US Ambassador Dorothy Shea said Friday that Free Patriotic Movement leader Gebran Bassil covers Hezbollah’s weapons while the Shiite party covers his corruption, confirming that her country has not stopped its support for Lebanon.
Shea said during an online conversation with the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) that Washington did not support the last government because it was formed by Hezbollah.
However, she said her country stood by the Lebanese people and will see what the next government will look like to determine its position.
“We will insist on our positions, and if we do not do that, they will return to corruption; no one will help them at all unless we see progress step by step, and there will be nothing free from now on,” the diplomat added.
Commenting on the coronavirus crisis in Lebanon and the pro-Hezbollah caretaker health minister, Shea said: “Our condition to help Lebanon confront the coronavirus is based on dealing directly with friendly and reliable institutions, such as the AUB and the Lebanese Army.”
This month, the US blacklisted Bassil, son-in-law of Lebanon's president and leader of the Free Patriotic Movement, "for his role in corruption in Lebanon" and ties with the Iran-backed Hezbollah.
Bassil slammed the sanctions as unjust and politically motivated, saying they were imposed after he refused to submit to a US demand to break ties with Hezbollah as that would risk Lebanon's national unity and peace.
However, the US envoy to Lebanon said Bassil had voiced willingness to sever ties with Hezbollah, challenging his assertion that he rejected the idea outright.
