Geagea Urges Arsal Residents to Cooperate with Army, Says Judicial Council Must Act against Madi's 'Farce'

Lebanese Forces leader Samir Geagea urged on Tuesday the residents of the Bekaa town of Arsal to hand over the suspects in the killing of Major Pierre Bashaalani and First Sergeant Ibrahim Zahraman.

"Despite the imperfections in the administration, the security forces and the judicial bodies, Lebanon is a democratic state and there are other references in the country,” Geagea said in an interview with Future Television.

He remarked: “ We advise the people of Arsal and their supporters to hire the best attorneys to follow up on this case at the court”.

"This is how justice can be reached,” Geagea expressed.

Bashaalani and Zahraman were killed in clashes in the Bekaa town of Arsal on Friday as the army was seeking to apprehend a wanted suspect, who was also killed in the unrest.

Commenting on stripping MP Butros Harb of his parliamentary immunity, Geagea said he does not understand General Prosecutor Judge Hatem Madi's decision, describing it as a “farce”.

"We call on the Higher Judicial Council to exceptionally convene and take immediate logical actions in this case,” the LF leader stressed, explaining that this would save the judicial system from “severe consequences”.

Madi demanded on Monday to strip Harb of his parliamentary immunity over remarks he made on the judiciary and President Michel Suleiman after Mahmoud Hayek, a Hizbullah member, was charged with the attempt on his life.

Geagea considered the 15-days period until the deadline for adopting an electoral law an opportunity to reach an accord that assures a “just and righteous representation”.

"Reaching the deadline without agreement would lead us to go with extreme proposals that no one supports,” he explained.

Geagea confirmed: "The 1960 law is not acceptable or fair and as such, we call for agreeing on a new proposal”.

The electoral subcommittee is currently tasked with discussing the proposal made by Speaker Nabih Berri, after the joint parliamentary committees extended the mission of the electoral subcommittee for 15 days.

Head of parliament's electoral subcommittee MP Robert Ghanem noted on Tuesday that the rival March 14 and 8 alliances could reach common ground over a new electoral law through adopting the hybrid proposal that combines the winner-takes-all and proportional representation systems.