Telecom Ministry: No Private Cables Installed on Ministry Grid in Tarshish

The telecommunications ministry on Tuesday denied that Hizbullah had installed a private telecom network in the town of Tarshish using state infrastructure.

“After the incident that happened in the town of Tarshish, Telecom Minister Nicolas Sehnaoui tasked a technical team with inspecting the works being executed as part of the national project for extending the fiber-optic network,” the ministry said in a statement.

“After inspection, and according to the official report submitted by the mandated technical team, it was verified that no private cables were present inside the telecom pipelines installed by the telecom ministry in the town of Tarshish,” the ministry announced.

“The ministry reassures the town’s residents that no private cables will be installed using its telecom pipelines,” it added.

The residents of Tarshish prevented on Friday members of Hizbullah from expanding the party’s telecommunications network in the area, reported the daily An Nahar on Saturday.

It explained that party members sought to expand the network as a team from the elecommunications ministry was installing fiber optic cables to improve internet services.

“The municipal police noticed the party’s activity and prevented it from continuing its work,” it added.

An Internal Security Forces patrol soon arrived at the scene to tackle the situation.

Soon after, Hizbullah official Hussein Janbey arrived at the scene and a meeting was held between the Tarshish municipal council, headed by Gaby Samaan, and Hizbullah delegation headed by Janbey, reported al-Liwaa daily on Saturday.

The municipal delegation informed Hizbullah of the residents’ rejection of the installation of the party’s network in the town because they believe it to be illegal.

For its part, Hizbullah insisted on completing its activity, while the residents maintained their position resulting in tensions between the two sides and the “stormy meeting” ended, added the daily.

The party delegation informed the residents that they had experienced more difficult situations in the past, insisting on continuing its activity and stressing that no one would stop it, reported al-Liwaa.

A source from Tarshish told the daily that the town was surprised when Hizbullah members arrive to expand their network.

In addition, it said that this issue had started three months ago and the government and concerned ministries had not taken any action over this matter “despite the fact the party is trying to expand its network in the town by force.”

Minister Sehnaoui has said that “no side, whether it is official or unofficial, has the right to use the ministry’s network for its personal use without first receiving legal permission from the ministry to do so.”

MTV reported on Saturday that armed individuals and cars with tinted windows were spotted in Tarshsih after Hizbullah was prevented from expanding its telecommunications network.