Fneish: We Will Give Salam Time before Taking Stand on Suspension of Hizbullah MPs' Bank Accounts

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State Minister for Parliamentary Affairs Mohammed Fneish stated that the party's stance is “clear” regarding U.S. sanctions against the group in wake of the suspension on Thursday of the bank accounts of two party MPs, reported al-Joumhouria newspaper on Friday.

The Hizbullah minister told the daily: “We will grant Prime Minister Tammam Salam time to consider this issue and we will make a stand when the time comes.”

Information Minister Ramzi Jreij told al-Joumhouria that the cabinet on Thursday tackled the matter and ministers presented their views.

Salam, Finance Minister Ali Hassan Khalil, and Central Bank Governor Riad Salameh have been tasked with following up on the case.

The premier had held talks prior to the cabinet session with Salameh, who offered him assurances on the development.

Industry Minister Hussein al-Hajj Hassan of Hizbullah warned at cabinet on Thursday that “a red line has been crossed” when two Lebanese banks suspended three Hizbullah-linked accounts in conformity with a U.S. sanctions law.

Hizbullah's Loyalty to the Resistance bloc said that U.S. sanctions on banks that knowingly do business with the group could threaten Lebanon's financial sector, hinting that supporters may withdraw their money from local banks.

The bloc said the central bank and private banks would be participating in "a war of exclusion" against the group by upholding the law.

Salameh had said the bank will abide by the restrictions in the Hizbullah International Financing Prevention Act, which was signed into law in December.

Observers questioned to al-Joumhouria the Hizbullah bloc's “surprising” stance, saying it knows that the “Central Bank's caving in to its demands means its collapse and refusal to heed its demands means that it will stand in confrontation with it.”

“The party is trying to halt the U.S. momentum aimed at isolating it from its environment and it hopes to the turn the Lebanese state and its banking sector as a barricade.”

“It is forcing them to work with the Americans to find a sort of settlement that will ease the financial restrictions against it,” explained the observers.

M.T.

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