Suleiman Denies Blocking Qahwagi’s Possible Presidency, Fransen Rejects Amending Indictment
STL Rejects Amending Indictment
It seems that the chilling weather froze the Lebanese political circles but not the military ones.
As the Lebanese Army tight grip on the head of the extreme cell that aimed to target its bases, eyes were focused on military developments in the Bekaa valley.
This came as the Pre-Trial Judge of the Special Tribunal for Lebanon Daniel Fransen rejected the Prosecutor's request to amend the indictment.
Starting with the military front, the army intelligence agents succeeded Friday in arresting the chief of a kidnapping cell which is behind several abduction operations among which are Syrian citizens.
Mastermind of Kidnapping Operations Arrested
"Army intelligence agents arrested Mohammed Fayyad Ismail and some members of his gang in the Bekaa town of al-Qasr," the National News Agency reported.
The kidnapping trader is the mastermind of a string of kidnappings, attacks on the Army, and thefts in the Bekaa region.
"In addition to kidnappings, Ismail is accused of arms smuggling and trafficking between Lebanon and Turkey, as well as smuggling arms into the Syrian territory," the Lebanese army statement said.
Security sources informed "as-Safir" Lebanese newspaper that "since last week, the army has set a plan to haunt Ismail and his son in law Saad al-Ali."
Following an intensive surveillance of Ismail's movements, the Lebanese Army commandos participated in Friday's raid which led to arresting the suspect after a leg injury.
"The man received treatment at a hospital in Baalbek under tight security," "as-Safir" reported.
The Army warned "citizens against falling into the trap of the remaining members of Ismail's dangerous gang by sheltering them or offering them any other kind of assistance."
A well informed security source informed the daily that "the arrest of Ismail is the first step on the road to adjust the region's security and the arrest of all who would undermine its security."
Taha Still Free
On another level, "al-Akhbar" Lebanese daily revealed Saturday that "contacts continued between the security services and Palestinian leaders in Ain al-Hilweh refugee camp for the arrest of Tawfiq Taha (Abu Mohammed), suspected of chairing the cell accused of preparing attacks against the army."
"Inspite of "Fatah" movement confirming of cooperation with the Lebanese authorities to arrest Abu Mohammad," Lebanese source involved in the file excluded to "al-Akhbar" "the possibility of finding a solution to this issue."
"The Palestinian movements thatare able to resolve the issue have no intention to do so," the source added.
In parallel, a security source following up the issue renounced to "as-Safir" "some Lebanese political forces proceed in stabbing the army in the back."
This came after "Future Bloc" MP Khaled Daher doubted "the existence of an extremist cell," threatening with public demonstrations in Northern Lebanon.
"The campaign against the LA is not innocent or does not come out of the blue," the source stressed considering it "is part of a methodical plan, which aims not only to harm the LA, but also to push it out of the picture so that some can achieve their hidden objectives."
The paper further affirmed that "the LA will keep blocking their way and they should know that the LAF is not waiting for anyone to give it a certificate of merit."
The source pointed out that "the military institution will keep on carrying out its mission and role regardless of anyone's opinion on the matter, especially of those who are providing cover to sabotage networks."
Suleiman Denies Blocking Qahwagi's Possible Presidency
Meanwhile, Lebanese President Michel Suleiman denied that "he asked for the amendment of the age of retirement for the army commander, to prevent him from announcing his candidacy for the presidency."
In an interview with "an-Nahar" Lebanese daily, Suleiman wondered: "If army Chief Gen. Jean Qahwaji retires about nine months before the end of the presidential term, is it permissible to appoint a new army leader?"
"The retirement age in a lot of countries is no less than 62 years," he said.
He further called the Lebanese to "forget about the term extension symphony. Neither the presidency, nor parliament nor any institution shall benefit from extension."
With regard to the Lebanese approach to the Syrian crisis, the President said that "the keyword lies in the abstention from interfering in Syria, since they are not stoking the fire as long as they cannot extinguish it."
"All of the Syrian people want democracy. Those who took part in the referendum and those who boycotted it both said that they want democracy and they have to know how to implement it correctly," Suleiman added.
At the STL level, the tribunal announced that "Pre-Trial Judge Daniel Fransen's rejected the Prosecutor's request to amend the indictment."
In its Friday statement, the STL clarified that "pretrial judge has rejected on procedural grounds a request from the prosecutor to amend the indictment against the four men accused of assassinating former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri."
The request to amend the indictment, which was made on Feb. 8 by former Prosecutor Daniel Bellemare, sought to add a count of "criminal association."
In light of Fransen's decision, STL David Baragwanath decided to temporarily suspend proceedings to define "criminal association and asked the parties and the defense to make submissions on whether the Appeals Chamber should continue with the process of defining the crime."
Foreign Armed Elements in Syria
Moving to the Syrian developments, Visitors of the Syrian capital Damascus disclosed to "al-Binaa" newspaper "more information regarding the involvement of Western, Turkish, Gulf and Libyan military elements among the armed opposition groups."
The information confirmed that "the Syrian security services arrested dozens of armed elements from different nationalities among which are three French, four British and 64 Turkish arrested in Zabadani."
In parallel, the papers' sources highlighted the "arrest of a Qatari group that intended to sneak into Syria at Beirut's International Airport."
According to Damascus visitors, "there are hundreds of bodies of armed Libyans who participated in terrorist acts in more than one Syrian city."
"The Libyan detainees confessed that they arrived first to Iskenderun port in Turkey and from there infiltrated into Syria through mountains and rugged areas," "al-Binaa" added.
Noting that "a large group of armed men had surrendered in the past two days to competent authorities in the town of Serghaya near the border with Lebanon," the paper stressed that "there are still hundreds of militants in Jabal al-Zawya."
"The concerned authorities warned them to surrender and hand their weapons during a specified period," it added.
Source: Lebanese newspapers, Translated and Edited by moqawama.org
