Aoun Hits Back at Suleiman over Fatmagul, Asks Him to Help Create Financial Crimes Court

Free Patriotic Movement leader MP Michel Aoun on Tuesday snapped back at President Michel Suleiman over the issue of the malfunctioning Turkish power-generating ship Fatmagul Sultan, asking him to help create a court for financial crimes in Lebanon.

At a press conference he held after the weekly meeting of the Change and Reform parliamentary bloc, Aoun said he unconditionally backs Suleiman's rhetoric on combating corruption, but urged him to “help us approve the law we had submitted to parliament on creating a special court for trying those accused of financial crimes against the public treasury.”

“There are several lawsuits that have been sitting in the drawers of the Central Inspection Authority for years, which are a lot more important than the lawsuit over the issue of the Turkish power-generating vessel Fatmagul Sultan,” Aoun added.

A week ago, Suleiman tasked the Central Inspection Authority to investigate the causes of the malfunctions of Fatmagul Sultan. Last month, nine out of 11 generators on the Fatmagul Sultan barge stopped functioning, leaving it working at 15 percent of its capacity, which is 27 megawatts.

The Turkish Karadeniz power company, which leased Fatmagul Sultan to the Lebanese government, announced on Thursday that the fuel it had received to operate the ship “was not convenient.”

"Electricite du Liban is now providing Fatmagul with the convenient type of fuel, which will allow the vessel to go back to producing energy,” it said.

Turning to the issue of the electoral law, Aoun said: “We are not aggrieving anyone or infringing on anyone's representation through the Orthodox Gathering law, so this uproar and the accusations against us are unjustified.”

“The Orthodox Gathering law returns rights to their owners and it contains mutual respect for rights and duties,” he noted.

“I don't have a personal interest and I'm not seeking anything for myself. I'm seeking the interest of Christians and their interest lies in regaining their rights. I call on all Christian leaders to think of that and of the interests of Christians,” Aoun explained.

He recalled that when former premier Rafik Hariri was assassinated in 2005, “we were the first people to take to the streets and no one invited us, and when a war was waged against Shiites in the South (in 2006) we stood by them, and today we're standing by the marginalized Christians whose rights have been infringed upon.”

On the Syrian crisis, Aoun said that “the kidnappings and acts of terror that are happening in Syria, the latest of which was the abduction of two clergymen, are very regrettable and it seems that anything can be generated by hatred and the issue should have received more attention.”

“Those who have stayed silent over the crime of the abduction in Syria are the same ones who do not mention the issue of refugees in Lebanon,” Aoun added.

Aleppo's Greek Orthodox Bishop Boulos Yaziji and Syriac Orthodox Bishop Yohanna Ibrahim were kidnapped on April 22 by armed men near the city of Aleppo while en route from the Turkish border.

The FPM leader condemned the latest Israeli air strikes on targets near Damascus, describing them as a “declaration of war after a 40-year truce” between Syria and Israel.

Aoun also denounced Israel's latest violations of the Lebanese airspace, saying the U.N. “must take measures instead of counting and recording the violations.”

Syria's government said on Sunday that Israel targeted three military sites near Damascus, while a senior Israeli source said the attacks hit weapons destined for Hizbullah.