Cabinet Discusses State Budget as Suleiman Says Arida Probe Underway

A cabinet session that was initially aimed at discussing the 2012 draft state budget on Monday turned into a debate on the electricity crisis and the recent attack by the Syrian navy on three Lebanese fishermen off the coast of the northern town of Arida.

Premier Najib Miqati met with Finance Minister Mohammed Safadi on Tuesday to discuss his study on the draft budget.

According to As Safir daily, cabinet ministers called for speeding up the adoption of the budget and tasked Safadi with agreeing with the ministers on the course of discussions so that they don’t fall in the trap of tackling the same issues over and over again.

The cabinet will hold another session to tackle the budget next week.

The main discussions focused on the power rationing throughout Lebanon and the Syrian navy’s attack on the fishermen.

Information Minister Walid al-Daouq quoted President Michel Suleiman as telling the ministers that an investigation was ongoing to determine the circumstances of the incident.

Sixteen-year-old Maher Hamad was killed on Saturday after the Syrian navy opened fire on his boat off Arida. His uncles Fadi and Khaled Hamad, who were with him, were seized.

Syria handed them over to the Lebanese army the next day following contacts made by Suleiman and Miqati to win their release.