SAWT BEIRUT INTERNATIONAL

| 28 March 2024, Thursday |

From pomegranate shipment in Saudi Arabia to Nouh Zaiter’s nephew in Kuwait

It is no ordinary news when the Kuwaiti Al-Rai newspaper publishes the following article:

“The public administration officers for the execution of judgments have managed to arrest Hussein Zaiter, the most dangerous Lebanese national implicated in smuggling drugs to Kuwait and Gulf countries. He is sentenced to 90 years in prison and wanted on the Interpol list.”

The arrested man, a security source said, is the nephew of Nouh Zaiter who is also wanted on the international level. The source noted that Hussein Zaiter’s son, who is also wanted by the Lebanese authorities, was caught along with his father during the raid.

Such news comes from Kuwait some twenty days after the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia seized a shipment of pomegranates stuffed with 2.5 million drug pills, which resulted in the Saudi import ban on Lebanese fruits and vegetables.

The importance of the article published in the Kuwaiti Al-Rai newspaper lies in being a reminder of the internationally wanted Nouh Zaiter. But for the record, Nouh Zaiter is moving freely in Lebanon in an armed convoy like most of the fugitives who enjoy protections, which enable them to hold press conferences and appear before the media. Such fugitives are holed up in areas that go beyond the Lebanese state’s control and are full of Captagon factories and stolen car warehouses.

The latest mind-boggling act by Nouh Zaiter is that, following the raid campaigns carried out by Judge Ghada Aoun, he called her and put his services at her disposal. Zaiter offered the judge his assistance in any raid that she would request. In turn, Aoun thanked Zaiter and said: “I won’t hesitate to contact you if need be!”

It should be noted that Zaiter is wanted on dozens of arrest warrants and ironically, Zaiter had previously filed a lawsuit against Lebanon’s Central Bank Governor Riad Salameh, which was accepted by Judge Aoun.

And by the way, what happened to the findings of the investigation into the pomegranate shipment to Saudi Arabia? Has the case been forgotten just like the rest of the preceding files? Do some files take precedence over others?

The Lebanese people cannot actually believe that it is difficult to uncover the reality behind some files. The findings of some files are uncovered within 24 hours while others are never revealed because “it is prohibited to reveal them” even if their ambiguity caused harm to the Lebanese citizen, as happened in the case of pomegranates.

In fact, the seizure of the shipment in Saudi Arabia inflicted upon Lebanese farmers gross damages worth millions of dollars after the Kingdom banned the entry of Lebanese agricultural products into its territories. But in spite of this, the perpetrator is still provided with cover!

How will the Lebanese authorities deal with the detention of Hussein Zaiter in Kuwait? Will they do better than their handling of the pomegranate shipment case?

Let’s wait and see.

    Source:
  • Sawt Beirut International