Mashnouq Says Security Plan Kept Concealed

Interior Minister Nouhad al-Mashnouq emphasized that intentions to carry out a security plan in the eastern Beqaa valley will not be declared beforehand to the public, An Nahar daily reported on Friday.

“Specific dates for the new security plan will not be declared beforehand. No details will be given to the media this time,” said Mashnouq in an interview with the daily.

He said that President Michel Aoun has requested that no feedback or details be given about the plan before it is executed on the ground.

“This time, President Michel Aoun wants us not to mention anything about the plan before it actually happens on the ground, and we support him,” he said.

For his part, the governor of Baalbek-Hermel district, Bashir Khodr stressed that the “plan will not have a specific date for execution, nor will the security forces display presence in the said region. It will be different focusing more on intelligence efforts instead of (security members) deployment on the ground.”

Earlier in January, Mashnouq revealed that the Higher Defense Council will soon convene to mull and discuss a plan aimed at combating kidnap rings, which are especially active in the Bekaa region.

The developments come in the wake of a four-day abduction of a 74-year-old Bekaa man, Saad Risha, who was kidnapped in Qab Elias and taken to the town of Brital.

Risha was released after massive road-blocking protests and intensive political contacts led by Speaker Nabih Berri and his envoy Bassam Tlais.

The man was eventually freed without a ransom but any of the five kidnappers has not been arrested until the moment.

Occasionally, the state carries out security procedures, mainly in the Bekaa region, to clamp down on criminals, gangs, drug dealers and networks that kidnap for ransom.