Bank of Lebanon denies receiving illegal Iraqi money

The governor of the Central Bank of Lebanon, Rida Salameh, put an end to rumors which talked on transferring $ 300 million in cash from Iraq to Lebanon illegally, stressing that there are no illegal sums in the Lebanese banks.

In a statement issued on Tuesday, Salameh stressed that there are no illegal sums in the Lebanese banking sector, but he did not directly tackle the issue of the transferred Iraqi sums which chairman of the Iraqi National Congress Ahmad Chalabi accused the interim Iraqi defense minister Hazem al-Shaar of transferring to Beirut.

Salameh indicated that the special investigation commission on fighting money laundering is monitoring transfers coming and outgoing to the Lebanese banks especially cash ones and always makes sure that the transfers are supported by official documents.

Salameh's clarification was made after the American ambassador in Iraq John Negroponte announced opening an investigation to this issue.

In statements on Sunday, Negroponte said that the American authorities opened an investigation on information which say that $ 300 million were taken in cash out of the Iraqi central bank and transported by air to Lebanon.