{"id":44222,"date":"2020-11-07T01:29:15","date_gmt":"2020-11-07T01:29:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/qatar-news.org\/qatarnewsEn\/?p=44222"},"modified":"2020-11-07T01:29:15","modified_gmt":"2020-11-07T01:29:15","slug":"protester-killed-in-southern-iraq-as-tensions-flare-again","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/qatar-news.org\/qatarnewsEn\/?p=44222","title":{"rendered":"Protester killed in southern Iraq as tensions flare again"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

\nBEIRUT: The US Treasury on Friday imposed sanctions on Christian politician Gebran Bassil, Lebanon\u2019s former foreign minister and an ally of the Iranian-backed Hezbollah, accusing him of corruption.<\/p>\n

\nBassil, the son-in-law of President Michel Aoun, has been a major target of Lebanese protesters since they took to the streets last year to demonstrate against widespread state corruption and mismanagement. Some observers suggest the sanctions might in part be designed to send an indirect message to Aoun.<\/p>\n

\nBassil leads the Free Patriotic Movement, Lebanon\u2019s largest Christian political party, which was founded by Aoun and had 21 MPs before two resigned from the party in August following renewed protests against the government in the aftermath of the Beirut explosion.<\/p>\n

\nMeanwhile, an accusation by Syrian President Bashar Assad that \u201cbillions of dollars of Syrians\u2019 deposits held in Lebanon\u2019s financial sector are the main cause of Syria\u2019s deepening economic crisis\u201d sparked outrage in Lebanon.<\/p>\n

\nIn a message posted on Twitter, Lebanese former minister Richard Kouyoumjian responded by saying: \u201cThe foundation of your regime stole hundreds of billions of dollars of the Lebanese people\u2019s money while Syria occupied Lebanon. By the way, allow your displaced countrymen to return, for they have cost Lebanon tens of billions of dollars and depleted its infrastructure.\u201d<\/p>\n

\nWalid Jumblatt, president of the Progressive Socialist Party (PSP), said: \u201cAfter Assad looted, destroyed and abandoned most of Syria and benefited from all kinds of smuggled subsidized products from Lebanon, and after the Beirut port was destroyed as a result of the nitrate that he imported to use in barrel bombs against his people, it seems that he plans to knock the Lebanese banking system.\u201d<\/p>\n

\nThe PSP issued a statement that said: \u201cOne of the main reasons for the aggravating economic crisis in Lebanon and the decline and depletion of its public finances is the corruption channels engineered by the Syrian Baath regime in Lebanon, even after the withdrawal of Syrian troops.\u201d<\/p>\n

\nIt added: \u201cAssad\u2019s remarks prove a clear plan to knock the Lebanese banking sector, which had always been a safe and stable haven for brethren Arabs. This talk allows the justification, and even the encouragement, of smuggling from Lebanon in an eager desire for the hard currency that is supported in Lebanon.\u201d<\/p>\n

\nFearing the possibility of international sanctions, Lebanese banks have been avoiding accepting deposits from Syrians. According to figures from Lebanese authorities, the amount of Syrian funds deposited in the country is much smaller than Assad claims. In May, the monthly bulletin from Banque Du Liban, Lebanon\u2019s central bank, reported that bank deposits by non-residents \u2014 including Syrians, people from the Gulf, and migrants from Lebanon and other countries \u2014 amount to less than 20 percent of total deposits.<\/p>\n

\nThe sanctions on Bassil are a serious blow to Hezbollah\u2019s leading Christian ally in Lebanon. They come just weeks after the US imposed sanctions on former ministers Youssef Fenianos and Ali Hassan Khalil, sending a clear message to the Marada and Amal Movements, also allies of Hezbollah.<\/p>\n

\n\u201cNeither the sanctions scared me nor the promises seduced me,\u201d Bassil wrote in a message on Twitter in response to the sanctions. \u201cI do not turn against any Lebanese nor save myself to destroy Lebanon. I became accustomed to injustice and learned from our history.\u201d<\/p>\n

\nAnnouncing the sanctions, the US Department of State said: \u201cThrough his corrupt activities, Bassil has 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.<\/p>\n

\n\u201cLebanese political leaders should be aware that the time has long passed for them to put aside their own narrow self-interests and instead work for the people of Lebanon.\u201d<\/p>\n

\nMaronite MP Hekmat Dib said: \u201cSanctions on Bassil are a political matter. We consider this a national dossier, and Bassil has nothing to do with funding Hezbollah\u201d.<\/p>\n

\nFormer Free Patriotic Movement minister Ghassan Atallah tweeted: \u201cIf they thought that through the sanctions we will compromise our country\u2019s wealth, an inch of the land and our conviction to extend a hand to any element of the Lebanese elements, the one wanting to impose sanctions does not know us.\u201d<\/p>\n

\nThere were concerns among the Lebanese people that the sanctions on Bassil will be a further obstacle to the long-delayed formation of a new government led by Saad Hariri, as was the case when sanctions were placed on Hassan Khalil and Fenianos.<\/p>\n

\nThere are also fears that the sanctions might weaken Hariri\u2019s position, and that Bassil and his allies will become more strident in their demands to form a government of specialists, not politicians. In the meantime, a caretaker government, led by Hassan Diab, continues to deal with the economic and financial crisis in Lebanon.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

BEIRUT: The US Treasury on Friday imposed sanctions on Christian politician Gebran Bassil, Lebanon\u2019s former foreign minister and an ally of the Iranian-backed Hezbollah, accusing him of corruption. Bassil, the son-in-law of President Michel Aoun, has been a major target of Lebanese protesters since they took to the streets last year to demonstrate against widespread…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":10,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-44222","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-spotlight_news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/qatar-news.org\/qatarnewsEn\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/44222","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/qatar-news.org\/qatarnewsEn\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/qatar-news.org\/qatarnewsEn\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/qatar-news.org\/qatarnewsEn\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/10"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/qatar-news.org\/qatarnewsEn\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=44222"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/qatar-news.org\/qatarnewsEn\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/44222\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/qatar-news.org\/qatarnewsEn\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=44222"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/qatar-news.org\/qatarnewsEn\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=44222"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/qatar-news.org\/qatarnewsEn\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=44222"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}