BEIRUT/PARIS: French prosecutors have told Lebanon’s central bank governor Riad Salameh they plan to press preliminary fraud and money laundering charges against him, partly based on allegedly forged bank statements used to conceal his wealth, according to French court documents seen by Reuters.
The accusation of using fake account statements, which had not previously been reported, is contained in documents sent to Salameh by French judicial authorities ahead of a planned hearing in France on May 16.

BERLIN: German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock warned on Friday against Tunisia backtracking on the fundamentals of its democracy, after the arrest of opposition leader Rached Ghannouchi this week.
Baerbock told reporters that Berlin viewed Ghannouchi’s arrest “with the greatest concern” and cautioned that the “democratic achievements in Tunisia since 2011 must not be lost.”

BEIRUT: Lebanon has deported dozens of Syrians back to the war-torn country they fled from as anti-Syrian sentiment grows amid a dire economic crisis, security officials and a humanitarian source said Friday.
One of the Syrians deported was an army defector, a relative said, warning that “his life is in danger.”
“The army has deported more than 50 Syrians from Lebanon in the past two weeks,” an army official told AFP, speaking on condition of anonymity because they were not allowed to speak to the press.

LONDON: US citizens in Sudan should have no expectation of a US-government coordinated evacuation from the country, deputy State Department spokesperson Vedant Patel said on Friday, amid heavy firing heard in the capital Khartoum.

Patel told reporters at a press briefing that given the closure of Khartoum’s airport and the uncertain security situation in the country, citizens there should make their own arrangements to stay safe.

KHARTOUM: Sudan’s army said it had agreed to a three-day truce starting on Friday to enable people to celebrate the Muslim holiday of Eid Al-Fitr following almost a week of fighting between its troops and a rival paramilitary force.
“The armed forces hope that the rebels will abide by all the requirements of the truce and stop any military moves that would obstruct it,” an army statement said.
Sudan’s paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) had agreed to the 72-hour truce earlier in the day.