Demotix/Dominic Dudley. All rights reserved.Gebran Bassil, Lebanon's Foreign Minister and newly appointed leader of General Michel Aoun's Free Patriotic Movement, has 22 million USD’s worth in real estate, purchased during the last ten years. This is according to a report aired on Monday 2 November 2015, during a TV program on LBCI that deals with corruption issues.
Bassil responded during a press conference on Tuesday 3 November denying the veracity of these claims and threatening to pursue legal routes. He claimed the estates in question formed part of an inheritance. On Monday 9 November, a new report claimed the lands were purchased and not inherited. At the time of writing, Bassil had not responded to the latter report.
As things stand, we have Joe Maalouf's report that has confirmed Bassil's opponents' view that he is a corrupt politician. On the other hand, we have Bassil's press conference where he did not go into the details of the documents, but rather presented a defense of his own record and of his party's policies and integrity, thus convincing his supporters.
