US official meets in Lebanon over anti-Hezbollah sanctions

Lebanon’s central bank governor says a senior U.S. Treasury official is visiting Beirut to explain the motives behind recent U.S. sanctions targeting Lebanon’s Iranian-backed Hezbollah group.

Treasury Assistant Secretary for Terrorist Financing, Marshall Billingslea, who is on a two-day visit to Lebanon, met Monday with the prime minister, parliament speaker and the central bank governor.

Central Bank chief Riad Salameh played down reports in local media that the U.S. will impose further sanctions on Lebanon’s dollar-strapped banking system saying that Billingslea “is not coming here to squeeze Lebanon.”

Last month, the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control sanctioned Jammal Trust Bank and added it to its list of global terrorist organizations.

The bank denied U.S. charges about “knowingly facilitating banking activities” for Hezbollah militants.