US Offers $10 Million Reward For Information On Hezbollah Financier

 US State Department Rewards for Justice Program Post via its Official Twitter Account
US State Department Rewards for Justice Program Post via its Official Twitter Account
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US Offers $10 Million Reward For Information On Hezbollah Financier

 US State Department Rewards for Justice Program Post via its Official Twitter Account
US State Department Rewards for Justice Program Post via its Official Twitter Account

The United States on Monday offered a $10 million reward for information on a Hezbollah financier Mohammad Ibrahim Bazzi for funneling money to the Lebanese party.

"Mohammad Ibrahim Bazzi has funneled millions of dollars to the terrorist organization Hezbollah," a statement by the US State Department Rewards for Justice Program said on Twitter.

"If you have information on his financial operations, text us at the number below. You could be eligible for a reward," the statement added.

“Through his business activities in Europe, Africa, and the Middle East, he has provided millions of dollars in support to Hezbollah.”

In 2018, the US Department of the Treasury had listed Bazzi as a Specially Designated Global Terrorist.

"Bazzi, who operates or transacts in or through Belgium, Lebanon, Iraq, and several countries in West Africa, is a key Hezbollah financier who has provided Hezbollah financial assistance for many years and has provided millions of dollars to Hezbollah generated from his business activities," the Treasury said in an official statement then.

It also designated the Global Trading Group NV (GTG) for being owned or controlled by Bazzi, in addition to several other entities including the Euro African Group LTD, Africa Middle East Investment Holding SAL (AME Investment) and Premier Investment Group SAL Offshore.

The US Department also named six other individuals accused of supporting Hezbollah including Moahmmad Jaafar Qasir, who is accused of helping Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guards-Quds Force mask oil sales used to finance their allied terrorist groups.

RFJ said Qasir leads Hezbollah’s Unit 108, which transfers support form the IRGC-QF into Lebanon through Syria.

The list also includes Ali Qasir, who is Hezbollah’s representative in Iran and is a key facilitator of financial and commercial activities that benefit the IRGC-QF and Hezbollah. He is also the nephew of Hezbollah official Muhammad Qasir, with whom he works closely to facilitate financial activities between the IRGC-QF and the Lebanese party.

RFJ also lists the name of Muhammad Kawtharani, saying he is a senior leader of Hezbollah’s forces in Iraq and had assumed some of the political coordination of Iraqi-based, Iran-aligned paramilitary groups formerly organized by IRGC general Qasem Soleimani.

The list also names Adham Tabaja, a Hezbollah member who maintains direct ties with senior Hezbollah organizational elements, including the terrorist group’s operational component, Islamic Jihad.

Tabaja also holds properties in Lebanon on behalf of the group and is majority owner of the Lebanon-based real estate development and construction firm Al-Inmaa Group for Tourism Works.



Lebanon’s Salam Wins Enough Support to Become PM, Angering Hezbollah

Judge Nawaf Salam, president of the International Court of Justice (ICJ) speaks at the ICJ at the start of a hearing in The Hague Netherlands May 16, 2024. (Reuters)
Judge Nawaf Salam, president of the International Court of Justice (ICJ) speaks at the ICJ at the start of a hearing in The Hague Netherlands May 16, 2024. (Reuters)
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Lebanon’s Salam Wins Enough Support to Become PM, Angering Hezbollah

Judge Nawaf Salam, president of the International Court of Justice (ICJ) speaks at the ICJ at the start of a hearing in The Hague Netherlands May 16, 2024. (Reuters)
Judge Nawaf Salam, president of the International Court of Justice (ICJ) speaks at the ICJ at the start of a hearing in The Hague Netherlands May 16, 2024. (Reuters)

Nawaf Salam, the head of the International Court of Justice, won enough support to become Lebanon's next prime minister after a majority of lawmakers backed him for the post on Monday, a big blow to Hezbollah which accused opponents of working to exclude it.

The support for Salam underlined the major shift in the power balance among Lebanon's sectarian factions since the Shiite group Hezbollah was pummeled in a war with Israel last year, and its Syrian ally Bashar al-Assad was toppled.

Senior Hezbollah lawmaker Mohammed Raad, whose Iran-backed group had wanted incumbent Najib Mikati to stay in the post, said Hezbollah's opponents were working for fragmentation and exclusion. He said the group had "extended its hand" by electing Joseph Aoun as president last week only to find the "hand cut".

Last week's election of army commander General Aoun was another sign of shifts in the political landscape, in which Hezbollah had long held decisive sway.

Aoun, a Maronite Christian, was holding consultations over the choice of prime minister with parliament's 128 lawmakers on Monday. He is obliged to pick the candidate with the greatest number of votes.

Salam had secured the backing of 85 of the lawmakers by Monday afternoon, with the consultations yet to conclude.

The prime minister must be a Sunni Muslim according to Lebanon's sectarian power-sharing system which parcels out state positions on the basis of religious affiliation. The presidency goes to a Maronite Christian and the speaker of parliament must be a Shiite Muslim.

Hezbollah lawmakers attended their meeting with Aoun later than scheduled, delaying their arrival as they saw the momentum building behind Salam, a Hezbollah source said according to Reuters.

Hezbollah believed a political understanding had been reached on Mikati's election before the group agreed to elect Aoun last week, the source said.

CHALLENGES AHEAD

Sunni and Christian allies of Hezbollah were among those who named Salam. Faisal Karami, a Sunni lawmaker aligned with the group, said he had nominated Salam, citing demands for "change and renewal" and Arab and international support for Lebanon.

Aoun's election and the designation of a new premier are steps towards reviving Lebanese government institutions which have been paralyzed for more than two years, with the country having neither a head of state nor a fully empowered cabinet.

The new administration faces huge tasks including rebuilding areas levelled by Israeli airstrikes during the war with Hezbollah, and launching long-stalled reforms to revive the economy and address the root causes of the collapse of Lebanon's financial system in 2019.

In his former role as commander of the US-backed army, Aoun played a critical role in the implementation of a US-brokered ceasefire deal between Israel and Hezbollah.

The terms require the Lebanese army to deploy into south Lebanon as Israeli troops and Hezbollah withdraw forces.

Raad said Hezbollah would follow the next steps, and "proceed with calm and wisdom, out of concern for the national interest, and we will see their actions ... to expel the occupier from our land".