Lebanon’s Rai Call for Prosecuting the Corrupt

Rai during Sunday Mass. (NNA)
Rai during Sunday Mass. (NNA)
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Lebanon’s Rai Call for Prosecuting the Corrupt

Rai during Sunday Mass. (NNA)
Rai during Sunday Mass. (NNA)

Lebanese Maronite Patriarch Beshara al-Rai said it was unacceptable to undermine the independence of the judiciary, calling for “the trial of all the corrupt who squandered public money,” instead of holding one party “accountable for the practices that took place over the past 30 years.”

Speaking during the Sunday Mass sermon, Rai said: “It is not acceptable to allow practices that undermine constitutional institutions, and it is unacceptable to overthrow the independence and integrity of the judiciary.”

He also said it was unacceptable for judges to lose their impartiality.

He added: “We support holding all corrupt people accountable.”

In this regard, he called on politicians to “stop fabricating news… and harming the reputation of Lebanon, the Lebanese currency, the central bank, the army, and the judiciary.”

Furthermore, the patriarch stressed the importance of holding the parliamentary elections on time, saying: “Let the deputies remember that they are entrusted by the Lebanese and they are not entitled to renew their mandate without the permission of the people.”

The elections are set for May.

His remarks came following a decision by a Lebanese judge on Tuesday to issue a subpoena for central bank governor Riad Salameh after he failed to show up for interrogation sessions as part of her probe into alleged misconduct initiated after Lebanon’s 2019 financial meltdown.

Judge Ghada Aoun confirmed to Reuters that she issued the subpoena after Salameh missed three separate sessions and said she had circulated the order to security agencies.

Salameh had previously denied any wrongdoing and characterized investigations against him in Lebanon and abroad as politically motivated.



Nasrallah’s Bodyguard Killed in Israeli Airstrike on Iran, Hezbollah Says

A supporter of Hezbollah carries a picture of Hezbollah's late leader Hassan Nasrallah during a protest against the Israeli attack on Iran, organized by Hezbollah following Friday prayer in the southern suburbs of Beirut, Lebanon, 20 June 2025. (EPA)
A supporter of Hezbollah carries a picture of Hezbollah's late leader Hassan Nasrallah during a protest against the Israeli attack on Iran, organized by Hezbollah following Friday prayer in the southern suburbs of Beirut, Lebanon, 20 June 2025. (EPA)
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Nasrallah’s Bodyguard Killed in Israeli Airstrike on Iran, Hezbollah Says

A supporter of Hezbollah carries a picture of Hezbollah's late leader Hassan Nasrallah during a protest against the Israeli attack on Iran, organized by Hezbollah following Friday prayer in the southern suburbs of Beirut, Lebanon, 20 June 2025. (EPA)
A supporter of Hezbollah carries a picture of Hezbollah's late leader Hassan Nasrallah during a protest against the Israeli attack on Iran, organized by Hezbollah following Friday prayer in the southern suburbs of Beirut, Lebanon, 20 June 2025. (EPA)

The head of security to slain Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah was killed in an Israeli airstrike while in Iran, a Hezbollah official said Saturday.

Abu Ali Khalil, better known as Abu Ali Jawad, was killed after he went to Iran from neighboring Iraq, the official said.

For many years, Abu Ali was seen behind Nasrallah during most of his public appearances.

After Nasrallah was killed in an Israeli airstrike in a Beirut suburb in September, his bodyguard was put in charge of his tomb in Beirut.

The Hezbollah official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak to the media, said the airstrike that killed Abu Ali occurred earlier Saturday.