Govt. Refers Jabal Mohsen Blasts to Judicial Council, Gives Army 'Full Cover' in Terror Fight

The government on Wednesday referred to the Judicial Council the case of the deadly suicide blasts that rocked Tripoli's Jabal Mohsen last month, as it announced that the army has “full political cover” as it confronts terrorist groups on the border and inside the country.

“The cabinet agreed to refer the terrorist Jabal Mohsen bombing to the Judicial Council,” Information Minister Ramzi Jreij announced after a cabinet session at the Grand Serail.

On January 10, nine people were killed and more than 37 wounded when two suicide bombers blew themselves up at a packed cafe in Jabal Mohsen, a mainly Alawite district of the northern city of Tripoli. The attack was carried out by two men who hail from the nearby al-Mankoubeen area and was claimed by the Qaida-linked al-Nusra Front.

The file joins the cases of 12 other bombings that the Judicial Council is looking into, to which Justice Minister Ashraf Rifi has appointed judicial investigators.

Separately, the cabinet underlined that Lebanon is “fighting a battle against takfiri terrorism,” noting that the government “grants full political cover to the army and security forces as they perform the duty of confronting and defeating this terrorism.”

The cabinet also condemned the bombing that targeted a Lebanese bus in Damascus and killed nine people, including six Lebanese Shiite pilgrims.

Commenting on the execution by burning of Jordanian air force pilot Maaz al-Kassasbeh at the hands of the Islamic State group, the ministers expressed their “shock”, condemning “the decadence that this dark ideology has reached” and noting that “the pilot's death has disheartened all Lebanese.”

Moreover, the cabinet agreed to sign a memorandum of understanding with the Turkish government on “cooperation in the field of military training.”

The government, however, postponed debate once again over several controversial issues, including the registration of civil marriage contracts in Lebanon.

Y.R.

M.T.