Body
Lebanese authorities detained Ashraf Dabbour, the former Palestinian ambassador to Lebanon, shortly after he arrived in the country, officials said Wednesday. The officials said the arrest happened after Dabbour arrived at Beirut’s Rafik Hariri International Airport late Tuesday, and that he was being questioned by a judge at the prosecutor’s office in Beirut.
Authorities said Dabbour’s arrest was carried out based on a Red Notice issued by Interpol late last year. The officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak to the media.
The announcement comes after Dabbour had already been removed from his diplomatic post. Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas relieved Dabbour of his role as Palestinian ambassador to Lebanon last year, after the Palestinian Authority accused him of corruption, according to the officials.
In Lebanon, officials said the case relates to allegations connected to property activity in the country. They said Dabbour was reportedly involved in selling property in Lebanon that was owned by the Palestine Liberation Organization, which had been based in the country until Israel’s 1982 invasion of Lebanon.
The officials did not describe further details of the questioning or outline the next steps in the case, beyond saying that the process involved a judge at the prosecutor’s office in Beirut.