abu Ali public beach in Kfar Abida, south of Batroun, must be removed within one month, according to a decision issued Thursday after a meeting between officials and activists, halting a development project which would have blocked access to the beach. The Ministry of Public Works, the General Directorate of Land and Maritime Transport, representatives of local authorities and activists jointly decided to ban structures encroaching on the beach, after the tenant of an illegally built house on the sand tried to build a wall blocking access to the beach. After the initial success of the campaign launched in response to the wall, “The Beach is for All,” activists filed an appeal with the Ministry of Public Works to stop the existing violations of the public maritime domain. According to Isabela Serhan, a researcher at the Beirut Urban Lab, affiliated with the American University of Beirut (AUB), local and national authorities regularly grant politically connected individuals permits violating a ban on public coastal construction. “We must remain aware of the encroachments on public space and continue to denounce them,” “The Beach is for All,” coordinator Mohammad Ayoub told L’Orient Today.
Maronite Patriarch Bechara al-Rai claimed that the “the increase in the number of Syrian refugees in Lebanon” and the presidential vacuum are the “two major crises” in the country, amid an increase in anti-displaced Syrian rhetoric, and aggressive policing and deportations. In his Sunday homily, Rai said the allegedly increased presence of displaced Syrians “is beginning to weigh on the country economically, socially, demographically and security-wise,” speculating over whether “the position of the international community does not hide a desire to keep the refugees in Lebanon.” The patriarch called for international donors to give “aid to the refugees on their own territory, in Syria.” General Security last week launched registration for displaced Syrians wishing to return to Syria, recalling scenes from last November during which mass repatriation trips drew controversy for the perceived danger refugees would face in their country. Rai’s comments follow weeks of ramped-up anti-Syrian refugee rhetoric by officials coupled with government measures targeting displaced Syrians.
In case you missed it, here’s our must-read story from over the weekend: “Washington and Assad regime hold secret negotiations in Oman”
Compiled by Abbas Mahfouz
