iloubnan - Farid Habib calls to refer Nahhas to judiciary - June 01, 2011

Future's Deputy Farid Habib called, during an interview on Wednesday on MTV channel, to refer Caretaker Telecommunications Minister, Charbel Nahhas, to judiciary.

'The resigned Minister Charbel Nahhas seeks to take over OGERO Company with view of annulling it afterwards,' he said.

He held the other camp responsible for the current vacuum in the vital utilities, recalling the 'coup' that camp launched against Doha Accord, as well as for toppling the national unity government. 'The other camp's policy of blocking and resignations highlighted the past stage, mostly Charbel Nahhas' behavior,' he added.

He said 'any decision to be issued by the cabinet must not be modified by any Minister whosoever unless through another decision issued by the cabinet.'

'ISF Director General, Major General Ashraf Rifi, sought to protect public and state's funds, nothing more nothing less,' he stressed, pointing that Nahhas still detains funds from the telecoms ministry's revenues which he had not sent to the finance ministry and the state Treasury yet.

Commenting on House Speaker Nabih Berri's call for the Parliament to convene on forthcoming June 8, Habib said 'it is not feasible that the Parliament carries out legislative tasks when a caretaker government is in office. We do not want new crises in the country.'

Naharnet - Suleiman Allegedly Asked Najjar ‘Orally’ to ‘Study’ Rifi’s Case - June 01, 2011

President Michel Suleiman did not ask caretaker Justice Minister Ibrahim Najjar to take judicial measures against Internal Security Forces chief Maj. Gen. Ashraf Rifi, informed sources told An Nahar daily, claiming that the request to “study” the case was made “orally” and then interpreted by a memo released by the presidency’s general-directorate.

The sources told An Nahar daily on Wednesday that the oral request was based on article 49 of the constitution and did not have a reference for the referral of Rifi to the judiciary over his rejection to comply with caretaker Interior Minister Ziad Baroud’s order to pull members of the ISF’s Information Branch from a building affiliated with the telecommunications ministry.

Suleiman allegedly asked Najjar to only study the issue given that Baroud relieved himself of his duties and acting Interior Minister Elias Murr and Caretaker Premier Saad Hariri are abroad.

Article 49 says the following: “The president of the republic is the head of state and is the symbol of the nation’s unity. He shall safeguard the constitution and Lebanon’s independence, unity, and territorial integrity. The president shall preside over the supreme defense council and be the commander-in-chief of the armed forces which fall under the authority of the council of ministers.”

Sources close to Suleiman confirmed to As Safir daily that he made the request to Najjar because the two security portfolios (interior and defense) are not occupied and Hariri is abroad.

“Such a constitutional gap pushed the president towards bridging it by resorting to article 49,” the sources said.

Asked about accusations that constitutionally the president is not allowed to address a minister through a written order as he did with the order issued to Najjar by the presidency’s general-directorate, the sources said: “The president didn’t address the justice minister in writing. He did it orally and gave instructions that the acting director-general of the presidency wrote in a memo.”

Meanwhile, Suleiman held separate talks with al-Mustaqbal bloc leader Fouad Saniora and MP Ahmed Fatfat on Tuesday to discuss the issue that has deepened the political divide in the country.

Naharnet - Youssef Returns to Lebanon: I Have No Problem in Discussing All Issues before Judiciary - June 01, 2011

Ogero Telecom General Director Abdul Monem Youssef returned to Lebanon on Tuesday to a throng of photographers at Beirut international airport seeking to take his first photo after the incident at a Telecommunications Ministry building at al-Adliyeh, reported the daily al-Mustaqbal on Wednesday.

Airport security however prevented the photographers from taking any pictures.

Youssef announced upon his arrival that he is prepared to discuss all issues before the judiciary.

Last Thursday, a dispute broke out at the Telecom Ministry building at al-Adliyeh when security forces prevented Telecom Minister Charbel Nahhas from dismantling a third GSM network belonging to Ogero.

The daily reported that it managed to take his picture while he was taking a stroll in downtown Beirut where he visited slain former Premier Rafik Hariri’s grave.

Youssef voiced his trust in all Lebanese judicial circles, adding that the equipment for the third GSM network belongs to Ogero and that he did not act illegally in attempting to install them at the Telecommunications Ministry building.

“This is a strictly administrative affair and it is reassuring that it is now in the hands of the judiciary,” he told al-Mustaqbal.

Naharnet - Report: Man Arrested in Plot to Launch Rocket on Israel - June 01, 2011

The Lebanese army thwarted an attempt to launch a rocket from southern Lebanon towards Israel several days ago and arrested a man involved in the operation, As Safir newspaper reported Wednesday.

The newspaper quoted military sources as saying that the man had transported the rockets and set their launch pad.

Investigation is underway to find the parties that lie behind the incident and uncover whether there was a link between the plot and the roadside bomb that targeted the convoy of U.N. peacekeepers in the south on Friday.

High-ranking security sources told As Safir that the probe into the bombing has unveiled that an extremist group had planned the attack on the patrol.

They said that extremists lie in some areas near the coastal town of Rmaileh, where the bombing took place.

Meanwhile, five Italian troops, who were injured in the bombing, were transported to their home country on Tuesday while the sixth peacekeeper was kept at the hospital in the southern port city of Sidon due to the severe injuries he sustained in the attack.