Hassan: Security Situation Fully Under Control

Interior Minister Raya el-Hassan said in an interview with Saudi owned al-Arabiya television news channel that "the security situation in Lebanon is maintained, as is the case at the airport."

The minister also reassured a number of Ambassadors that the security situation in Lebanon "is better than the situation in other countries."

To a question about the illegal crossings between Lebanon and Syria, Hassan stressed the importance of "strengthening of the legitimate and legal border crossings to combat any infiltration into Lebanon," referring to the reinforcements taken by the Lebanese army and other security forces that have eliminated the so-called sleeping terrorist cells.

As for the congestion at the Beirut Rafik Hariri International Airport, the only airport in Lebanon, Hassan said that "congestion is exceptional because of the expansion of some airport sites to facilitate the procedures of public security and internal security through the examination and stamping passports."

The minister concluded that "resentment in Lebanon is more economic and social than political, because we are facing a major economic crisis."