Lebanese officials ban Ghosn from traveling

BEIRUT — Lebanese prosecutors issued a travel ban for fugitive ex-Nissan chief Carlos Ghosn and asked him to hand in his French passport on Thursday, following an Interpol-issued notice against him, a judicial official said.

The travel ban comes after Ghosn was interrogated by prosecutors for nearly two hours over the notice about the charges he faces in Japan over financial misconduct.

The prosecutors also formally asked Japanese authorities for their file on the charges against Ghosn in order to review the case, the official said, speaking on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to talk to reporters.

Ghosn said he wanted to stay in Lebanon and has no issues with handing in his passport. He spoke on LBC TV after his questioning by prosecutors.

“I came to Lebanon and I will cooperate with the Lebanese state and judiciary to make sure that everything is done in a way that can’t be criticized, not for Lebanon and not for me,” he said.

An Interpol-issued wanted notice is a nonbinding request to law enforcement agencies worldwide that they locate and provisionally arrest a fugitive.

Lebanon and Japan do not have an extradition treaty, and the Interpol notice does not require that Lebanese authorities arrest him. The authorities say Ghosn entered Lebanon on a valid passport, casting doubt on the possibility they would hand him over to Japan.

In his first public appearance since he fled Japan, Ghosn on Wednesday railed against the Japanese justice system, accusing it of violating his basic rights and disputing all allegations against him as “untrue and baseless.”

Ghosn showed up in Lebanon on Dec. 30, after an audacious and improbable escape from surveillance in Japan.