A French judge issues an international arrest warrant against the Governor of the Banque du Liban, Riad Salameh (AFP)

According to Agence France-Presse, quoting a source familiar with the course of the investigation, a French judge issued today, Tuesday, an international arrest warrant against the Governor of the Banque du Liban, Riad Salameh, on the background of corruption cases.

And France Press reported yesterday, Monday, that the Lebanese judiciary failed to inform the Governor of the Banque du Liban, in accordance with the rules, that he must appear before the judiciary in Paris, according to a prominent judicial official, which explains his refusal to attend the interrogation session that was scheduled for today.

On Monday, Salama’s agents also submitted requests to the Lebanese judiciary to suspend cooperation with European investigations and to suffice with the local investigation, which is taking place mainly against the backdrop of European investigations into money laundering and embezzlement cases.

While they were in Lebanon, French judges asked their Lebanese counterparts to inform Salameh of his summons to appear before them in Paris.

The judicial official said that last week, a security patrol went for four consecutive days to the Banque du Liban building to inform Salameh of “the date of his interrogation session scheduled before Judge Aud Bourizi on Tuesday in Paris, but they did not find him.”

And each time, according to the judicial official, the bank’s security official would inform the patrol that the governor was not there.

After it was not possible to inform Salama, the investigating judge in Beirut, Charbel Abu Samra, will write to the French judge to inform her.

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Journalists are working on editing this story, and will update as soon as possible with more information as it becomes available