Bassil Criticizes Attempts to "Ridicule" Barouk Station Case
Lebanon's Justice Minister Ibrahim Najjar said a license for al-Barouk internet network was issued in June 2004 by then Cabinet Minister Jean Louis Qerdahi while in 2007 Minister Marwan Hamadeh refused to authorize interconnection by the company.
In an interview with Voice of Lebanon Radio, Najjar denied reports the judiciary has "received any information or technical reports from the telecommunications ministry or any other side of an "Israeli" transmission station in Tallat al-Barouk."
He also said the judiciary was unaware that the station had directed its satellite dishes toward the south or that "sophisticated "Israeli-made" equipment were found in there."
In reaction, Telecoms Minister Gebran Bassil wondered: "Why is Minister Najjar seeking to undermine and underestimate what is already there?"
He told Lebanese daily An-Nahar on Sunday that he has still not accused anyone. "It is not my job to investigate and punish." He said that all he did was "present all available data to the judiciary."
"I do not understand why the justice minister is trying so hard to ridicule the case. In the beginning he issued a statement saying the station had nothing to do with internet but to television which completely false," Bassil said.
"He then went on to say, after he refuted his statement, that the telecoms ministry did not inform the judiciary," he added.
Bassil said the telecoms ministry has been waiting for a signal from the public prosecution "to make a move."
"The judiciary has been aware of the operation since its start on April 2. Therefore, the question here is not whether the judiciary is informed of the case, it is whether the justice minister is aware of what is going on in the judiciary," he added.
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