19 more Lebanese politicians to face US sanctions for corruption
After Bassil, blacklist contains names from Hariri bloc and Amal, sources tell Arab News
At least 19 more Lebanese politicians face US sanctions for corruption after the blacklisting of Free Patriotic Movement leader Gebran Bassil, sources in Washington and Beirut have told Arab News.
“No Lebanese politician should be feeling happy,” a US official source said. “Many more Lebanese politicians and their allies will follow. Some of them are close to Saad Hariri as well. All corruption will be met with sanctions.”
Economist Violette Balaa told Arab News: “Bassil will not be the only one. According to my sources at the US administration, a new list will be issued in one or two weeks with names of other top politicians. “The list will include officials from the FPM, the Future Movement and the Amal movement, as well as businessmen, and will be issued by the US Treasury before the new president takes office. The timing was carefully chosen.”
The US source told Arab News the original list for sanctions under the US Magnitsky Act contained 24 names, including Bassil’s. Four were removed from the list after agreeing to alter their behavior, while 19 “offered to strike deals, hoping to outsmart the US administration.”
Some with close ties to Bassil were “backstabbing him, thinking that would get them off the hook. It didn’t work out.”
Bassil himself argued that his alliance with Hezbollah could yield benefits that were otherwise impossible to achieve, but the Americans would have none of it. Meanwhile President Michel Aoun called on Saturday for proof of the accusations against Bassil, his son-in-law. Aoun said any documentary evidence must be referred to the Lebanese judiciary to take the necessary measures in the event the accusations turned out to be true.
The sanctions include seizing the properties and funds of targeted people and those who deal with them (companies, entities and individuals), closing their bank accounts and those of their family, and banning them from entering the US.
Public opinion in Lebanon was divided. Protest activists voiced their support, while FPM supporters said Bassil was only sanctioned for rejecting US deals to distance himself from Hezbollah.
Former MP Fares Souaid said Bassil “is paying the price for the political choice he made in 2006, by becoming a Hezbollah ally.” He added: “Bassil has turned from a politician into a mail box between Iran and the US.”