عربي English Türkçe اردو فارسى
Logo
Latest News
Arab World

French Judges in Lebanon Next Month for First Carlos Ghosn Hearing

Carlos Ghosn. (AFP)
Carlos Ghosn. (AFP)
TT
TT

French Judges in Lebanon Next Month for First Carlos Ghosn Hearing

Carlos Ghosn. (AFP)
Carlos Ghosn. (AFP)

A delegation of French judges and investigators will visit Beirut on May 17, to hear Carlos Ghosn, the former CEO of Renault-Nissan, for the first time, in the two probes which target him and which are being investigated in France, AFP learned on Friday from corroborating sources.

“The French consulate has informed the Public Prosecution that the French delegation will arrive on May 17th,” a Lebanese judicial source confirmed to Agence France Press.

He added: “It is expected that the hearings will take place in the week in which the delegation arrives in Lebanon, although the Lebanese judiciary has not yet set a date for that.”

The news agency said Ghosn’s hearing was originally scheduled for January 18-22, but has been canceled due to the coronavirus pandemic. Restrictions linked to the pandemic may again force magistrates and investigators to postpone their trip.

According to sources familiar with the matter, Ghosn must be questioned at the Beirut courthouse by the investigating judges in charge of the investigations concerning him in Nanterre (near the Parisian suburbs) and Paris, in the presence of magistrates from the public prosecutor’s office of Nanterre and the Paris National Financial Prosecutor’s Office, but also investigators from the Central Office for the Fight against Corruption and Financial and Tax Offenses.

Ghosn has been in Lebanon since the end of December 2019, after fleeing Japan to escape prosecutions for financial irregularities.

In addition to the files concerning him in Japan, Ghosn is targeted by several cases in France.

In Nanterre, the judiciary suspects him in particular of having drawn personal benefit from a sponsorship agreement signed between Renault and the establishment which manages the Palace of Versailles, by organizing two private parties there.

In Paris, investigating judges have been looking since 2019 on consulting services concluded by RNBV, with the former French Minister of Justice Rachida Dati and the French criminologist Alain Bauer, when Ghosn was still CEO of the automotive group.

Most Viewed

 
 
Arab World

Erdogan Says Türkiye Expects Allies to Pull Support from Kurds in Post-Assad Syria

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan attends a press conference with Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi (not pictured), Ankara, Türkiye, 04 September 2024. (File/EPA)
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan attends a press conference with Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi (not pictured), Ankara, Türkiye, 04 September 2024. (File/EPA)
TT
TT

Erdogan Says Türkiye Expects Allies to Pull Support from Kurds in Post-Assad Syria

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan attends a press conference with Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi (not pictured), Ankara, Türkiye, 04 September 2024. (File/EPA)
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan attends a press conference with Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi (not pictured), Ankara, Türkiye, 04 September 2024. (File/EPA)

Türkiye expects foreign countries will withdraw support for Kurdish fighters in Syria following the toppling of Bashar al-Assad, President Tayyip Erdogan said, as Ankara seeks to isolate Kurds who have long fought alongside US troops.

Speaking to reporters on the flight home from a summit in Egypt on Thursday, Erdogan said there was no longer any reason for outsiders to back Kurdish YPG fighters. His comments were released by his office on Friday.

The Kurdish YPG has been the main force in a US-backed alliance in northern Syria, but Türkiye considers the group an extension of the PKK, which has long fought the Turkish state and is banned as terrorists by Ankara, Washington and the EU.

In his remarks, Erdogan compared the US-backed YPG to ISIS, and said neither group had any future in Syria.

"In the upcoming period, we do not believe that any power will continue to collaborate with terrorist organizations. The heads of terrorist organizations such as ISIS and PKK-YPG will be crushed in the shortest possible time."

According to Reuters, the United States still has 900 troops on the ground in Syria working alongside the YPG-led alliance known as the Syrian Democratic Forces. The SDF played a major role on the ground defeating ISIS militants in 2014-2017 with US air support, and still guards Islamist fighters in prison camps.

Ankara, alongside Syrian allies, has mounted several cross-border offensives against the YPG-led SDF in northern Syria, while repeatedly demanding that its NATO ally Washington halts support for the fighters.

Hostilities have escalated since Assad was toppled less than two weeks ago, with Türkiye and Syrian groups it backs seizing the city of Manbij from the SDF on Dec. 9, prompting the United States to broker a fragile ceasefire.

Erdogan told reporters that Türkiye wanted to see a new Syria in which all ethnic and religious groups can live in harmony. To achieve this, " ISIS, the PKK and its versions which threaten the survival of Syria need to be eradicated", he said.

"The PKK terrorist organization and its extensions in particular have reached the end of their lifespan," Erdogan added.

On Thursday, SDF commander Mazloum Abdi told Reuters that Kurdish fighters from outside Syria who had joined the group's ranks would leave if a truce were agreed with Türkiye, long one of Ankara's major demands.

In his remarks, Abdi acknowledged for the first time that Kurdish fighters from other countries - including PKK members - had been assisting the SDF, but said they would no longer be needed under a truce.

A Turkish Defense Ministry official said there was no talk of a ceasefire between Türkiye and the SDF, adding that Ankara would continue taking counter-terrorism measures until "the PKK/YPG lays down its arms and its foreign fighters leave Syria".