Mikati defends govt. response to south flare-up, slams FPM

Caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati has defended his government’s response to the latest cross-border escalation with Israel, which was the most serious flare-up since the 2006 war.

“From the very first moment of the incidents in the South, we carried out the necessary contacts with all the relevant parties and the influential international sides away from the spotlight, because such matters cannot be addressed through a furor in the media or statements,” Mikati said.

“I also asked the Foreign Ministry to act simultaneously and conduct the necessary contacts,” the PM added.

“It turned out from the preliminary investigations carried out by the army that those who fired the rockets were not organized groups but rather non-Lebanese elements, and that the issue was a response to the Israeli aggression against the Palestinian territories and the Gaza Strip,” Mikati revealed.

Separately, the premier lamented that “from the very first day the government assumed responsibility after the vacancy in the presidential post, it turned out that there was a political group that did not want this government to work,” apparently referring to the Free Patriotic Movement which has been boycotting the caretaker cabinet sessions.

“This group is carrying out a belated vengeance against the Taif Accord and it is seeking to destroy it with all means,” Mikati decried.