BEIRUT: Lebanese central bank governor Riad Salameh maintained his innocence Friday following a second day of questioning before European investigators in Beirut as part of a probe into his personal wealth.
Salameh, 72, is part of the Lebanese political elite widely blamed for a crushing economic crisis that began in late 2019 and which the World Bank has dubbed one of the worst in recent history.
He faces allegations of crimes including embezzlement in separate probes in Lebanon and abroad, with investigators examining the fortune he has amassed during three decades in the job.
Following a three-hour session Friday, Salameh released a statement saying he appeared as a witness and “not as a suspect or facing charges.”
“Funds from the Lebanese central bank were not transferred to my account,” he said in a statement, adding: “The transfers I made abroad, whatever the amount, were from my personal account.”
The European investigators are looking into allegations of financial misconduct, including possible money laundering and embezzlement.
In January, the European investigators interviewed banking officials in Beirut about the transfer of funds to countries where Salameh has significant assets.
They have also been examining the central bank’s ties to Forry Associates Ltd, a British Virgin Islands-registered company that listed Salameh’s brother as its beneficiary.
Forry is suspected of having brokered Lebanese treasury bonds and Eurobonds at a commission, which was then allegedly transferred to bank accounts abroad.
Salameh denied he profited from any commissions to the company.
He decried “ill intentions” against him and blamed an “ongoing media campaign” for his legal woes.
Thursday’s more than five-hour session at Beirut’s heavily guarded justice palace was the first time Salameh had appeared as part of the European investigation.
The hearing had been scheduled to begin on Wednesday but Salameh failed to show up, claiming it was in “conflict with national sovereignty,” an argument the judiciary rejected.
For procedural reasons, the European investigators submitted their questions to a Lebanese judge, who was then responsible for putting them to Salameh in their presence, a judicial source previously told AFP.
France, Germany and Luxembourg seized assets worth 120 million euros ($130 million) in March last year in a move linked to a French probe into Salameh’s personal wealth.
Salameh has repeatedly denied any wrongdoing and has rarely appeared before investigating judges, despite numerous complaints and summonses.
Last month, Lebanese authorities charged Salameh with embezzlement, money laundering and tax evasion as part of their own investigation.
Lebanon opened its probe into Salameh following a request for assistance from Switzerland’s public prosecutor probing more than $300 million in fund movements by Riad Salameh and his brother.
Lebanon central bank chief denies financial misconduct
https://arab.news/mfhya
Lebanon central bank chief denies financial misconduct
- Salameh, 72, is part of the Lebanese political elite widely blamed for a crushing economic crisis that began in late 2019
- Following a three-hour session Friday, Salameh released a statement saying he appeared as a witness and "not as a suspect or facing charges"
A Palestinian was shot dead in her West Bank home. Her family blames Palestinian security forces
- A statement from the Palestinian security forces said she was shot by “outlaws” — the term it has been using for local militants who have been battling Israeli forces in recent years.
The family of Shatha Al-Sabbagh, a 22-year-old journalism student, said she was killed by a sniper with the Palestinian security forces late Saturday while she was with her mother and two small children. They said there were no militants in the area at the time.
A statement from the Palestinian security forces said she was shot by “outlaws” — the term it has been using for local militants who have been battling Israeli forces in recent years. The security forces condemned the shooting and vowed to investigate it.
Separately, a fourth infant has died of hypothermia in the Gaza Strip, where hundreds of thousands of Palestinians displaced by nearly 15 months of war are huddled in tents along the rainy, windswept coast.
The Western-backed Palestinian Authority exercises limited self-rule in parts of the Israeli-occupied West Bank. It is deeply unpopular among Palestinians, largely because it cooperates with Israel on security matters, even as Israel accuses it of incitement and of generally turning a blind eye to militancy.
In a statement, the Al-Sabbagh family accused the Palestinian security forces of having become “repressive tools that practice terrorism against their own people instead of protecting their dignity and standing up to the (Israeli) occupation.”
The Hamas militant group also blamed the security forces and condemned the shooting. It noted that Al-Sabbagh was the sister of one of its fighters who was killed in a battle with Israeli troops last year.
Palestinian security forces launched a rare operation earlier this month in Jenin, which has seen heavy fighting between Palestinian militants and Israeli forces in recent years. The Palestinian Authority says the operation is aimed at restoring law and order, while critics charge it with aiding the occupation.
Violence has flared in the West Bank since Hamas’ Oct. 7, 2023 attack out of Gaza triggered the war there. At least 835 Palestinians have been killed by Israeli fire in the West Bank since then, according to the Palestinian Authority. Most appear to have been militants killed in clashes with Israeli forces, but the dead also include civilians and participants in violent demonstrations.
Israel captured the West Bank, along with Gaza and east Jerusalem, in the 1967 Mideast war. The Palestinians want all three territories for a future state.
An infant dies from cold and his twin is hospitalized in Gaza
In the Gaza Strip, 20-day-old Jomaa Al-Batran died from hypothermia and his twin brother Ali was in the intensive care unit of the Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital.
Their father, Yehia, said the twins were born one month premature and were only able to spend a day in the nursery at the hospital, which like other health centers in Gaza has been overwhelmed by the war and is only partially functioning.
He said medics told their mother to keep the newborns warm, but it was impossible because they live in a tent and temperatures regularly drop below 10 degrees Celsius (50 F) at night. At least three other babies have died from the cold in recent weeks, according to local health officials.
The war began when Hamas-led militants stormed into southern Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, killing some 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and abducting around 250, including women, children and older adults. Around 100 hostages are still inside Gaza, at least a third of whom are believed to be dead.
Israel’s offensive has killed over 45,000 Palestinians and wounded more than 100,000, according to local health authorities. They say women and children make up more than half the fatalities but do not distinguish between militants and civilians in their count. Israel says it has killed over 17,000 militants, without providing evidence.
Israel’s bombardment and ground operations have displaced some 90 percent of Gaza’s population of 2.3 million people, often multiple times. Vast areas of the territory, including entire neighborhoods, have been pounded to ruins, and critical infrastructure has been destroyed.
Israeli restrictions, ongoing fighting and the breakdown of law and order have hindered the delivery of humanitarian aid, raising fears of famine, while widespread hunger has left people at greater risk of disease and death.
Syria's HTS leader says holding elections can take up to four years
Holding elections in Syria can take up to four years, said the military chief of Syria's Hayat Tahrir al-Sham Ahmed al-Sharaa, promising to dissolve the armed wing and integrate into Syrian armed forces.
Al-Sharaa made the remarks during an exlcusive interview with Saudi broadcaster Al Arabiya to be aired on Sunday.
Qatar PM meets Hamas delegation for Gaza ceasefire talks
- It is unusual for Qatari PM to be publicly involved in mediation process deadlocked for months
- Israel’s war in Gaza has killed over 44,000 people since October 2023, triggering calls for ceasefire
DOHA: Qatar’s prime minister met a Hamas delegation in Doha on Saturday to discuss a “clear and comprehensive” ceasefire deal to end the war in Gaza, a statement said.
Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman bin Jassim Al-Thani held talks with a Hamas team led by senior official Khalil Al-Hayya, the foreign ministry statement said.
It is unusual for Sheikh Mohammed, who is also Qatar’s foreign minister, to be publicly involved in the mediation process that has appeared deadlocked for months.
“During the meeting, the latest developments in the Gaza ceasefire negotiations were reviewed, and ways to advance the process were discussed to ensure a clear and comprehensive agreement that brings an end to the ongoing war in the region,” the statement said.
Earlier this month, the sheikh expressed optimism that “momentum” was returning to the talks following Donald Trump’s election victory in the United States.
“We have sensed, after the election, that the momentum is coming back,” he said at the Doha Forum political conference.
The incoming Trump administration had given “a lot of encouragement in order to achieve a deal, even before the president comes to the office,” the premier added.
The Gulf emirate, along with the United States and Egypt, has been involved in months of unsuccessful negotiations for a Gaza truce and hostage release.
In November, Doha announced it had put its mediation on hold, saying that it would resume when Hamas and Israel showed “willingness and seriousness.”
But Doha then hosted indirect negotiations this month, with Hamas and Israel both reporting progress before again accusing each other of throwing up roadblocks.
Syria’s new intel chief vows reforms to end abuses
- Most of these installations are now guarded by fighters of Hayat Tahrir Al-Sham (HTS), the Islamist group that led the armed coalition that seized power in Damascus
DAMASCUS: The new head of Syria’s intelligence services announced on Saturday a plan to dissolve the institutions that were so feared under the rule of ousted dictator Bashar Assad.
“The security establishment will be reformed after dissolving all services and restructuring them in a way that honors our people,” Anas Khattab said, two days after being appointed to his post by the country’s new leadership that overthrew Assad in early December.
In a statement carried by the official Sana news agency, he stressed the suffering of Syrians “under the oppression and tyranny of the old regime, through its various security apparatuses that sowed corruption and inflicted torture on the people.”
Prisons were emptied after Assad’s fall as officials and agents of the deposed regime fled.
Most of these installations are now guarded by fighters of Hayat Tahrir Al-Sham (HTS), the Islamist group that led the armed coalition that seized power in Damascus.
Numerous Syrians have rushed to former detention centers in the hope of finding traces of relatives and friends who went missing during the 13 years of a devastating civil war that left more than a half million dead.
“The security services of the old regime were many and varied, with different names and affiliations, but all had in common that they had been imposed on the oppressed people for more than five decades,” Khattab continued.
According to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR), more than 100,000 people died in Syrian prisons and detention centers during the conflict.
On Thursday, a general who ran military justice under the former regime was arrested in the west of country, accused of being responsible for sentencing to death thousands of people held in the notorious Saydnaya prison.
And in Europe, several former senior Syrian intelligence officers accused of torture and other abuses have been convicted and jailed since 2022.
Turkiye court jails three for life over death of 8-year-old girl
- Narin disappeared on August 21, sparking a huge search effort in Turkiye, with a number of well-known figures joining a “Find Narin” social media campaign
DIYARBAKIR, Turkiye: A Turkish court on Saturday sentenced three suspects including family members to life in prison over the mysterious death of an eight-year-old girl in the southeastern province of Diyarbakir, an AFP journalist saw.
The body of Narin Guran, who had been missing for 19 days, was found in September in a bag in a river around one kilometer (0.6 miles) from the village where she lived with her family.
After a tense day-long hearing, the court in Diyarbakir handed Narin’s mother, elder brother and uncle an aggravated life sentence on charges of “deliberate murder in collaboration,” according to the journalist at the courthouse.
The judge sentenced another suspect Nevzat Bahtiyar, who had confessed to the murder, to four years and six months in prison.
Police heightened security measures inside and outside the tribunal as the judge read out the verdict.
The court said that Bahtiyar found the body at Narin’s home, adding that he carried and hid it.
Abdulkadir Gulec, head of the bar association in Diyarbakir, told reporters the court verdict was near what they had expected.
“Bahtiyar should have received the same penalty,” he said.
Lawyers Nait Eren said they would object to the court’s ruling on Bahtiyar.
No motive was given for Narin’s murder.
Narin disappeared on August 21, sparking a huge search effort in Turkiye, with a number of well-known figures joining a “Find Narin” social media campaign.
Soon after the body was found, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan expressed profound sadness and said he would “personally follow the judicial process” so that those who took Narin’s life received the harshest punishment.
Prosecutors said in the indictment that the murder was likely committed by those close to Narin. They also accused Narin’s uncle — who is the highest local administrator in the village — of misleading authorities during the initial manhunt.
Speaking to the court during the hearing, Narin’s mother Yuksel denied the charges, lamenting that she would never see her daughter get married.
“They didn’t let my daughter wear a wedding dress, they put her in a shroud,” she told the judge.
“I didn’t even see her shroud or her grave,” she said. “My daughter was brutally killed.”
Yuksel also denied claims that she killed her other daughter, saying that she was physically handicapped and died in hospital.
