LEBANON’S PRO-HEZBOLLAH GROUPS HIT BY US SANCTIONS

▶ Assistant Secretary of State says aim is to cut militants’ influence in the Lebanese economy

The US Treasury Department stepped up pressure on the Iran-backed militant group Hezbollah yesterday, sanctioning 15 Lebanese organisations and individuals linked to the group’s Martyrs Foundation.

The sanctions, announced simultaneously by the Treasury and the State Department, target 12 Lebanon-based operations affiliated with the Iranbased foundation, which is accused of funnelling money to the families of the group’s suicide bombers.

They are: Atlas Holding; Medical Equipment and Drugs International Corporation; Shahed Pharm; Amana Fuel Co; Amana Plus; Al Kawthar; Amana Sanitary and Paints Company; City Pharma; Global Touristic Services; Sanovera Pharm Company; Mirath; and Capital.

Most of the entities are seen as subdivisions of Atlas Holding, which “controls at least 10 companies in numerous sectors in Lebanon, including fuel, pharmaceuticals, tourism, and clothing”, the Treasury said.

The US also blacklisted three Lebanese men affiliated with these companies, who it said support the Martyrs Foundation. They are Kassem Mohamad Ali Bazzi, identified as a leader or official of Atlas Holding, and Jawad Nur Al Din and Sheikh Yusuf Aasi, both identified as leaders or officials of the foundation.

“Hezbollah profits from the sale of goods vital to the Lebanese peoples’ health and economy, such as pharmaceuticals and gasoline,” Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said.

He said that the Trump administration stands with the Lebanese people, and is “committed to exposing and holding accountable” Hezbollah’s funding scheme.

According to the US Treasury, Atlas Holding “banked freely at Jammal Trust Bank, despite its open affiliation with previously designated Hezbollah entities”. JTB subsequently went into liquidation.

It said the bank facilitated hundreds of millions of dollars in transactions through the

Lebanese financial system on behalf of Atlas Holding and its subsidiaries, and aided Hezbollah officials in evading scrutiny on these accounts from the Lebanese banking authorities.

Sources said the new sanctions bundle was expected after JTB was targeted last August, but was delayed as a result of the anti-government protests in Lebanon.

Speaking to The National, Assistant Secretary of State David Schenker defined the goal of these sanctions as cutting Hezbollah’s tentacles in the Lebanese economy and ultimately shutting down these companies.

“You are going to see developments on the ground, especially that little less than 2 per cent of Lebanese petrol stations [which are those targeted] should disappear,” Mr Schenker said yesterday. He said that these sanctions will freeze the accounts of the companies and hit their ability to make transactions.

The US government, he said, will work with the “Lebanese Central Bank who is responsive” to reach this end-goal. JTB, which was designated by the US last August, closed down in September.

Mr Schenker said the timing of the designations is related to a process of collecting evidence, intelligence information on forensics and financial information that “would withstand scrutiny within the US government”.

But with Lebanon forming a government that is closer to Hezbollah than any previous Cabinet since 2005, Mr Schenker set the same expectations for its members.

“The expectations are that the government of Lebanon will co-operate ... we are withholding judgment on their performance, despite their budget having a tenuous relation with reality,” he said.

The senior US official did not rule out more anti-corruption sanctions aimed at a broad set of political figures in Lebanon under the Magnitsky Act.

“It is something important for us and something we are working through right now,” he said.

Asked about the negative effect of these sanctions on Lebanon’s ailing economy, Mr Schenker argued that expunging Hezbollah from the Lebanese economy would increase confidence in those sectors.