A European intelligence report published by
Al Seyassah al Kuwaiti newspaper revealed that France, Italy, Germany and the U.K.provided the Special Tribunal for Lebanon (STL) with documents and recorded confessions of Syrian intelligence and political groups who carried out the assassinations in Lebanon, not only since the end of 2004 when the attempt to assassinate former minister Marwan Hamadeh was carried out nearly two and a half months before Hariri’s assassination, but since the beginning of the Lebanese war in 1975.
Dissident military and intelligence officers produced these documents and testimonies through their respective Syrian embassies.
According to the European report, these European countries submitted to the international tribunal in the Hague what it called the “Lebanese reports” related to the Syrian groups led by the Syrian president’s brother in law Assef Shawkat and his brother Brigadier General Maher Assad, and the orders they gave to their spies in Lebanon.
According to
An-Nahar newspaper, President Michel Sleiman called Change and Reform bloc leader MP Michel Sleiman and invited him to lunch on Saturday in Baabda palace.
The newspaper added that during the meeting, they tackled all the issues on the table, and agreed on addressing the appointments issue according to the mechanism previously agreed upon. They also discussed the electoral law, administrative decentralization and the activation of the government’s work. Their points of view turned out to be identical.
An-Nahar newspaper reported that in light of the sporadic clashes that recently erupted in some of Beirut neighborhoods, Beirut’s MPs decided to hold an emergency meeting on Monday at the Parliament to address this issue in all respects.
Sources close to Beirut’s MPs told
An-Nahar that the project of an “arms free” Beirut will be at the core of the meeting. This project was put on the table a month ago, but did not yield any results.
The sources stressed that in light of the current circumstances, this claim cannot be neglected, and the authorities must assume their responsibilities with no delay and no pretexts.
Al-Hayat newspaper reported that the lawsuit filed by Manhattan’s prosecutor against the “Lebanese-Canadian Bank” and two financial institutions headquartered in Lebanon “Hassan Ayash Exchange Company” and “Alissa Holding” on charges of money laundering for Hezbollah surprised the Lebanese banking sector.
In this regard, the President of the Association of Banks in Lebanon Joseph Torbey said that the lawsuit filed with the U.S. judicial authorities is completely isolated from the Lebanese banking sector, and does not affect it at all.
Torbey told
Al-Hayat that this case will remain between the U.S. complainant and the targeted institutions, and will be addressed via attorneys who will stand before the U.S.courts. The final verdict will be issued by the relevant judicial authority.
Future bloc MP Ammar Houry told
Al-Mustaqbal newspaper that during the emergency meeting they will hold on Monday at the Parliament, Beirut’s MPs will focus on the necessity to address the latest security incidents and turn Beirut into an “arms free” city,leading to an “arms free” Lebanon.
Houry said that it is unacceptable for arms to be used every time a dispute erupts between two persons. It is also unacceptable to terrorize people for no reason, he added.
“Beirut’s MPs will call for strengthening security forces and making sure the LAF and ISF patrol most of the city’s neighborhoods around the clock, to enforce the respect of the state, the LAF and the security forces,” he said.
Houry said that illegitimate weapons are back to terrorize the people of Beirut and to undermine their security, dignity and right to stability, calling on the Lebanese to be patient.