Lebanon's foreign minister summoned the US ambassador Friday over the return of a naturalised American former militiaman accused of torture to the United States despite a travel ban, state media said. Amer al-Fakhoury, a former member of the South Lebanon Army (SLA), went into exile more than two decades ago before returning to Lebanon in September, when he was arrested.
The 57-year-old was released on Monday over a statute of limitations on his alleged crimes, a judicial source said, though put under a travel ban, according to state media.
On Thursday, US President Donald Trump hailed Fakhoury's return to the United States, saying he was suffering from late-stage cancer. On Friday, Lebanon's Foreign Minister Nassif Hitti asked US ambassador Dorothy Shea to explain "the circumstances of Amer Fakhoury being transferred abroad from the US embassy," the National News Agency said.