Lebanon denies president welcomed fugitive Ghosn

The Lebanese presidency on Thursday denied reports that president Michel Aoun had welcomed fugitive former Nissan boss Carlos Ghosn upon his arrival in the country.

The French-Lebanese tycoon, who had been under house arrest in Japan over several counts of financial misconduct, escaped in mysterious circumstances and arrived in Beirut on Monday.

Several media outlets reported that he had been greeted by Aoun but a senior presidency official denied the two men had met.

"He was not received at the presidency and did not meet the president," the official told AFP.

Ghosn flew in from Istanbul on a private jet and has since been reunited with friends and family.

Ghosn said he would speak to the media next week. One of his lawyers in Lebanon, Carlos Abou Jaoude, said a date for the press conference had yet to be determined.

He entered Lebanon on a French passport, according to airport documents seen by AFP.

The public Japanese broadcaster NHK reported that the court in Tokyo had allowed Ghosn to keep a second French passport so long as it were kept "in a locked case" with the key held by his lawyers.

The exact circumstances of Ghosn's daring escape from Japan, where he had been released on bail in April pending trial after 130 days in prison, remain unclear, though colourful rumours abound.

One claim in the Lebanese media is that the auto mogul, who holds Lebanese, French and Brazilian nationalities, was sprung from his Tokyo residence in a musical instrument case -- a story a source in his entourage denied.

How Ghosn was able to jump bail has led to a Japanese investigation into what is seen as an embarrassing security lapse.

Ghosn stands accused of deferring part of his salary until after his retirement and concealing this from shareholders, as well as syphoning off millions in Nissan cash for his own purposes.

Ghosn has repeatedly denied all charges against him, and said that he fled to Lebanon to escape a "rigged" Japanese justice system.

Some Lebanese see Ghosn as a symbol of their country's fabled entrepreneurial genius and a proud representative of its vast diaspora.

The mood has changed since his November 2018 arrest, however, and, weeks into an unprecedented wave of protests against corruption and nepotism, activists saw his return as another manifestation of privilege and impunity for the super-rich.

France denies extradition
France "will not extradite" Carlos Ghosn if the former Nissan boss, who fled Japan to avoid a trial and who has French citizenship, arrived in the country, a minister said Monday.

"If Mr Ghosn arrived in France, we will not extradite Mr Ghosn because France never extradites its nationals," junior economy minister Agnes Pannier-Runacher told France's BFM news channel.

The French government nonetheless considered that Ghosn, who is of Lebanese origin and who fled house arrest in Tokyo to Beirut on Monday, "should not have absconded from the Japanese justice system."

"No one is above the law," the minister said.

But if he arrived in France and Japan then demanded that Paris extradite him, " we will apply the same rules to Mr Ghosn as to the man in the street", she added.

Ghosn was also CEO of French car-maker Renault before being ousted from the auto industry after being arrested in Japan in November on charges of financial misconduct.

He is also under investigation in France but has not yet been charged with any crime in the country.

It is not clear how he managed to leave Japan. His bail conditions barred him from leaving the country.