Higher Relief Council Chief Denies Embezzlement Claims, Says Miqati 'Seeking His Elimination'

Head of the Higher Relief Council Ibrahim Bashir denied on Friday that he has embezzled USD 10 million from public funds, accusing the caretaker premier and the cabinet's secretary-general of trying to “eliminate him.”

"No sane person embezzles the Council's money and transfers it to their account,” Bashir stressed in an interview with LBCI television.

He stated: "These accusations are fabricated.”

“How can I spend all this amount? The HRC's money were never and will never be abused.”

He noted that he has received death threats.

Bashir revealed that he smuggled his son and his family into Belarus because they were subjected to an assassination attempt in the northern city of Tripoli, as he said.

"Members of (caretaker Prime Minister Najib) Miqati's office in Tripoli attacked my son, his wife and their kids.”

He elaborated to al-Manar television: “Since I took office there hasn't been harmony with the cabinet's secretary-general, Suhail Bouji, because the Council strives now to serve all the Lebanese while they want it to cater to Sunnis only.”

"After I took office, I made sure the HRC serves all the Lebanese,” he told LBCI.

The state-run National News Agency reported earlier on Friday that Higher Defense Council chief General Mohammed Kheir was tasked with temporarily heading the HRC.

“Miqati had given Bashir an administrative leave,” it added.

"Kheir and Mohammed al-Deen Dandachli, Miqati's financial adviser, were delegated to take unanimous decisions regarding the accounts of the HRC.”

Bashir has met on Friday morning with acting state prosecutor Samir Hammoud and asked him to launch an investigation in the embezzlement claims.

Sources close to Miqati told al-Manar that the Council's case is in the hands of the judiciary, assuring also that the Grand Serail “did not spread defamation reports.”