Geagea Says Damascus behind Tripoli Blasts, Urges State to Respond to 'Aggression'

Lebanese Forces leader Samir Geagea on Friday accused the Syrian regime of being behind the August twin blasts that left at least 45 people dead and 500 injured in the northern city of Tripoli, urging a response from the Lebanese state.

“The cell that staged the twin bombings has been busted and the details of the operation have become known and the (Internal Security Forces) Intelligence Bureau has unveiled the details of the operation. Judge Saqr Saqr interrogated the suspects and issued arrest warrants for them and these are judicial facts, but some parties want to distort these facts,” Geagea said in a speech during a graduation ceremony for LF cadres.

“The truth is that the Syrian intelligence and regime are behind the bombings in Tripoli and we can link that to the Samaha-Mamlouk plot ... Throughout one year, the Syrian regime staged two terrorist operations,” Geagea noted.

He voiced surprise that “in the face of such facts, no one has done anything to address them.”

“The state has the right to at least send a memo to the Arab League because this is an aggression. Wasn't it a must to recall the Lebanese ambassador to Damascus and expel the Syrian ambassador from Beirut?” Geagea added.

He accused some Lebanese security agencies of being “in bed with the Syrian intelligence services while 50 Lebanese were killed in a bombing plotted by the Syrian regime.”

“All the security ties between the Lebanese and Syrian agencies must be reassessed,” Geagea stressed.

“We will not get accustomed to living without a state and the official authorities must do all these steps,” he added.

“Syria has allies in Lebanon, where is the stance of its allies over what happened?” Geagea wondered.

Lashing out at Hizbullah and its allies, the LF leader said: “They speak of the resistance but we don't believe that it's a real resistance. How can we believe any longer that it is a resistance while it is fighting alongside the Syrian regime?”

Turning to the issue of the cabinet formation deadlock, Geagea said “it's about time the constitution regained its authority."

"We are in a dire need for a government ... and the president and the PM-designate must form a cabinet because the constitution gave them this right. (President Michel) Suleiman and (PM-designate Tammam) Salam must form a cabinet and send the line-up to parliament and we need a government of real independence and sovereignty," Geagea went on to say.

“We must go to a serious presidential election and the parliament must elect a new president. Lebanon can only be salvaged through state institutions and constitutional posts and we must restore the state's prestige,” Geagea emphasized.

State Commissioner to the Military Court Judge Saqr Saqr charged on Monday seven people, three of whom are in custody, in connection with the August bombings.

Three of those charged are in detention and the other four are at large. The majority of them are residents of the Tripoli neighborhood of Jabal Mohsen, where the pro-Damascus Arab Democratic Party is the main political and armed force.

Two Lebanese and two Syrians were already charged on August 30. According to Lebanese media, one of the Syrians, Captain Mohammed Ali, is a security official based in Tartus, a Syrian city on the Mediterranean close toTripoli.

In August last year, security forces arrested former Lebanese information minister Michel Samaha, who is considered close to Damascus.

He is accused of planning attacks in Lebanon along with Syrian security chief General Ali Mamlouk and faces the death penalty if convicted.