Govt. Approves Public Sector Wage Hike, Forms Crisis Cell on Abductees
The cabinet on Thursday decided to grant public sector employees a wage hike similar to that recently granted to private sector employees, and formed a ministerial crisis cell tasked with following up on the issue of the Lebanese abductees in Syria.
The wage hike will have a retroactive effect starting from February 1, 2012, pending the approval of the new salary scale, Information Minister Walid al-Daouq told reporters after the session.
The cabinet also decided to “form a committee headed by Deputy Premier Samir Moqbel that would act as a crisis cell aimed at resolving the issue of the Lebanese abductees, collecting information about them and communicating with their relatives.”
Al-Jadeed television said the committee comprises the ministers of defense, interior, foreign affairs and justice.
Daouq quoted President Michel Suleiman as telling cabinet that “the abductions and the unrest harmed Lebanon and affected its relations with the other countries.”
“We reject all kidnap operations and the state will deal with them firmly and responsibly,” said Suleiman.
NBN television said the president “demanded an interrogation of all the journalists who visited Aleppo's Aazaz,” where they interviewed the 11 Lebanese pilgrims who were kidnapped on May 22 and their abductors.
Addressing the issue of the arrest of former minister Michel Samaha on charges of plotting bombings and inciting strife, Suleiman said: “We thank God that the explosives did not go off and the judiciary must look into the rest of the details without any intervention.”
Prime Minister Najib Miqati for his part stressed “Lebanon’s keenness on protecting the citizens of the brotherly states and condemning all the crimes of abduction and sabotage,” vowing that the state will tackle such acts sternly.
Miqati also called on security forces to “prevent any security violations, especially on the airport road.”
On Wednesday dozens of Syrians were kidnapped and Syrian-owned shops vandalized in Beirut’s southern suburbs after unconfirmed reports that several Lebanese taken hostage in Syria had been killed in an airstrike on the Aleppo town of Aazaz. Gunmen also took to the streets in the southern suburb of Tiro, NNA said.
Earlier on Wednesday, al-Meqdad clan said it kidnapped at least 20 Syrians and a Turkish national to try to secure the release of a family member abducted near Damascus this week.
The Syrian rebel group that abducted Hassan al-Meqdad has claimed that he is a Hizbullah sniper. Both Hizbullah and al-Meqdad’s family have denied the claims.
Source: Agence France Presse
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