Report: ABL Delegation in Washington, Hizbullah in Financial Crisis

A delegation from the Association of Banks in Lebanon will visit Washington and New York in January, following a U.S. law that imposed sanctions on banks that “knowingly” do business with Hizbullah, An Nahar daily reported on Monday.

The delegation will be headed by the ABL chief Joseph Tarabay.

The visit aims to explain the position of the banking sector in Lebanon and to renew the Lebanese banks' commitment to international laws and standards, added the daily.

The U.S. House of Representatives voted unanimously in December to impose tough new sanctions on banks that knowingly do business with Hizbullah.

Banking sources participating in the delegation confirmed that “the sector has no problem with the U.S. authorities which are closely following up on Lebanon's commitment to international laws and adherence to them, but that these commitments must be re-confirmed after the issuance of the said law,” they told the daily

The delegation will hold meetings in Washington with officials from the U.S. Department of State and the Treasury in addition to a number of members of Congress who participated in the development of the law.

The legislation also targeted Hizbullah television channel Al-Manar by aiming to cut the broadcast of satellite operators that air the channel's programming.

The U.S. House of Representatives adopted the measure 422 to 0, following a unanimous vote in the Senate on November 17.

The new rules direct the U.S. president to prescribe punishing regulations against financial institutions that conduct transactions with Hizbullah or otherwise launder funds for the organization.

The U.S. State Department also accuses the group of supporting President Bashar Assad's regime in Syria.

Reports have said that the party did not pay the due amounts it was supposed to pay during the month of November and December, promising compensation beginning of the new year.

Although Hizbullah is keeping silent on the issue, but unnamed sources said that the party is suffering from a financial crisis with the shortage of funds that it usually receives from Iraq, An Nahar concluded.

D.A.

M.T.