“Akhbar Al-Yawm” agency

"Akhbar Al-Yawm" agency has learned that Judge Jean Tannous's decision to summon the governor of the Bank of Lebanon Riad Salameh after being suspected of a series of crimes, raised suspicion of the step of Tannous himself.

According to political sources, the leak of the news of the summons came through a reporter on a local TV channel and not through an official news release issued by Judge Tannous, which raises major questions about who leaked the news, especially since the governor of the Bank of Lebanon did not report anything officially because he is outside Lebanon.

The timing of the central governor's recall comes after President Saad Hariri recused himself from not forming a government. The sources indicate that the attorney-general Ghassan Ouwaidat is not far from seeking to try to put his name to this position, and this requires providing "services" to the Free Patriotic Movement, especially after Ouwaidat confessed more than once about being subjected to a series of contacts and pressure each time to revive the file of Riad Salameh, and these confessions have already reached the media.

Does Ouwaidat consider that the provision of this "service" today at this time makes it easier for him to go through the Saray?

Political sources explain that the timing of the leak of Salameh's summons is linked to several factors, most notably:

- First the arrival of the US Treasury delegation from the Bureau of combating terrorism and financial crimes to Beirut to examine files linked to suspicious files and money laundering may result in the imposition of further sanctions on the elements of the ruling system. The summoning of Salameh at this time, which is outside Lebanon, may be aimed at trying to blackmail the US administration into not imposing further sanctions under the pretext of continuing to pursue Salameh, which the US administration is keen on.

- Secondly, this summons follows more than one communication between the president of the Free Patriotic Movement, MP Gibran Bassil, and the governor of the Bank of Lebanon, Riad Salameh. The aim was to persuade Salameh to continue spending from the mandatory reserve until the last day of the covenant. Whereas Salameh refused to touch the mandatory reserve.

- Third: the International Monetary Fund announced the sending of 860 million dollars to the Bank of Lebanon, by late next August. With this announcement, demands poured in for the central governor to spend these funds to try to save the image of the covenant, while Salameh insists on the need to form a new government.

The question remains: Does This summons fulfill its "political purpose"? Salameh, Who has declared his readiness to appear before the Swiss public prosecutor, will not be afraid to appear before the public defender in Lebanon.

In an interview with agency "Akhbar Al-Yawm", judge Tannous refused to comment on the matter "neither negatively nor positively".