by Joseph A. Kechichian

Beirut: The pro-Hezbollah Lebanese daily Al Akhbar reported in its
Wednesday edition that several Lebanese banks started implementing the
Hezbollah International Financing Prevention Act, which the Office of
Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) of the US Department of Treasury
introduced in December 2015, as a condition to doing business with the
Lebanon.

Al Akhbar claimed that
unnamed sources confirmed that the banking accounts of Hezbollah
institutions, including the “Imdad Committee for Islamic Charity,” the
“Martyrs’ Foundation” and the “St. George Hospital,” were suspended
along with “hundreds or maybe thousands of other accounts.”

These same sources
anticipated additional closures in the weeks ahead, although it was
unclear why organisations, schools, and hospitals were targeted for
retribution. The newspaper did not provide any details on links between
the groups that saw accounts closed or suspended, with Hezbollah,
although it identified the affected charities

Several hospitals that
were affiliated with the Martyrs’ Foundation, including the Al Rasul Al
‘Azam facility in Beirut, Baalbek Hospital, West Bekaa Hospital and
other health, social and educational institutions that served a variety
of patients, allegedly were no longer able to engage in banking
transactions.

OFAC aimed to hit the
sources of funding that Hezbollah enjoyed or accessed, along with
individuals who “knowingly facilitate a significant transaction or
transactions for” Hezbollah or any individual, business or institution
linked to the group.

Last month, the
Association of Banks in Lebanon (ABL) declared that it would abide by
the US law, which came into effect in April 2016, because that was in
“Lebanon’s interests.” At the time, the Governor of the Central Bank,
Riad Salameh, declared that Beirut accepted US restrictions in the
Hezbollah International Financing Prevention Act, because Lebanon’s
economy was intrinsically tied with global financial institutions. It
was unclear, however, why non-political institutions were targeted or
whether Al Akhbar’s reportage was in fact accurate.