Now Lebanon - Marouni: Roumieh prison riots are not innocent - April 7, 2011

Kataeb bloc MP Elie Marouni on Thursday said that the recent riots are not innocent and are organized and directed from internal and foreign sides, but voiced for enhancement of the prisons’ status.
“Amnesty has its reasons and conditions, and I don’t see these reasons at the moment,” Marouni told Voice of Lebanon (100.5) radio.
“The riot in [Roumieh] prison [aimed] to take advantage of the situation in the absence of a cabinet,” Marouni added.
The Kataeb MP also commented on the cabinet formation process, saying that there are domestic and foreign complications.
“The internal complications are the desires of shares and portfolios, [..] the foreign ones are related to Syria.”
Security forces stormed Roumieh Prison on Tuesday after talks failed to secure the release of three guards detained by inmates who had been demanding amnesty and better conditions in the prison for two days.
Cabinet formation is reportedly being hampered by Change and Reform bloc leader MP Michel Aoun’s demand that he receive a blocking third of cabinet seats, including the Interior Ministry – currently part of President Michel Sleiman’s cabinet share.
-NOW Lebanon