Raad Describes Samaha Case as 'Security Fabrications': We Won't Remain Silent
MP Mohammed Raad, head of Hizbullah’s Loyalty to Resistance parliamentary bloc, on Thursday described as “security fabrications” the arrest earlier in the day of former minister Michel Samaha on alleged charges of plotting for bombings.
“We will not remain silent but we will wait for some time,” Raad said in a speech during a Ramadan iftar banquet.
“We have experienced these security fabrications for so long and some judges are linked to suspicious security agencies,” Raad added.
The Internal Security Forces Intelligence Branch arrested Samaha on Thursday morning "for security reasons," the acting general prosecutor said.
Samaha was arrested following raids on his houses in Beirut’s Ashrafiyeh district and the North Metn town of Jwar al-Khenshara.
LBCI and MTV reported that the former minister confessed to planning bombings that would have been carried out during Ramadan iftars in northern Lebanon.
"Samaha confessed to smuggling explosives in his car from Syria to Lebanon," reported LBCI.
Samaha’s bodyguard Fares Barakat, who was briefly detained, confirmed to LBCI that Samaha had visited Syria at the beginning of this week.
Samaha is known for his pro-Syrian regime views and media reports say he served as an advisor to Syrian President Bashar Assad. He was among several pro-Syrian Lebanese officials who were sanctioned in 2007 by the United States for “contributing to political and economic instability in Lebanon.”
| Copyright © 2012 Naharnet.com. All Rights Reserved. | https://naharnet.com/stories/en/49552 |