Introduction to the evening news 20-08-2012

After Hezbollah threatened to resort to precision missiles, Israel completed the construction of the largest shelter in Haifa. The shelter is protected against toxic chemicals.                 

But in Lebanon, no shelters are built in the South, as Hassan Mokdad’s father warned of a “disaster” if his son will not be freed, while the rest of the Mokdad Clan members are considering the Syrians citizens as “moving targets”.               

The strangest thing about this complicated situation lies in the release of one of the Syrian detainees today. According to Mokdad Clan, Adel Al Suleiman Mohammad was proven innocent and was accordingly released. This statement raises the following questions: Are the rest of the detainees guilty? What is their crime? Who decides if they belong to the Free Syrian Army? And did joining the Free Syrian Army become a condemned crime in Lebanon, judged by the Clans’ civil courts?               

Maybe the intention was to turn the kidnapping into terrifying bombs shelled over the heads of the Syrian refugees, and to impose a blockade on the anti-regime refugees. But this makes us wonder: Where does the Lebanese government stand between Abou Ibrahim and the Mokdad Clan?              

Maybe the government is still on holidays. But it seems that Al Tabaneh and Jabal Mohsen did not enjoy the Eid. The two areas are still on fire while the kidnapping series continue and appear to be totally normal in a country where civil war is still undeclared. The war is similar to the one we witnessed before and still suffering from its impacts. This is the case of the unhealed wounds of 17000 detainees whose fate is still unknown and who were abandoned by the government.           

Many times before, kidnappers turned into public officials. Should we expect to see Maher Mokdad in the parliament?

For the full LBCI introduction, please click on the video above