​MP Al-Sayed asserted his intention to request an entry visa to the US to confront OFAC with the facts and to demand that US authorities take action against those who gave false data.

President of the Republic, General Michel Aoun, continued his contacts to address the repercussions of the recent decision taken by the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, and a number of Gulf states, to withdraw ambassadors from Lebanon and to ask the Lebanese ambassadors to leave, in addition to measures in objection to the stances issued by Information Minister, George Kordahi, before he was assigned as Minister.

In this context, the President consulted with Prime Minister, Najib Mikati, who is participating today in the Climate Summit, held in Glasgow, on the steps to be taken in order to address these developments. Moreover, the President was informed of the results of contacts he had made with a number of international officials participating in the summit, dealing with the same issue.

In addition, President Aoun continues his consultations in this regard, based on the position he had announced last Saturday, in which he stressed his keenness to establish the best relations with KSA and Gulf states, and the need to institutionalize these relations and address any problems which arise, through direct dialogue.

MP Al-Sayed:

The President met MP, Major General Jamil AL-Sayed, today at the Presidential Palace.

Statement:

After the meeting, MP Al-Sayed made the following statement:

“I was honored to meet His Excellency the President today. I thanked the President for the initiative he made in assigning the Foreign Ministry and Lebanese Embassy in Washington to obtain documents and details related to the so-called recent US sanctions.

I also discussed the matter that the Lebanese judiciary automatically empowered under the laws, especially the Money Laundering and Terrorist Financing Law, to scrutinize the validity of US accusations which I have sought, since the beginning of the year with a senior governmental official, to transfer an amount of 120 million US Dollars to foreign investments. This audit is one of the easiest which can be accomplished within days as long as all banks and financial institutions are in Lebanon, and the matter only requires sending questions to banks and financial institutions.

I also informed the President that I am in the process of submitting a request to the US embassy through my legal representative, to obtain an entry visa to the United States in order to confront the OFAC organization which is concerned with this issue, especially if I obtain the result of the audit which ask the Central Bank to conduct according to the directives of the Lebanese judiciary.

On this basis, and by virtue of my experience, I consider that the Lebanese parties certainly, and I do not need to know who they are, have implicated the US administration with false data. I will demand US authorities themselves, to take action against those who caused this involvement  and embarrassment, and those who have given this false info which affects us.

Questions & Answers:

Question: Does your visa application dispense with the possibility of you submitting a counter-complaint in this regard?

Answer: “There is no counter-complaint. You have the right to review. In order to do that, I must hire a lawyer in the US, and in order to hire a lawyer, I must go there. Therefore, since I have no doubt that the US administration and OFAC in particular, have obtained misleading data for the sake of political targeting, I am obliged to request this issue, as long as US law allows it. I will work according to this law, as I did in the case of political detention for 4 years, which cost me a war which lasted from 2005 till 2018.

However, this issue is much easier, and it is related to numbers which can be traced. This requires an official in the BDL and the Lebanese judiciary to reveal the absence of any evidence, not just any evidence, indicating, confirming or alluding that Major General Al-Sayed made any transfer of this type or of any other type, in year 2021”.

Ukrainian Ambassador:

President Aoun met Ukrainian Ambassador to Lebanon, Ihor Eustache, and Consul, Andrei Cornichuc.

Bilateral relations between Lebanon and Ukraine, and the ways to develop these relations, were deliberated in the meeting.

Ambassador Eustache also conveyed Ukraine’s positions on recent regional developments.

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