Lebanese spy chief’s Washington visit spreads hope, controversy and covid-19
In August, the family of Lebanese American businessman Amer Fakhoury buried him while vowing not to rest until the Hezbollah-linked officials who unjustly jailed and tortured him in Lebanon are brought to justice. Last week, only two months later, Fakhoury’s jailer was welcomed to the White House, State Department and CIA. He was then given a humanitarian award at a Washington foundation dinner.
Lebanon’s spy chief, Maj. Gen. Abbas Ibrahim, an Assad-allied, Hezbollah-linked alleged serial human rights abuser, likely also exposed everyone in Washington he met to the coronavirus. But this is the least of the worries raised by his visit. Lawmakers and experts are concerned he is using his role as an international ransom-broker to legitimize and burnish his own reputation and Hezbollah’s domestic stature, with the Trump administration’s help.
Ibrahim is at the center of the administration’s 11th-hour push to negotiate the release of American hostages held by the Assad regime, including journalist Austin Tice. His involvement has pitted President Trump against some conservative members of his own party, who want to sanction Ibrahim, not venerate him.
Fakhoury was arrested in September 2019 by the Lebanese General Security Directorate, which Ibrahim runs. Trump administration officials said at the time that they believed the arrest was ordered by Hezbollah. Fakhoury was freed in March after his daughter Guila Fakhoury appeared on “Fox & Friends” to plead for Trump’s help.
Unfortunately, by then Amer Fakhoury had contracted the Epstein-Barr virus, which has been linked to the occurrence of lymphoma, which he developed. He was denied medical treatment in prison; by the time he was released, his cancer was untreatable, and he died five months later. Before he died, he told his daughters stories of the extreme abuse he suffered and witnessed at the hands of Ibrahim’s goons.
Last week, Ibrahim arrived in Washington on a private jet at the invitation of national security adviser Robert C. O’Brien, who welcomed him at the White House on Friday. Ibrahim also met with CIA Director Gina Haspel and Undersecretary of State for Political Affairs David Hale. On Saturday evening, he was feted at a private dinner at the home of Nizar Zakka, a Lebanese national and U.S. permanent resident who was detained in Iran for four years before being released last year, in part due to Ibrahim’s back-channel intervention.
At the dinner, the James W. Foley Legacy Foundation awarded Ibrahim its “International Hostage Freedom Award” for his work on the Zakka case and the release of Sam Goodwin, an American detained in Syria last year while on a sightseeing trip. The families of Tice and Majd Kamalmaz, another American believed to be held by the Assad regime, were in attendance. On Sunday, Ibrahim got the results of a coronavirus test taken the day before; it turned out to be positive. It’s unclear when he contracted the disease, but positive results show up, on average, five to seven days after exposure, meaning he likely brought the virus with him to the United States.
Zakka, the former detainee in Iran, told me everyone at the dinner took proper precautions and no other guests have yet reported testing positive. He also said Ibrahim could play a crucial role in facilitating the possible release of Tice and the other half-dozen American hostages in Syria. O’Brien went to Beirut quietly to meet with Ibrahim last year, Zakka said — an account confirmed by other sources. The Wall Street Journal reported this week that Kash Patel, a deputy assistant to Trump, traveled to Damascus earlier this year to continue these negotiations.
Zakka told me the Assad regime would almost certainly demand “a very high price” for the hostages, potentially including the total withdrawal of U.S. troops and a promise of immunity to Assad for the massive war crimes he has committed. “Assad is protecting himself from prosecution by holding on to Tice.”
Diane Foley, mother of slain U.S. journalist James Foley and the head of his namesake foundation, told me the families of American hostages see the Trump administration as more committed than past administrations to securing the release of Americans abroad. She said Ibrahim could be a valuable interlocutor in that regard.
“People like General Ibrahim are not squeaky perfect, but I feel it’s important we find people like him who dare to be a humanitarian channel on our behalf,” she said. “Granted, he has to walk a fine line, because to live and do what he does in Lebanon, he has to work with Hezbollah.”
Nobody could blame the families of missing or slain Americans for grasping at any chance to bring their loved ones home from captivity. But as the Washington Institute’s executive director, Robert Satloff, said on Twitter, dealing with figures like Ibrahim can have serious foreign policy implications. Making huge concessions, such as withdrawing troops from Syria, might serve to “validate hostage-takers’ strategy by paying in strategic coin.”
It is also worth noting that Hezbollah is currently facing a severe crisis of legitimacy in Lebanon and desperately seeking international recognition and aid to preserve its shaky hold on power.
Ibrahim’s ties to Hezbollah are hardly in dispute. He is a close associate of Hezbollah security chief Wafiq Safa, whom the Trump administration sanctioned last July as a terrorist. Ibrahim regularly negotiates on behalf of Hezbollah, funneling money back into the terrorist organization. His agency barely tries to conceal its close ties to the group.
That’s why there’s a new bill in Congress that calls for sanctioning Hezbollah and Ibrahim specifically, sponsored by Rep. Joe Wilson (R-S.C.), who chairs the Republican Study Committee’s national security task force. Ibrahim is not just a criminal and a terrorist, Wilson asserted, but also embodies Hezbollah’s stranglehold over the Lebanese state and has a direct line to the Assad regime.
“Ibrahim is a crucial Hezbollah financial facilitator with American blood on his hands, including that of the late Amer Fakhoury,” he said. “While he enables Assad the hostage-taker, he cynically comes to Washington, D.C., masquerading as a hostage negotiator. But make no mistake, endangering American lives is a way of life for Ibrahim and he must eventually be held accountable.”
Working to bring American hostages home is always a noble endeavor — and sometimes means working with unsavory characters. But our government must engage in such efforts without legitimizing terrorist groups or absolving people who tortured U.S. citizens. And we must not confuse ransom brokers with humanitarians in the process.
The complexities of the issue don’t leave room for dogmatic approaches. But if dealing with Ibrahim to retrieve Americans undermines U.S. security and Lebanese stability, we should find another way to get it done.
Ibrahim is at the center of the administration’s 11th-hour push to negotiate the release of American hostages held by the Assad regime, including journalist Austin Tice. His involvement has pitted President Trump against some conservative members of his own party, who want to sanction Ibrahim, not venerate him.
Fakhoury was arrested in September 2019 by the Lebanese General Security Directorate, which Ibrahim runs. Trump administration officials said at the time that they believed the arrest was ordered by Hezbollah. Fakhoury was freed in March after his daughter Guila Fakhoury appeared on “Fox & Friends” to plead for Trump’s help.
Unfortunately, by then Amer Fakhoury had contracted the Epstein-Barr virus, which has been linked to the occurrence of lymphoma, which he developed. He was denied medical treatment in prison; by the time he was released, his cancer was untreatable, and he died five months later. Before he died, he told his daughters stories of the extreme abuse he suffered and witnessed at the hands of Ibrahim’s goons.
Last week, Ibrahim arrived in Washington on a private jet at the invitation of national security adviser Robert C. O’Brien, who welcomed him at the White House on Friday. Ibrahim also met with CIA Director Gina Haspel and Undersecretary of State for Political Affairs David Hale. On Saturday evening, he was feted at a private dinner at the home of Nizar Zakka, a Lebanese national and U.S. permanent resident who was detained in Iran for four years before being released last year, in part due to Ibrahim’s back-channel intervention.
At the dinner, the James W. Foley Legacy Foundation awarded Ibrahim its “International Hostage Freedom Award” for his work on the Zakka case and the release of Sam Goodwin, an American detained in Syria last year while on a sightseeing trip. The families of Tice and Majd Kamalmaz, another American believed to be held by the Assad regime, were in attendance. On Sunday, Ibrahim got the results of a coronavirus test taken the day before; it turned out to be positive. It’s unclear when he contracted the disease, but positive results show up, on average, five to seven days after exposure, meaning he likely brought the virus with him to the United States.
Zakka, the former detainee in Iran, told me everyone at the dinner took proper precautions and no other guests have yet reported testing positive. He also said Ibrahim could play a crucial role in facilitating the possible release of Tice and the other half-dozen American hostages in Syria. O’Brien went to Beirut quietly to meet with Ibrahim last year, Zakka said — an account confirmed by other sources. The Wall Street Journal reported this week that Kash Patel, a deputy assistant to Trump, traveled to Damascus earlier this year to continue these negotiations.
Zakka told me the Assad regime would almost certainly demand “a very high price” for the hostages, potentially including the total withdrawal of U.S. troops and a promise of immunity to Assad for the massive war crimes he has committed. “Assad is protecting himself from prosecution by holding on to Tice.”
Diane Foley, mother of slain U.S. journalist James Foley and the head of his namesake foundation, told me the families of American hostages see the Trump administration as more committed than past administrations to securing the release of Americans abroad. She said Ibrahim could be a valuable interlocutor in that regard.
“People like General Ibrahim are not squeaky perfect, but I feel it’s important we find people like him who dare to be a humanitarian channel on our behalf,” she said. “Granted, he has to walk a fine line, because to live and do what he does in Lebanon, he has to work with Hezbollah.”
Nobody could blame the families of missing or slain Americans for grasping at any chance to bring their loved ones home from captivity. But as the Washington Institute’s executive director, Robert Satloff, said on Twitter, dealing with figures like Ibrahim can have serious foreign policy implications. Making huge concessions, such as withdrawing troops from Syria, might serve to “validate hostage-takers’ strategy by paying in strategic coin.”
It is also worth noting that Hezbollah is currently facing a severe crisis of legitimacy in Lebanon and desperately seeking international recognition and aid to preserve its shaky hold on power.
Ibrahim’s ties to Hezbollah are hardly in dispute. He is a close associate of Hezbollah security chief Wafiq Safa, whom the Trump administration sanctioned last July as a terrorist. Ibrahim regularly negotiates on behalf of Hezbollah, funneling money back into the terrorist organization. His agency barely tries to conceal its close ties to the group.
That’s why there’s a new bill in Congress that calls for sanctioning Hezbollah and Ibrahim specifically, sponsored by Rep. Joe Wilson (R-S.C.), who chairs the Republican Study Committee’s national security task force. Ibrahim is not just a criminal and a terrorist, Wilson asserted, but also embodies Hezbollah’s stranglehold over the Lebanese state and has a direct line to the Assad regime.
“Ibrahim is a crucial Hezbollah financial facilitator with American blood on his hands, including that of the late Amer Fakhoury,” he said. “While he enables Assad the hostage-taker, he cynically comes to Washington, D.C., masquerading as a hostage negotiator. But make no mistake, endangering American lives is a way of life for Ibrahim and he must eventually be held accountable.”
Working to bring American hostages home is always a noble endeavor — and sometimes means working with unsavory characters. But our government must engage in such efforts without legitimizing terrorist groups or absolving people who tortured U.S. citizens. And we must not confuse ransom brokers with humanitarians in the process.
The complexities of the issue don’t leave room for dogmatic approaches. But if dealing with Ibrahim to retrieve Americans undermines U.S. security and Lebanese stability, we should find another way to get it done.
