U.S. Official Calls for Uprooting Money Laundering, Terrorist Financing from Lebanese System
إقرأ هذا الخبر بالعربية
The U.S. Department of Treasury Assistant Secretary for Terrorist Financing, Daniel Glaser, called on Friday for the Lebanese state to uproot money laundering, terrorist financing and other forms of illicit finance from the Lebanese financial system.
“The Lebanese financial system is a critical asset to the Lebanese people and the basis of the national and regional economy,” Glaser said after talks with Caretaker Prime Minister Najib Miqati at the Grand Serail.
Glaser is on an official visit to Lebanon, where he participated in the 2013 Annual Arab Banking Conference.
The meeting was held in presence of U.S. ambassador to Lebanon David Hale.
Glaser held talks later on with PM-designate Tammam Salam at his residence in el-Msaytbeh.
“There is still much work to be done and many challenges ahead... that have been magnified by recent politic developments in this region,” the U.S. official said earlier during the conference.
He pointed out that Lebanon's ability “to retain its its position as an important regional and international financial center requires constant vigilance.”
Glaser lashed out at Hizbullah during his speech, stressing that “working together we can stop illicit financial activities of groups that seek to destabilize the region such as al-Qaida and Hizbullah.”
He highlighted the case of the Lebanese Canadian Bank, which was accused of laundering money from drugs and other operations for clients tied to Hizbullah, saying that the party's involvement in a “wide range of illicit activities and its ties to sanctioned regimes... will only increase as more countries apply sanctions on Hizbullah.”
In June 2013, LCB agreed Tuesday to pay U.S. authorities $102 million to settle the charges.
Beirut-based LCV was singled out in February 2011 for allegedly moving hundreds of millions of dollars for criminal groups and traffickers operating in Latin America, West Africa and the Middle East.
Some of the customers it served were closely linked to Hizbullah, which Washington has blacklisted as a "terrorist organization."
15 November 2013, 12:02
33
That's right Lebanon ... Only the Zionist countries can launder tax evasion, drug, human, organ and blood diamond trafficking. I hear there is a bumper crop of poppies in Afghanistan ... the Americans will leave thousands of troops there.
15 November 2013, 17:02
20
I actually hope the arrogant mafia banking sector in lebanon is pushed to bankruptcy (this will never happen) to teach a lesson to our bankers that they cannot take our money and use it to fund real estate and a bankrupt government when it should be used to fund our economy.
The Banking sector in Lebanon is the most powerful element in our country often disregarded. It's above all political parties and institutions are they are the true movers and shakers of Lebanon.
16 November 2013, 01:03
02
I think all Lebanese should join the US Government's effort to get Lebanon to commit suicide. I say that as a friend. Only a friend could tell someone, "Look, frankly, I don't see why you don't just save us all a lot of trouble and kill yourself." Mr. Glaser is speaking as a friend here. He earnestly regrets the unhappiness the Lebanese warlords are experiencing with the Shia majority and with the vindicator of that majority, Hezbullah. So when he urges suicide, he is truly speaking from his heart. How could you find anything suspect in his sentiments? Have you no faith in human nature?
16 November 2013, 02:18
10
Is your assumption that I am a Sunni? That’s why you think I am a racist and hate Shia? Well I am a Christian and very open minded. The Shia with their Persian leaders allied themselves with the Americans and the Russians in Afghanistan, Iraq, Syria and Lebanon in the war against the Arabs and Muslims. The Shia like other minorities (Christians, Alawites, Druze) have a long history of treachery going back to the Safavids more than 500 years ago.
