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.



Palestinian President Abbas Appoints New Deputy in Major Step in Naming Successor

Hussein al-Sheikh, secretary-general of the Executive Committee of the Palestine Liberation Organization, gestures during an interview with The Associate Press at his office in the West Bank city of Ramallah, June 13, 2022. (AP)
Hussein al-Sheikh, secretary-general of the Executive Committee of the Palestine Liberation Organization, gestures during an interview with The Associate Press at his office in the West Bank city of Ramallah, June 13, 2022. (AP)
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Palestinian President Abbas Appoints New Deputy in Major Step in Naming Successor

Hussein al-Sheikh, secretary-general of the Executive Committee of the Palestine Liberation Organization, gestures during an interview with The Associate Press at his office in the West Bank city of Ramallah, June 13, 2022. (AP)
Hussein al-Sheikh, secretary-general of the Executive Committee of the Palestine Liberation Organization, gestures during an interview with The Associate Press at his office in the West Bank city of Ramallah, June 13, 2022. (AP)

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas on Saturday named a veteran aide and confidant as his new vice president. It’s a major step by the aging leader to designate a successor.

The appointment of Hussein al-Sheikh as vice president of the Palestine Liberation Organization does not guarantee he will be the next Palestinian president. But it makes him the front-runner among longtime politicians in the dominant Fatah party who hope to succeed the 89-year-old Abbas.

Abbas hopes to play a major role in postwar Gaza. He has been under pressure from Western and Arab allies to rehabilitate the Palestinian Authority, which has limited autonomy in parts of the Israeli-occupied West Bank.  

The PLO is the internationally recognized representative of the Palestinian people and oversees the Western-backed Palestinian Authority. Abbas has led both entities for two decades.