Several March 14 camp officials lauded the discovery of a Syrian plot to create strife in Lebanon, as revealed by former minister and MP Michel Samaha’s arrest, saying the country should cut ties with Syria, reported the daily An Nahar on Sunday.
MP Marwan Hamadeh hoped that Foreign Minister Adnan Mansour “would highlight the development to his Arab counterparts at the Jeddah conference.”
Full StoryThe March 14 camp is seeking to take judicial action against former minister and MP Michel Samaha, who was charged with planning attacks in Lebanon, reported the daily An Nahar on Sunday.
Informed sources told the daily that the camp will attempt to persuade President Michel Suleiman and Prime Minister Najib Miqati to suspend diplomatic and official ties with Syria in light of revelations that Samaha had sought to carry out the attacks at Syrian orders.
Full StoryThe March 14 General Secretariat slammed on Wednesday the recent attack against al-Jadeed television, saying it is part of a long list of assaults by the Syrian regime against freedom of expression in Lebanon.
It said in a statement: “The attack is aimed at diverting national dialogue talks away from tackling a national defense strategy that would incorporate Hizbullah’s arms.”
Full StoryMP Marwan Hamadeh on Sunday announced that a number of lawmakers will seek a parliamentary probe into “the acts of some army intelligence and General Security agents,” urging Akkar’s residents not to blame the entire military institution for the shooting death of Sheikh Ahmed Abdul Wahed at an army checkpoint in Akkar earlier in the day.
“In light of what has been taking place since weeks in some security agencies, especially army intelligence and the General Security, we will call, together with some colleagues, for the formation of a parliamentary commission of inquiry with judicial powers in order to probe the behavior of some personnel belonging to these agencies, which have put the country’s domestic and foreign security in danger, especially after what happened with the Qatari sheikh, citizen Shadi al-Mawlawi and Sheikh Abdul Wahed,” Hamadeh said in a statement.
Full StoryThe head of the Lebanese-Syrian Higher Council Nasri Khoury relayed a message from the Syrian leadership that it is time for Syrian refugees in Lebanon to be returned to their country, reported the pan-Arab daily al-Hayat on Thursday.
He explained that calm has been restored to Syria after international monitors entered the country and the United Nations and Arab League ceasefire plan has been implemented.
Full StoryThe March 14 forces are expected to hold a second meeting at Lebanese Forces leader Samir Geagea’s residence in Maarab to set the stage for the announcement of the national council, An Nahar newspaper reported on Wednesday.
According to the daily, Phalange party leader Amin Gemayel held talks on Tuesday with the members of the committee tasked by the March 14 coalition to form the council - MPs Marwan Hamadeh, Elie Marouni and Dori Chamoun and ex-lawmakers Elias Attallah and Ghattas Khoury.
Full StoryOpposition MP Marwan Hamadeh accused the March 8 forces of seeking to circumvent the parliament by pressuring President Michel Suleiman into signing a bill on the $5.9 billion extra-budgetary spending of 2011.
In remarks to An Nahar daily published Friday, Hamadeh, who is part of the March 14 coalition, said: “Pressuring the president into signing an urgent bill for the first time since the (adoption of) the Taef (accord) circumvents the parliament which has been initially established to approve financial draft-laws.”
Full StoryTelecommunications Minister Nicolas Sehnaoui has turned down several requests to provide telecom data to security services, putting the country in an “information blindness” that risks holding him legally accountable, security sources and MP Marwan Hamadeh said.
The sources that are investigating the assassination attempt on Lebanese Forces chief Samir Geagea told An Nahar daily on Saturday that Sehnaoui has so far refused to meet the request of handing over the telephone communications information to the agencies probing the attack.
Full StoryThe March 14-led opposition held Telecommunications Minister Nicolas Sehnaoui and those who support him responsible for preventing the security forces and authorities from obtaining the telecom data in their probe into assassination attempts.
A senior security official told al-Joumhouria newspaper that acquiring the telecom data for one day isn’t sufficient as the competent security authorities need to frequently analyze and follow up the data in their investigations.
Full StoryMarch 14 opposition MP Marwan Hamadeh said on Tuesday that the latest debate on a draft electoral law emerged to the surface to “cover up the continues scandals hammering the cabinet.”
Hamadeh slammed in comments published in An Nahar the efforts exerted by Lebanese officials to drop the 1960 law, which was agreed upon by all the political forces in the previous elections.
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