BEIRUT: Lebanon has received an Interpol red notice requesting the arrest of Central Bank Governor Riad Salameh after a French magistrate issued a warrant this week.
Salameh, 72, has been the target of a series of judicial investigations both at home and abroad on allegations including fraud, money laundering and illicit enrichment.
Lebanon’s top prosecutor Judge Ghassan Oueidat said he was studying the notice to set a date for Salameh’s hearing next week and take the necessary legal actions.

RIYADH: An Armenian women has told a Lebanese news website she was kidnapped in Beirut by Hezbollah in January.

The lady, who spoke anonymously, told Sawt Beirut international, she was visiting Lebanon with her friends to celebrate New Year’s holidays when they were kidnapped and held for four days.

The woman said she and her friends were bundled into the back of a black SUV while they waited for an Uber outside the hotel they were staying in.

ISTANBUL: Turkiye’s Supreme Election Board on Friday confirmed the results of the first round of Turkiye’s presidential election in which neither incumbent President Recep Tayyip Erdogan nor his main challenger, opposition leader Kemal Kilicdaroglu, receiving the majority support needed for an outright victory.

JEDDAH: Arab leaders convening in Saudi Arabia on Friday can assist in achieving peace in war-torn Yemen by bolstering current peace efforts, mainly the Saudi initiative, Yemeni government officials and political analysts said.
Arab leaders arrived in Jeddah on Thursday in preparation for their annual summit on Friday, at which they are anticipated to discuss crucial issues in the Arab World, including the Yemen war.

BEIRUT: Ten reformist MPs issued a joint statement on Thursday demanding the immediate removal of Riad Salameh from his position as central bank governor.
The MPs condemned Salameh’s approach of “financing the policies of successive governments without accountability” and pledged to form a parliamentary investigation committee.
Lebanese newspaper Al-Nahar reported on Thursday that Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri and caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati requested Salameh’s resignation in a letter.