Lebanon’s president asks for proof after US sanctions his son-in-law, who is a Hezbollah ally

BEIRUT — Lebanon’s president has asked for proof against his son-in-law and ex-cabinet minister Gebran Bassil to justify US sanctions for alleged corruption, the presidency says.

The sanctions announced Friday are the first against a senior Christian ally of Hezbollah, a powerful Shiite group long targeted by US sanctions and blacklisted as a terrorist organization.

President Michel Aoun “has asked his foreign minister to obtain the proof and documents that pushed the US Treasury to direct accusations against lawmaker Gebran Bassil,” his office says on Twitter.

Aoun also stressed “the necessity of handing over the documents to the Lebanese judiciary to take the necessary measures,” it says.

A source at the presidency says the request was made as “Bassil is a Lebanese lawmaker and (former) minister accused of graft.”

“If there were evidence against him, the Lebanese judiciary should follow up on the issue,” the source says.

Bassil, 50, has been dubbed by many as the “shadow president.”

He is married to the president’s daughter and heads the Free Patriotic Movement founded by Aoun, which together with its allies holds a parliamentary majority.

— AFP