Lebanese President Michel Aoun denied on Monday having been informed about US sanctions against Christian figures close to Hezbollah.
“We have not been notified about this matter,” he told a meeting with the press at his summer residence in Deir al-Qamar.
He added he did not look into the comments delivered by Prime Minister Saad Hariri from Washington last week, defending his son-in-law Foreign Minister Jebran Bassil, who heads the Free Patriotic Movement.
Regarding claims that the US had urged him to dismiss Bassil, he remarked: “I will not dismiss Bassil or any other human being. He is the head of a political party and head of the largest parliamentary bloc.”
He acknowledged that some senior officials had called on him to exert pressure on the minister regarding some political affairs and “my answer has always been ‘go to him and talk to him about it’.”
On the 2020 state budget, Aoun stressed the need to have the budget be issued by December 31 at the latest, hoping there will be no delay.
He also denied that Lebanon had come under any sort of US pressure to achieve reconciliation over Qabr Shamoun incident and to resolve the country’s financial issues.
Last June, two bodyguards of State Minister for the Displaced Saleh al-Gharib, who is close to Hezbollah and the Syrian regime, were killed when his convoy came under fire in Qabr Shamoun, sparking a cabinet crisis that ended only a few days ago.
“Neither the US interfered, nor is it in our nature to yield to pressure,” he added.
Concerning political reforms and whether the Taef Accord will be fully implemented during his term, he said that he was working on respecting the constitution.
“Some parties are accustomed to violating the constitution and depriving others of their rights. When I try to fix things, they say the constitution is being violated. Some are used to many bad habits, so it takes time to fix everything,” he added.
