Aoun Calls for Referring Rifi to Judiciary: Telecom Ministry Incident Premeditated Crime

Free Patriotic Movement leader MP Michel Aoun urged on Friday President Michel Suleiman to take the necessary measures to address Thursday’s incident at one of the Telecommunications Ministry buildings at Adlieh, describing the event as a “premeditated crime”.

He said after an extraordinary FPM meeting on the incident: “According to the military law on rebellion and mutiny, yesterday’s incident is a crime that was part of a coup attempt.”

Seeing as the Interior Ministry falls under the President’s authority because of his role as commander of the armed forces, “we hope that he will take the right measures in this affair according to legal and administrative norms,” said the MP.

Aoun called on President Michel Suleiman to refer Internal Security Forces chief Ashraf Rifi to the judiciary, withdraw Intelligence Bureau members from the Adlieh building, and refer its director to the judiciary because he is responsible for the officers’ violations.

“We hope the president will exercise his authority so that we won’t be forced to make greater demands,” he warned.

“We have several options to tackle this issue if it is not properly addressed,” the FPM leader stated.

“The rebellion was not spontaneous and the people now know why I have been demanding to acquire the Interior Ministry portfolio,” Aoun concluded.

On Thursday, security forces prevented caretaker Telecommunications Minister Charbel Nahhas from entering the second floor of a ministry building at Adlieh.

An ISF statement said that the minister was seeking to dismantle equipment being used to install a third mobile phone network in Lebanon.

Security forces were deployed at the building as per normal procedure when installing such systems, said the statement.