ISF Hits Back at Eid: He was Summoned following Judiciary Permission, Driver Repeated Confessions Several Times

The Internal Security Forces on Friday responded to remarks voiced by Arab Democratic Party leader Ali Eid after he was summoned for interrogation by the ISF Intelligence Bureau, stressing that the request was authorized by the relevant judicial authorities.

“In response to remarks reported by some media outlets about Ali Eid rejecting to appear before the Intelligence Bureau and his willingness to appear before any other legal authority, and his claims that a person called Bassam al-Halabi who allegedly serves at the office of the bureau's chief had advised Khodor Shaddoud and his relatives to leave their neighborhood to avoid being arrested … the ISF Directorate General clarifies that the Intelligence Bureau does not have and did not have any officer, non-commissioned officer or agent with the name Bassam al-Halabi,” a statement said.

“If he was referring to First Adjutant Bassam al-Halabi, his place of service is the Halba judicial department, and therefore he has nothing to do with the work and missions of the Intelligence Bureau whatsoever, and supposing al-Halabi had prior knowledge, wouldn't it have been more logical for him to inform all the perpetrators, who are far more dangerous than Shaddoud, the thing that would have prevented the arrest of Youssef Diab, one of the main suspects in the case” of the deadly Tripoli bombings, the ISF added.

It said Eid's accusations that Intelligence Bureau chief Col. Imad Othman had facilitated the escape of the Tripoli blasts suspects “are against the simplest rules of logic.”

“How could the Intelligence Bureau chief arrest a culprit and seek to facilitate the escape of others?” the ISF added.

It noted that “the preliminary interrogation of Ali Eid's driver -- in which he openly admitted that Eid had asked him to smuggle the suspect Ahmed Merhi – did not happen at the Intelligence Bureau department,” but rather before army intelligence interrogators.

“After the case was referred to the aforementioned bureau, he repeated the same confessions,” the ISF went on to say.

It stressed that Eid's summoning over the issue of smuggling Merhi “happened following a permission from the relevant judicial authorities, which oversaw all the stages of the investigation from its onset.”

“If he has any information related to the investigation, he better submit them to the investigators of the military judiciary, not through media outlets,” the ISF added.

On Thursday, Eid said he was willing to appear before any security agency except for the Intelligence Bureau. “I don't trust it at all and its history is not honorable, especially with Syria's allies,” he added.

“There is a conspiracy against our (Alawite) sect and I have abandoned politics to focus on serving people, but there is a conspiracy to eliminate all of Syria's allies,” Eid said.

Eid's driver Ahmed Mohammed Ali is being held by the Intelligence Bureau on charges of smuggling to Syria Ahmed Merhi, one of the main suspects in the bombings against al-Taqwa and al-Salam mosques in Tripoli on August 23.

MTV reported that Ali was first arrested on October 26 by Lebanese army intelligence agents on charges of smuggling Merhi into Syria at the request of the pro-Damascus former lawmaker.

Merhi is reportedly the driver of the second explosive-laden vehicle that blew up near al-Taqwa mosque.

On October 14, seven people involved in the August bombings were charged, including three in custody. The majority are from Jabal Mohsen.

Forty-five people were killed and over 800 wounded in the twin bombings.

The Arab Democratic Party has denied any involvement in the attacks and stressed that the suspects are not members of the party while slamming media leaks attributed to the Intelligence Bureau.