Swiss Team to Visit Lebanon in Central Bank Chief Probe

FILE PHOTO: Lebanon's Central Bank Governor Riad Salameh attends a presentation of the IMF Economic Outlook for the Middle East at Lebanon's Central Bank in Beirut, Lebanon October 25, 2010. REUTERS/Cynthia Karam/File Photo
FILE PHOTO: Lebanon's Central Bank Governor Riad Salameh attends a presentation of the IMF Economic Outlook for the Middle East at Lebanon's Central Bank in Beirut, Lebanon October 25, 2010. REUTERS/Cynthia Karam/File Photo
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Swiss Team to Visit Lebanon in Central Bank Chief Probe

FILE PHOTO: Lebanon's Central Bank Governor Riad Salameh attends a presentation of the IMF Economic Outlook for the Middle East at Lebanon's Central Bank in Beirut, Lebanon October 25, 2010. REUTERS/Cynthia Karam/File Photo
FILE PHOTO: Lebanon's Central Bank Governor Riad Salameh attends a presentation of the IMF Economic Outlook for the Middle East at Lebanon's Central Bank in Beirut, Lebanon October 25, 2010. REUTERS/Cynthia Karam/File Photo

A Swiss delegation will visit Lebanon as part of investigations into Central Bank chief Riad Salameh, a judicial official said Thursday, as European legal pressure mounts on the top banker.

Switzerland was the first European country to open an investigation into Salameh, who is the subject of a series of judicial probes at home and abroad into the fortune he has amassed during some three decades in the job.

In January 2021, Lebanon said it had received a Swiss judicial assistance request as part of a probe into more than $300 million in fund movements by the central bank chief, as well as his assistant and his brother.

Lebanon "was informed by the Swiss authorities that a Swiss judicial delegation will visit Lebanon soon" over Salameh's case, the official told AFP on Thursday, requesting anonymity as they were not authorized to speak to the media.

The delegation will meet a local judge and might seek to question individuals over the wealth of Salameh and his entourage as other European countries have done, the official added.

In March 2022, France, Germany and Luxembourg seized assets worth 120 million euros ($130 million) in a move linked to a probe into Salameh's wealth.

Judicial authorities in France and Munich in Germany last month issued arrest warrants for Salameh over accusations including money laundering and fraud, and Interpol subsequently issued Red Notices targeting him.

An Interpol Red Notice is not an international arrest warrant but asks authorities worldwide to provisionally detain people pending possible extradition or other legal action.

European investigators this year have questioned Salameh in Beirut, also hearing from others including his assistant Marianne Hoayek, his brother Raja, a Lebanese minister and central bank audit firms.

Lebanon does not extradite its nationals, but Salameh could go on trial in Lebanon if local judicial authorities decide the accusations against him are founded, an official previously told AFP.

Following the Red Notices, a local judge questioned Salameh, confiscated his French and Lebanese passports, banned him from traveling and released him pending investigation.

In February this year, Lebanon charged Salameh as part of its own investigation, which it opened after the assistance request from Switzerland's public prosecutor.

Salameh, who denies all accusations against him, continues to serve as central bank governor. His mandate ends in July.

Activists say the travel ban helps shield him from being brought to justice abroad -- and from potentially bringing down others in the entrenched political class, which is widely blamed for endemic corruption in the crisis-hit country.



Top Houthi Leaders Flee Sanaa Amid Trump-Ordered US Strikes

Top Houthi leaders disappear from Sanaa, communication cut off (Houthi Media)
Top Houthi leaders disappear from Sanaa, communication cut off (Houthi Media)
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Top Houthi Leaders Flee Sanaa Amid Trump-Ordered US Strikes

Top Houthi leaders disappear from Sanaa, communication cut off (Houthi Media)
Top Houthi leaders disappear from Sanaa, communication cut off (Houthi Media)

Senior Houthi leaders have disappeared from public life in Sanaa, gripped by fear of US airstrikes ordered by President Donald Trump, now entering their third week, sources in Yemen said.

The first-tier leadership of the Iran-aligned group is believed to have fled the capital, which remains under Houthi control, seeking shelter in remote areas of Saada and Amran provinces.

According to informed sources, the group’s leaders have severed traditional communication channels and several have either gone into hiding or relocated to undisclosed locations as a precaution against possible targeted strikes.

Since the launch of US airstrikes on March 15, senior and mid-level Houthi leaders have vanished from public view and social media platforms, Yemeni sources say, as fear of targeted attacks continues to grow within the group’s ranks.

Informed sources confirmed there has been no trace of the group’s top two tiers of leadership - neither in the institutions under Houthi control in Sanaa, nor on the streets and neighborhoods they once frequented in luxury vehicles.

Even the sectarian events that Houthi leaders were known to regularly attend have reportedly gone on without their visible presence.

The Houthi group has remained tight-lipped about the extent of its human and military losses following US airstrikes ordered by Trump.

However, sources say several leaders not belonging to the ruling family of Houthi leader Abdulmalik al-Houthi are still believed to be in Sanaa.

Many of these figures have adopted strict security measures to avoid detection, including travelling in vehicles with tinted windows and covering their faces with cloaks when leaving temporary residences, sources told Asharq Al-Awsat.

The precautions reflect growing fears of betrayal or being targeted by further strikes.

A source in Sanaa revealed that third-tier Houthi officials—mostly tribal figures and field supervisors—were instructed to flee to the northern provinces of Saada, Amran and other areas as US air raids intensified.

According to the source, mid-level Houthi officials have lost all direct contact with the group’s senior leadership after the latter switched locations and shut down their communication lines.