Berri Slams 'Bid to Depict Some Bekaa Towns as Criminal'

Speaker Nabih Berri on Sunday noted that “there’s an attempt to depict some towns in the Bekaa” as dens for criminals.

During a meeting with Ahmed Zeidan, the manager of dairy company Liban Lait who was freed Sunday in the Bekaa Valley after a 4-day kidnap ordeal, Berri said some “major and brave towns” are being labeled as criminal, although “these towns are home to honorable people and decent tribes, but unfortunately a few individuals are tarnishing the image of these towns.”

Army troops managed on Sunday to liberate Zeidan, who was kidnapped at gunpoint on Wednesday by five unknown abductors.

He was found on the outskirts of the town of Brital in the Bekaa, reported Future News on Sunday.

His abductors were also arrested, it revealed.

It added that they were found in possession of foreign currency, light weapons, different military equipment, and a considerable amount of drugs, as well as an advanced wiretapping device.

LBC television reported that three Lebanese and a Syrian were behind Zeidan’s abduction.

They are in a critical situation and were incapable of even asking for a ransom for the kidnapped because they were being chased by security authorities, it added.

In addition, it revealed that Berri played a role in the release where he exerted his political pressure ensure Zeidan’s liberation.

Answering a question about the abductors, Berri said Sunday: “The thing is not as it seems like; there’s a skilled gang employing individuals and this thing will be thoroughly investigated by the relevant security forces.”

The speaker denied that any random had been paid to the kidnappers.

“There are exploited individuals, and there’s no doubt that the financial situations and living conditions in the Bekaa ... and the permanent state of poverty are all things that are being taken advantage of,” Berri added.

Answering another question, Berri said: “We cooperated with the Lebanese army, and we are not a separate legitimacy. We are a legitimacy led by the state and the security forces are performing their duty and there is coordination.”

Berri warned that “this act will leave negative repercussions, especially amid these circumstances and especially that the abductee is a member of one of the dear families in Sidon.”

“The army has the information and we were in constant contact with it and it knows everything,” Berri stressed.