Justice Minister Shakib
Qortbawi said on Friday that the issue of Islamist detainees in Lebanese
prisons did not emerge during the current government’s mandate.
“The case of the detained
Islamists arrested following the Nahr al-Bared events started in 2007 and not
with Prime Minister Najib Mikati’s government,” Qortbawi told Al-Jadeed
television station.
“However, that does not
mean that they should be left [in prison] without trial,” he added.
“Had the investigative
judge at the time issued an indictment, the case would have now been in the
hands of the Justice Council.”
Islamists in Lebanon have
been demanding the resolution of the issue of their colleagues detained in
prisons without trial.
In 2007, fighting broke out
between the Lebanese army and the Al-Qaeda-inspired group Fatah al-Islam in the
northern Palestinian refugee camp of Nahr al-Bared.
Commenting on the latest
security developments in the country, Qortbawi said that he will ask the
government to “cancel all firearm licenses.”
Tension has been high in Lebanon the past two weeks after sectarian
clashes left 10 people dead in Tripoli and street fighting in Beirut’s Tariq
al-Jedideh killed two people. Other security incidents, including a Wednesday
night shootout in West Beirut, have also raised fears.
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