Cabinet approves appointments of army commander, security chiefs

The Cabinet on Thursday approved the appointment of Brig. Gen. Rudolph Haykal as army chief, Brig. Gen. Hassan Shqeir as General Security head, Brig. Gen. Raed Abdallah as Internal Security Forces chief and Brig. Gen. Edgard Lawandos as State Security head.

“The army and security appointments were according to expertise and competency, and we’re working in Cabinet with accuracy and strong keenness on standards and competency,” Information Minister Paul Morkos said after a Cabinet meeting.

The Cabinet also approved the recruitment of 4,500 army soldiers in three batches, Morkos added.

Moreover, he said that Cabinet will hold a special session on Monday to discuss a mechanism for administrative appointments.

“A draft law has been prepared to lower fees in the 2025 state budget,” he added.

“President Joseph Aoun clarified during the session that the International Monetary Fund delegation has stressed the need to appoint a central bank governor and the appoint the banking secrecy law, which needs extra amendments, and the banks restructuring law,” Morkos said.

Aoun also said that Lebanese authorities are following up on the developments in Syria and that security agencies maintain high readiness to deal with any related emergency.