Lebanon’s Mikati Says Monaco Corruption Probe against Him Has Ended

27 March 2023, Lebanon, Beirut: Lebanese caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati speaks during a press conference following a meeting of cabinet. (Dalati & Nohra)
27 March 2023, Lebanon, Beirut: Lebanese caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati speaks during a press conference following a meeting of cabinet. (Dalati & Nohra)
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Lebanon’s Mikati Says Monaco Corruption Probe against Him Has Ended

27 March 2023, Lebanon, Beirut: Lebanese caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati speaks during a press conference following a meeting of cabinet. (Dalati & Nohra)
27 March 2023, Lebanon, Beirut: Lebanese caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati speaks during a press conference following a meeting of cabinet. (Dalati & Nohra)

Lebanon's caretaker prime minister Najib Mikati said on Friday that Monaco has ended a three-year investigation into him and his family over corruption allegations due to insufficient evidence.

The investigations were opened after some "Lebanese entities" submitted information about illicit enrichment and money laundering in regard to him and members of his family, Mikati's office said in a statement.

Monaco's deputy public prosecutor, Morgan Raymond, informed Mikati's team that the investigation "was closed due to the lack of evidence," the statement added.

Monaco's public prosecution was not immediately reachable for comment.

A Lebanese news organization, Daraj, had reported in 2021 on the "Pandora Papers", a set of leaked documents purporting to reveal offshore transactions involving global political and business figures.

As part of its reporting, Daraj said Mikati owned an offshore firm in Panama called Hessvile through which he bought a property in Monaco worth 7 million euros.

Mikati, one of Lebanon's richest men, had said in response that his family wealth comes from a communications business that has been audited in the past and is legal.



Top Israeli Security Delegation in Doha for Gaza Talks

An Israeli soldier sits on top of a tank at a camp, amid the ongoing conflict between Israel and Hamas, near the Israel-Gaza border, in Israel, January 12, 2025. REUTERS
An Israeli soldier sits on top of a tank at a camp, amid the ongoing conflict between Israel and Hamas, near the Israel-Gaza border, in Israel, January 12, 2025. REUTERS
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Top Israeli Security Delegation in Doha for Gaza Talks

An Israeli soldier sits on top of a tank at a camp, amid the ongoing conflict between Israel and Hamas, near the Israel-Gaza border, in Israel, January 12, 2025. REUTERS
An Israeli soldier sits on top of a tank at a camp, amid the ongoing conflict between Israel and Hamas, near the Israel-Gaza border, in Israel, January 12, 2025. REUTERS

A top level Israeli security delegation arrived in Qatar on Sunday for talks on a Gaza hostage and ceasefire deal, a spokesperson for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said, in a possible sign of so-far elusive agreements nearing.

Qatar and fellow mediators Egypt and the United States are making renewed efforts to reach a deal to halt the fighting in the enclave and free the remaining 98 hostages held there before President-elect Donald Trump takes office on Jan. 20.

Netanyahu's office said on Saturday that the delegation includes Mossad Head David Barnea, the head of the Shin Bet domestic security service Ronen Bar and the military's head of the hostage brief, Nitzan Alon.

Trump's Middle East envoy, Steve Witkoff, met on Saturday with Netanyahu, after having met on Friday with Qatari Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani, Reuters reported.

Israeli and Palestinian officials have said since Thursday that some progress has been made in the indirect talks between Israel and militant group Hamas but did not elaborate. The sides have been keeping a tight lid on the details being worked out.

It is unclear how they will bridge one of the biggest gaps that has persisted throughout previous rounds of talks: Hamas demands an end to the war while Israel says it won't end the war as long as Hamas rules Gaza and poses a threat to Israelis.

Israel launched its assault in Gaza after Hamas fighters stormed across its borders in October 2023. Since then, more than 46,000 people have been killed in Gaza, according to Palestinian health officials, with much of the enclave laid to waste and gripped by a humanitarian crisis, and most of its population displaced.