Lebanon’s Salameh threatens to sue Bloomberg over sanctions report

Salameh has denied any wrongdoing and has described the allegations as “fabrications.” On Friday, he threatened to sue Bloomberg and its reporter in Beirut, the Daily Star reports. 

Lebanon is in the midst of its worst economic crisis since the 1975-1990 civil war, with nearly a third of the population living below the poverty line. The Lebanese pound plunged to a record low on Tuesday of 10,000 to the dollar on the black market. 

The small Mediterranean country is still reeling from the massive explosion that tore through the capital, Beirut, in August, killing nearly 200 people, injuring thousands and causing billions of dollars in damage. 

Prime Minister Hassan Diab’s cabinet resigned in the aftermath of the blast and the country has been without a functioning government since. Years of government corruption and mismanagement, coupled with a lack of basic services, triggered widespread anti-government protests in October 2019. Amid the deepening financial crisis, Lebanon defaulted on its debt for the first time in its history last March.