Former Syrian Vice President Abdel Halim Khaddam, who lives in exile in Paris, confirmed to Le Nouvel Observateur magazine that more than 20 billion dollars were stolen in Lebanon and Syria by people close to Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.
Khaddam told the French magazine that in presidential circles, the money stolen in Lebanon and Syria exceeds 20 billion dollars. Khaddam added that Lebanese President Emile Lahoud, who is loyal to Syria, had told Bashar that another president (other than him) would necessarily open the files of the Bank of Medina or the file of transferring Saddam Hussein's money to Lebanon.
Khaddam, who has continued his media campaign against the Syrian regime since last December, pointed out the involvement of Lahoud and the Lebanese and Syrian security services in corruption in Lebanon.
Regarding the issue of the assassination of former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik Hariri, in which servants of Damascus are accused of involvement, the former Syrian official confirmed that he repeatedly advised Hariri to leave Lebanon.
He added, ten days before his assassination, I met Hariri in Beirut and told him: Submit your resignation and leave abroad, and he answered me: I have elections, I cannot. Khaddam continued, “The elections were approaching, and Hariri, who is close to the opposition, was repeating that Lebanon cannot rule against Syria, but it does not rule from it. That sentence is what killed him.”
