Lebanon asks the United States for proof of sanctions against the president's son-in-law
With the result of the US elections on the table, it seems that this is not the best time to ask for justifications, but the president of Lebanon, Michel Aoun, ordered the foreign ministry on Saturday to obtain the evidence on the alleged corruption of his son-in-law Gebran Bassil.
Bassil, who was foreign minister until the beginning of this year, is the leader of the Free Patriotic Movement party and a well-known ally of the Shia group Hizbulah. This latter fact is what led the outgoing US president Donald Trump's administration to impose sanctions against him.
As the Presidency reported on Twitter, "Aoun has asked the foreign minister to obtain the evidence and documents that led the US Treasury Department to accuse parliamentarian Gebran Bassil".
Washington accuses the Lebanese legislator and politician of misappropriating state property or expropriating private assets for personal gain, as well as corruption related to government contracts, natural resource extraction and bribery.
The impact of the news on Lebanon goes beyond an international accusation and becomes a personal matter of state, as the recently sanctioned Gebran Bassil is married to one of President Aoun's daughters.
The president stressed that he needed evidence to understand and comprehend the accusations against his son-in-law. That is why he has reiterated the need "to send these documents to the Lebanese justice system to take the necessary measures" in case sensitive information becomes available, he added.
Last Friday the United States imposed sanctions on Bassil, who held several portfolios in the past, including that of foreign affairs, and who has led the important Christian party Free Patriotic Movement, currently allied with Hezbollah and founded by Aoun himself, for five years.
According to a statement from the Treasury Department, these sanctions block "all property and property interests in the United States or controlled by U.S. citizens of which Bassil is the direct or indirect majority owner.
In a reaction picked up by the Hezbollah-controlled Al-Manar television station, Hasan Nasaralá's Shia formation described the sanctions as "blatant interference in the internal affairs of the Mediterranean country", in addition to accusing the United States of protecting the corrupt.
"This decision is specifically aimed at subjecting a large Lebanese political team to American conditions and its precepts on Lebanon", Hezbollah denounced as it showed its solidarity with Bassil and his party in the face of these statements, which it considered "unfair inventions".
At the beginning of September the US government sanctioned two former Lebanese ministers, Yusuf Fenianos and Ali Hasan Jalil, for alleged corruption and links to Hezbollah.
The new sanctions come at a time when the nation is plunged into a serious political and economic crisis that has been aggravated by the coronavirus pandemic.
Lebanon is suffering a financial collapse, aggravated by the effects of the pandemic, as well as deep anger at the ruling elites for the explosion in the port of Beirut in August, which killed nearly 200 people and injured another 6,000.
The prime minister-designate, Saad Hariri, is currently attempting to form a government based on the polarised Lebanese denominational system, whereby each of the 18 recognised religious communities must be represented.
Lebanese society is tired. Many demonstrators have taken to the streets across the country demanding a complete reform of their political system, which is seen to perpetuate corruption and ineffective governance.
In announcing the sanctions against Bassil, US Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin said that "the systemic corruption in the Lebanese political system exemplified by Bassil has helped erode the foundation of effective government that serves the Lebanese people.
With the victory of the new US President, Joe Biden, things could change in US-Lebanon relations. For his part, Lebanese President Aoun has sent a message to Biden to congratulate him and convey his hope that bilateral relations will be balanced during the new term.
A good relationship is "something that is in the interest of both friendly peoples," the Lebanese Presidency reported on its Twitter account. Will Biden remove Hezbollah from the US blacklist? This is probably not his first step (nor his second), but these four years of the presidency may clarify several unknowns regarding the new international order left by Trump after his time in office.
