Government Approves Security Plan in Tripoli, Bekaa's North
The cabinet approved on Thursday a security plan for the northern city of Tripoli and areas bordering Syria as President Michel Suleiman said a solution to the fighting and repeated attacks was urgently needed.
Health Minister Wael Abou Faour told reporters that the cabinet approved the recommendations of the Higher Defense Council on a security plan in Tripoli and Bekaa valley's northern areas.
Defense Minister Samir Moqbel and Interior Minister Nuhad al-Mashnouq proposed the plan to the HDC during a meeting it held under Suleiman on Wednesday.
Later, Information Minister Ramzi Greij confirmed a decision to task the army and security forces to implement a security plan.
The government also tasked them with seizing arms depots in Tripoli and taking all measures to arrest suspects involved in the fighting in the city in addition to kidnappers and assailants involved in car theft in the Bekaa.
Suleiman told the cabinet that the army will come under attack as long as it is a separation force in Tripoli.
“A security solution has become necessary,” he told the first cabinet session that he chaired after the government received parliament's vote of confidence last week.
“The situation is no longer acceptable,” he said.
Tripoli witnesses frequent gunbattles between two of the city's impoverished rival neighborhoods, one dominated by Sunnis who support Syrian rebels, and the other by Alawites, who are from the same sect of Syrian President Bashar Assad.
Clashes in Tripoli have left scores of casualties over the past days alone.
Border areas also come under rocket attacks and shelling from Syria and have witnessed abductions in return for ransom and other security incidents.
Suleiman hailed the Arab League summit that concluded on Wednesday, saying it supported Lebanon's army, the Syrian refugees, the Baabda Declaration and the Special Tribunal for Lebanon.
Suleiman attended the first day of the summit that was held in Kuwait.
On recent corruption scandals, he said: “The state should carry out its duties.”
The financial prosecutor charged on Wednesday several National Social Security Fund (NSSF) employees with the embezzlement of funds, the National News Agency said.
On a positive note, Abou Faour announced during a press conference that the prices of 629 medications will be slashed by 20 percent.
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