Conakry – The United States said it had slapped sanctions on two Lebanese businessmen based in the West African state of Guinea, accusing them of being “financiers” for the armed pro-Iranian Shiite group Hezbollah.
In a statement issued in Washington on Friday, the US Department of the Treasury named the two as Ibrahim Taher and Ali Saade.
Treasury Sanctions on Hezbollah Financiers in Guinea
March 4, 2022 pic.twitter.com/KWvABjewmv— Zahi Sakr (@ZahiBeK) March 6, 2022
“Taher has been identified as one of the most prominent supporters” of Hezbollah in Guinea, while Saade transfers money to the group via its representatives in Guinea and Lebanon, it said.
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Saade, 79, has Lebanese, French and Guinean passports, while Taher, 58, has Lebanese, British and Guinean passports, it said.
The sanctions, imposed by the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC), freezes any US assets they own and outlaws their use of the US banking system.
The United States placed Hezbollah on its list of “terrorist” organisations in 1997, a move opening the way to enforcing banking and economic sanctions against the group and its operatives.
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Source: AFP
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