Opposition: Sehnaoui Responsible for Protecting Assassins by Blocking Telecom Data
The March 14-led opposition held Telecommunications Minister Nicolas Sehnaoui and those who support him responsible for preventing the security forces and authorities from obtaining the telecom data in their probe into assassination attempts.
A senior security official told al-Joumhouria newspaper that acquiring the telecom data for one day isn’t sufficient as the competent security authorities need to frequently analyze and follow up the data in their investigations.
The issue emerged to the surface again after Lebanese Forces leader Samir Geagea escaped an “assassination attempt” on Wednesday.
Security forces extracted two sniper bullets, ranging between 12.7 and 14.5mm, from a wall at his house in Maarab.
Geagea said that the security of the Maarab compound was not breached and that the attacker had carried out the attack from a distance of up to four kilometers using very advanced equipment.
The security official told al-Joumhouria that Geagea’s assassination bid was planned a while ago, saying: “If the telecom data wasn’t blocked, the competent security authorities could’ve at least revealed parts of the plan and took preventive measures.”
The data dispute had stirred political controversy over the legality of providing the Internal Security Forces Intelligence Branch with the telecommunications records.
An opposition political figure lashed out at Sehnaoui, stating that his measures are protecting organized crime and making it easy for criminals to plan their assassination attempts.
According to al-Joumhouria, a senior western diplomat warned former defense minister Elias Murr, MPs Marwan Hamadeh and Sami Gemayel, ex-Prime Minister Saad Hariri, and Geagea from assassination bids.
The diplomat advised them to take precautions.
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