Lebanon Questions Auto Tycoon Ghosn after Interpol Notice

Former Nissan executive Carlos Ghosn speaks during an interview with The Associated Press, in Dbayeh, north of Beirut, Lebanon, May 25, 2021. (AP)
Former Nissan executive Carlos Ghosn speaks during an interview with The Associated Press, in Dbayeh, north of Beirut, Lebanon, May 25, 2021. (AP)
TT

Lebanon Questions Auto Tycoon Ghosn after Interpol Notice

Former Nissan executive Carlos Ghosn speaks during an interview with The Associated Press, in Dbayeh, north of Beirut, Lebanon, May 25, 2021. (AP)
Former Nissan executive Carlos Ghosn speaks during an interview with The Associated Press, in Dbayeh, north of Beirut, Lebanon, May 25, 2021. (AP)

A judge on Monday questioned disgraced auto tycoon Carlos Ghosn in Beirut, days after Lebanon received a wanted notice for him from Interpol, judicial officials said.

Lebanon received a new Red Notice from Interpol 10 days ago, after the French prosecutor’s office in the Paris suburb of Nanterre said last month that it issued an international arrest warrant for the former head of Nissan and Renault and four other people based on an investigation opened in 2019 into money laundering and abuse of company assets.

Ghosn was questioned over money laundering and benefiting from deals for Nissan and Renault and was allowed to leave after the questioning, said the judicial officials, speaking on condition of anonymity in line with regulations.

The Lebanese judge, Imad Kabalan, a public prosecutor at the Court of Cassation, asked French authorities to hand over the details of the case filed against Ghosn and "if it is proven that he had committed crimes of money laundering and abuse of company assets," he will be put on trial in Lebanon since he holds Lebanese citizenship, the judge added.

A Red Notice is not an arrest warrant and does not require Lebanon to arrest Ghosn.

It was the second Red Notice that Lebanon received in the case; the first was issued in January 2020, a few days after Ghosn fled Japan for Lebanon in a gripping escape.

Prosecutors are investigating millions of dollars in alleged suspect payments made between the Renault-Nissan alliance and Suhail Bahwan Automobiles, a vehicle distributor company in Oman.

Ghosn noted last month after the French arrest warrant was issued that he’s barred from leaving Lebanon anyway.

Lebanon does not extradite its citizens. Ghosn has citizenship in Lebanon, France and Brazil.



US General Sees Progress as Israel-Hezbollah Ceasefire Deadline Approaches in Lebanon

 A general view shows damage and debris in the southern Lebanese village of al-Taybeh, near the border with Israel, on February 4, 2025. (AFP)
A general view shows damage and debris in the southern Lebanese village of al-Taybeh, near the border with Israel, on February 4, 2025. (AFP)
TT

US General Sees Progress as Israel-Hezbollah Ceasefire Deadline Approaches in Lebanon

 A general view shows damage and debris in the southern Lebanese village of al-Taybeh, near the border with Israel, on February 4, 2025. (AFP)
A general view shows damage and debris in the southern Lebanese village of al-Taybeh, near the border with Israel, on February 4, 2025. (AFP)

The US representative on a committee overseeing the ceasefire agreement that ended the latest Israel-Hezbollah war said Friday that “significant progress” had been made ahead of a looming deadline to implement all the terms of the deal.

However, Maj. Gen. Jasper Jeffers' statement appeared to leave some ambiguity on whether Israel would withdraw its forces from all of southern Lebanon by the ceasefire's Feb. 18 deadline, saying only that he was confident “all population centers in the Southern Litani Area” would be back under Lebanese control by then.

In areas where Israeli forces pull out, the Lebanese army and a UN peacekeeping force known as UNIFIL are tasked with ensuring Hezbollah does not reestablish a military presence.

The deadline for Israel and Hezbollah to withdraw was initially set for late January, but Israel and Lebanon agreed to extend it. Lebanese officials say they won't agree to another extension and adamantly reject an Israeli proposal to keep its forces in five border points after leaving other areas.

French Foreign Minister Jean-Noël Barrot said Thursday that his country had proposed a beefed-up UNIFIL presence, including French forces, in place of Israeli troops at those five points. The monitoring committee also includes France, Lebanon, Israel and UNIFIL.