Sleiman: Attacks against LAF unacceptable no matter the justifications

Lebanese President Michel Sleiman stressed on Monday that the state of law cannot be restored without implementing justice.           

During his meeting with MP Khaled Zahraman, MP Nidal Tohme and a delegation from the family of Adjutant Ibrahim Zahraman, Sleiman said that attacks against the army are not acceptable no matter the justifications, stressing that justice will take its course in this case "in honor of the martyrs’ blood".          

On the other hand, Sleiman was briefed by the Interior Minister Marwan Charbel on the available data in the case of the Arsal incident and the issue of the electoral law, as well as the ongoing operational preparations.     

LAF troops were ambushed Friday February 1st, 2013, while trying to detain fugitive, Khaled Hmeid, suspected of involvement in the 2011 kidnapping of seven Estonian tourists who were abducted in Lebanon's eastern Bekaa Valley and held for nearly four months before being released in July that year.                           

Khaled Hmeid was injured in the raid and subsequently succumbed to his wounds. Shortly after his capture around 80 gunmen adamant on avenging Hmeid's capture followed the LAF troops who reportedly were stuck on the road leading out of the town due to the accumulation of snow. The gunmen attacked the troops leaving Major Pierre Bachaalany and Adjutant Ibrahim Zahraman for dead. The two were then taken alongside the remaining injured troops to the towns municipality and paraded in a show of celebration.                  

The death of the two soldiers have stirred the emotions of Lebanese Army supporters leading many to cut off roads and burn tires as a reaction to the crime.                    

The Lebanese Army has since imposed strict measures around the Bekaa town, leading to the discontent of some MPs and locals who insist that the measures are baseless and unwarranted.