BEIRUT: Relatives and supporters of
former MP Michel Samaha held a protest against his detention Sunday, as several
lawmakers called for the expulsion of Syria’s ambassador to Lebanon following
the indictment of Samaha and two Syrian military figures.
Samaha’s daughters, relatives and
defense attorney gathered near the Military Tribunal in Beirut, demanding the release
of the pro-Syrian regime official.
Samaha, a former MP and two-time
information minister, was charged by Lebanon’s military tribunal for planning
“terrorist attacks” with the aim of sparking strife.
In an unprecedented move, Syrian
National Security Bureau head Maj. Gen. Ali Mamlouk and a Syrian brigadier
general, who was identified as Brig. Gen. Adnan, were also included in the
indictment.
Upon investigation by the Internal
Security Forces Information Branch, Samaha reportedly confessed that he was
involved in the terror plot and that he transported explosives in his car from
Syria to Lebanon for this purpose.
In light of these developments, over
the weekend several MPs called for the expulsion of Syria’s Ambassador to
Lebanon Ali Abdel-Karim Ali.
Aley MP Akram Shehayeb, a member of
Walid Jumblatt’s parliamentary bloc, said it was time for Ali to leave the
country.
“Is it not time for Lebanon to kick
out the ambassador of a rogue regime that is hostile to its people and all
those within the region?” he said in a statement Sunday.
Shehayeb said Ali needed to explain
his position given the Samaha case.
“The ambassador of the Syrian regime
to Lebanon does not miss an opportunity to stress the regime’s keenness for
security, stability and peace in Lebanon ... but what does he say after the
Military Tribunal’s accusations against former MP and Minister Michel Samaha?
That the regime requested him to do things and provided him with the necessary
explosives and money to strike at Lebanon’s security, stability and peace?” he
asked
Security sources told The Daily Star
that evidence against Samaha includes a video of him saying that Mamlouk had
handed him the bombs in addition to cash to be distributed to would-be
terrorists in Lebanon.
Similar calls were made by Chouf MP
Marwan Hamade. “It’s time for Syria’s ambassador to be summoned and returned to
Syria along with the explosives. Our envoy in Damascus should be recalled until
there is a democratic system there which acts without enmity toward Lebanon,”
Hamade said in comments published by An-Nahar newspaper Sunday.
Foreign Minister Adnan Mansour said
it was too early to discuss how the charges would affect Syrian-Lebanese
relations.
“It’s too early to discuss this
issue, especially since the case is now in the hands of the judiciary. We have
to respect the authority of the judiciary and not attempt to supersede it ...
through making remarks,” Mansour told reporters at Rafik Hariri International
Airport Sunday prior to his departure to Saudi Arabia to take part in Tuesday’s
Organization of the Islamic Cooperation Summit.
“We will build on what the judiciary
decides,” Mansour said.
A similar position was taken by
Interior Minister Marwan Charbel, saying it was too early to cut ties with
Syria.
Akkar MP Khaled Daher, from the
Future parliamentary bloc of former Prime Minister Saad Hariri, said that
Mansour is “protecting the killers” with his stance, calling on the Cabinet to
expel Ali, sever ties with the Syrian regime and recall Lebanon’s Ambassador to
Syria Michel Khouri.
Speaking during a news conference at
his residence in Tripoli Sunday, Daher called on Prime Minister Najib Mikati
and ministers loyal to Jumblatt to resign from the Cabinet.
“It’s time to resign from a
government which protects killers and criminals,” he said.
Baalbek-Hermel MP Walid Sukkariyyeh,
from Hezbollah’s bloc, said Samaha’s detention is aimed at the Syrian
leadership given Samaha is close to Syrian President Bashar Assad.
“This is my analysis for what is
happening; I am not accusing or acquitting him as we are still waiting for the
truth to be revealed,” Sukkariyyeh said during an iftar banquet in Baalbek.
Sukkariyyeh asked whether the case is a
“Hollywood film” made up by international intelligence services targeting the
Syrian regime.http://www.dailystar.com.lb/News/Politics/2012/Aug-13/184476-march-14mps-demand-syrian-envoys-expulsion.ashx#axzz23Ova9jeY
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