Naharnet - Sayyed Describes Hizbullah's Airport Welcome as Popular, Political Support: I Resort to State Institutions - September 19, 2010

Former head of General Security Department, Maj. Gen. Jamil Sayyed, said Sunday that ongoing legal action against him was "illegal."

Sayyed has brought lawsuits against prosecutor general Saeed Mirza, accusing him of producing "false evidence."

"Mr. Mirza is supposed to be a public prosecutor, i.e. neutral, but considering these lawsuits he became my personal adversary," Sayyed said.

He said that by law, "all proceedings by him (Mirza) are -- de facto -- illegal."

Sayyed said he still had not been called in for questioning.

The ex-general, together with Hizbullah and its allies, have accused security officials, politicians and judges close to former premier Rafik Hariri's son, Prime Minister Saad Hariri, of having "manufactured" evidence to implicate them in the assassination.

Sayyed was reportedly accompanied from the airport by "armed Hizbullah bodyguards" when he returned to Beirut on Saturday after a short visit to France.

He described the welcoming he received at the airport from Hizbullah and its allies as "a political and popular support."

"I have been demanding since five years to hold false witnesses accountable under the law, but it seems that when you resort to law in a country such as Lebanon, state officials take you lightly unless you have political and popular support," said Sayyed.

"I'm the son of the State and I served it for 40 years, and hence I resort to (state) institutions. I only said that there's a political group that had fabricated false witnesses, and citizens have the right to utilize all manifestations of expression, protest and street demonstrations against this group, as practiced in all democratic nations."(Naharnet-AFP)