Charbel Says Security Agencies Taking Preventive Measures over Delicate Situation

Caretaker Interior Minister Marwan Charbel stressed on Friday that Lebanese security agencies are taking “precautionary measures” over the delicate situation that the country and the region are passing through.

“We don't need to obtain information from anyone over the matter to realize that the situation is critical,” Charbel told al-Akhbar newspaper.

Charbel's comments came in light of a report published by the daily a day before that says that the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency has warned Lebanese security agencies two days ahead of the blast that targeted Bir al-Abed neighborhood in Beirut's southern suburbs that al-Qaida has plotted to carry out an attack in the area.

At least 53 people were wounded in an explosion that was caused by a booby-trapped vehicle in the Hizbullah stronghold neighborhood of Bir al-Abed on Tuesday.

“Several people are already aware of the published report,” the official said, slamming the publishing of such reports that “scare citizens.”

Charbel noted that leaking such information shakes the western security agencies trust with its Lebanese counterpart.

According to the report, a CIA official in Lebanon provided the army intelligence and the ISF Intelligence Branch with “delicate information” that al-Qaida-linked group transported a huge amount of explosives into Lebanon to be used in the country.

Concerning the conditions of the inmates at Roumieh prison, Charbel said that the “crisis in Lebanon's central prison is chronic.”

The caretaker minister pointed out that there are no doors inside the prison, saying: “We have been demanding for the last two years for the installation of modern doors and gates but no response was given.”

“We're currently focusing on keeping inmates calm and insure that no one flees,” Charbel said.

Roumieh, the oldest and largest of Lebanon's overcrowded prisons, has witnessed sporadic prison breaks in recent years and escalating riots over the past months as inmates living in poor conditions demand better treatment.