Bassil holds Hariri accountable for any harm done to him or any FPM member

 
13-02-2009

Telecommunications Minister Gebran Bassil held a press conference addressing the wiretapping controversy on Friday and said he had revealed all the official documents concerning this issue, "so no minister could say that he did not know about it."
"As soon as I took up my position at the Telecommunications Ministry, I made efforts to implement the law, while some parties did not want me to do so," he said.

He questioned why the UN International Independent Investigation Commission (UNIIIC) was implicated in the wiretapping issue and said the commission denied the (US backed) March 14 alliance's claims that it did not receive the information it requested. He accused "some parties of exploiting this matter and misleading the public for political ends," such as calling for a mass rally on the fourth commemoration of former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri's assassination.

He said the Free Patriotic Movement called for the establishment of the Special Tribunal on Hariri's assassination in 2005.
Bassil said everyone knew that there was wiretapping equipment at Future Movement leader MP Saad Hariri's residence in Qoreitem.

"Is it acceptable to invade people's privacy under the pretext of ensuring information for security reasons?" Bassil asked in reference to Internal Security Director General Achraf Rifi, who, he said leaked information to the media when he had no right to do so as an employee under the Interior Ministry's supervision. "I asked Interior Minister Ziad Baroud to take the necessary procedures to deal with [this transgression]," he said.

He called on Speaker Nabih Berri and head of the Media and Telecom Commission MP Hassan Fadlallah to announce the role of the investigative commission on wiretapping, which would be formed in the near future, questioning if its purpose would be to investigate the implementation or violation of the law.

Bassil called to form a judicial investigation committee on all wiretapping operations to hold accountable those who were not carrying out their duties properly.
He said a serious investigation would be conducted and all these issues would be clarified once evidence was presented.
"The cabinet can announce its position if it does not want to implement or amend the law," he concluded.