Source: L'Orient Today
Wednesday 12 January 2022 16:38:11
The US Embassy in Lebanon denied allegations that Banque du Liban and its governor Riad Salameh were discussed during a meeting Tuesday between US Ambassador Dorothy Shea and Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri.
Here’s what we know:
• “We were surprised by a press report indicating that Banque du Liban was the subject of a discussion between Ambassador Shea and President Berri yesterday,” the embassy tweeted. The reports denied in the statement had been published in Lebanese daily Al-Joumhouria, which reported that Shea purportedly called on Berri to prevent potential “dangerous behavior” from Salameh.
• The embassy’s statement clarified that the meeting concerned “questions about the Lebanese Parliament and an upcoming visit by an official in the US State Department.”
• The meeting in question took place hours before Salameh was barred from traveling following a decision by Mount Lebanon Public Prosecutor Judge Ghada Aoun in response to complaints filed by attorneys representing civil society group “People Want to Reform the System” accusing the governor of “embezzlement, illegal enrichment and money laundering.”
• Salameh has also faced international legal persecution in relation to his financial dealings, with investigations opened by France, Lichtenstein, Luxembourg and Switzerland.