Lebanon said on Sunday it had ordered banks to disclose the existence of any accounts linked to six leaders of the Palestinian militant group Hamas whose assets the United States has ordered frozen. But a central bank official said there was no decision to freeze possible accounts found and that any action to be taken would depend on the result of the probe.
| "Nope. Nope. Can't do it..." |
A copy of a letter sent to bank heads and obtained by Reuters asked banks to disclose accounts of six Hamas activists including spiritual leader Sheikh Ahmed Yassin, senior political leader Abdel Aziz al-Rantissi and Lebanon head Usama Hamdan. It also asked the banks to reveal accounts linked to five Palestinian groups Washington accuses of financially supporting Hamas including Lebanon-based Sanabil Association for Relief and Development. Sanabil denies links to Hamas and says it aims to help Palestinian refugees and orphans. |