Miqati Confirms Discovery of Cell Planning Attacks on Army
Prime Minister Najib Miqati confirmed on Monday that the Lebanese army had busted a cell within its ranks planning attacks on military barracks.
In remarks to reporters at the Grand Serail, Miqati said: “The Lebanese army uncovered a terrorist cell that was planning an attack on its barracks and is carrying out the necessary investigation.”
He said the cell is active in northern Lebanon with branches in the Palestinian camps and mainly in Ain al-Hilweh. “But it has nothing to do with the situation in Syria.”
His confirmation came after al-Akhbar daily reported that the army arrested two Salafist soldiers linked to the Abdullah Azzam Brigades allied with the al-Qaida terrorist network.
The men are reportedly part of a larger network consisting of four Lebanese and one Palestinian identified as Abu Mohammed Toufiq Taha who is the Brigades’ ringleader in Ain el-Hilweh and wanted on several charges.
While Taha is on the run, the other six were arrested by the army intelligence, al-Akhbar said.
Miqati also stressed that he rejects “any history book that doesn’t receive the consensus of all the Lebanese.”
“Any country that doesn’t have a history has no future,” he said.
At least 10 people were injured on Sunday when Phalange and National Liberal Party youth protestors clashed with security forces during a rally against a new history curriculum near the Grand Serail.
The protestors and other Christian parties have rejected the curriculum, saying it omits key events in the country’s past, including several incidents that took place during the 1975-1990 civil war and the Cedar Revolution of 2005 that drove Syrian forces out of Lebanon after the assassination of ex-Premier Rafik Hariri.
Asked about the appointments of civil servants to top posts in state institutions, the prime minister told the journalists that Maronite Patriarch Beshara al-Rahi has exerted strong efforts to resolve the controversial issue.
He hoped that al-Rahi’s mediation would lead to positive results.
As Safir daily said Monday that the appointments of civil servants in state posts remained a point of contention between President Michel Suleiman and Free Patriotic Movement leader Michel Aoun.
The appointment of the head of the Higher Judicial Council hasn’t been sorted out as the two leaders hold onto the names they proposed, the daily said.
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