Charbel ‘Provoked’ by the Use of Security Officers to Meet Needs of Officials’ Families

Interior Minister Marwan Charbel has said he was provoked by the fact that officials were using security officers for their own protection rather than putting them in the service of security missions.

In remarks to al-Mustaqbal newspaper on Friday, Charbel said: “The interior ministry is suffering from a huge lack in the number of policemen.”

He stressed that he has been continuously asking for the recruitment of 50,000 officers to protect the Lebanese.

“Rather than putting them in the service of security missions, they are being used by ministers, lawmakers and judges to meet the needs of their

families,” Charbel said, stressing that such a fact “is provoking” him.

Asked about the security situation in Lebanon, the minister described it as “good” compared to the developments in the Arab countries.

“There is crime in all societies,” he told the daily, saying that crime is on the rise in Lebanon due to the presence of arms in the hands of Lebanese from all sects.

The interior ministry is in need of “around 10,000 officers to put them in the service of security” but no one is heeding his demands, Charbel said.

In other remarks to pan-Arab daily Asharq al-Awsat, the minister said that Lebanese authorities have taken all necessary measures to protect diplomatic missions in Beirut.

Security agencies have increased their measures to protect Arab and non-Arab embassies that are directly linked to the regional situation, he told the newspaper.

Charbel denied that security apparatuses have any information about a plot to target embassies.

His comment came after several Arab embassies were attacked by regime supporters in Damascus.