Fadlallah Says U.S. Request to Establish Telecom Station Requires Further Discussions
Head of Parliamentary Information Committee Hizbullah MP Hassan Fadlallah confirmed on Tuesday reports that the U.S. army requested to establish a telecom station in Lebanon.
The lawmaker said in a press conference after chairing a meeting for the committee at the parliament that the committee members will thoroughly discuss the matter on Thursday in presence of Telecommunications Minister Nicolas Sehnaoui.
He pointed out that several MPs wondered if foreign countries are allowed to directly file the request to the Telecommunications Regulatory Authority instead of filing it to the competent authority.
“We demanded the Telecommunications Ministry to provide us with the documents related to the matter,” Fadlallah told reporters.
“There are no agreements yet between the U.S. and Lebanon concerning the issue,” the lawmaker noted.
As Safir newspaper reported over the weekend that the U.S. request is being considered by the Telecommunications Regulatory Authority which will eventually refer it to the government for discussions and to take the appropriate decision.
The newspaper said that the station will be using very small aperture terminal (VSAT) technique, a satellite communications system, whereby each end user is interconnected with the hub station via the satellite. The system handles data, voice, and video signals.
Observers voiced concern that the approval of the request would jeopardize security in Lebanon as it might transfer data to Israel.
Should it be approved, As Safir reported that the station may be established near the U.S. Embassy in Awkar.
Concerning the request filed by the Internal Security Forces Intelligence Bureau to obtain the content of the text messages (SMS) circulated among the Lebanese, Fadlallah stated that “it should be according to certain measures protected by the law so that it doesn't breach the freedom of citizens.”
He said that the matter wasn't discussed thoroughly as the “MPs who proposed granting the telecom data to security agencies didn't attend the meeting.”
“The cabinet and the Telecommunications Ministry will stick to implementing the current law concerning the Intelligence Bureau's demand,” Fadlallah added.
The cabinet rejected during a session at the Grand Serail last week to provide the security agency with the full text messages data, saying that it will only hand over the data of “suspicious” numbers.
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