Lebanese Minister arrested

Lebanese authorities summoned pro-Syrian former MP and Cabinet Minister Michel Samaha for interrogation Thursday over an undisclosed but "sensitive" security-related matter, Acting Prosecutor General Samir Hammoud told The Daily Star. "He [Samaha] has been taken in for questioning over a sensitive judicial matter," Hammoud said. "We are now at the interrogation stage the outcome of which will determine whether he will be arrested or let go," he added. Security sources told The Daily Star that authorities raided his residences in Ashrafieh, Beirut, and Khanshara, Metn, early Thursday upon orders from Hammoud. Samaha, 64, was taken from his Khanshara home at 2 a.m., the souces added. "He was in his pajamas," his wife said. Both of Samaha's residences are being searched by policemen from the Internal Security Forces Information Branch for incriminating evidence. The sources said police confiscated a number documents and other materials from the Khanshara residence. They were seen taking large blacks bags out of the building. “One of the bags was extremely heavy. It took four policemen to carry it to the car,” one source said. Speculation was rife over the reasons for Samaha’s detention, with local media outlets providing different accounts of the affair. MTV said Samaha was detained over his alleged involvement in an "assassination attempt" against Akkar MP Khaled Daher, a member of Saad Hariri’s Future bloc. Daher said he was surprised to hear the news. A police report said a percussion grenade was hurled at 2:30 a.m. Wednesday into an empty lot that belongs to Daher's father in the Nejmeh neighborhood of Bibnine, in the northern Akkar region. No casualties were reported. Other media outlets said Samaha may have been arrested for collaboration with Israel. But LBCI said such reports were inaccurate. Samaha, a close ally of Syrian President Bashar Assad's regime, was elected MP in 1992, in the first parliamentary elections after the Taif Agreement. He also served as information minister in 1992 and 2003.