Lebanon’s Amal Movement denounced on Wednesday a US move to impose sanctions on one of its senior members, former finance minister Ali Hasan Khalil.
In a statement, the movement stressed that the US decision aims at targeting the Lebanese sovereignty and was like placing sanctions on the whole country.
“This decision won’t change our convictions and our national and patriotic principles at all,” the statement said, revealing that Washington agreed last July on a deal to demarcate Lebanon’s maritime border.
In this context, the movement said that the US refuses to announced the deal “without reasonable grounds”.
“We want all our rights in our land, sea and air. We will neither abandon our rights nor bargain over them,” Amal stressed.
The movement, meanwhile, said that the timing of the US sanctions is suspicious, noting that Lebanon is nearing the formation of a new national unity government.
Separately, when asked by Lebanese reporters on the US decision, Khalil said: “The movement’s statement is enough.”
Earlier on Tuesday, the US Treasury targeted two Lebanese former ministers with sanctions over ties with Hezbollah Lebanese Resistance movement.
The Treasury Department targeted former finance minister Ali Hassan Khalil of Amal Movement and former transport minister Yusef Fenianos of Sleiman Frangieh’s Marada Movement, meaning that any assets they hold in the United States will be blocked and any transactions with them liable to criminal penalties.
Source: Al-Manar English Website
