Charbel: Lebanon not sanctuary for Al-Qaeda

Interior Minister Marwan Charbel denied again Friday that Al-Qaeda members were operating in Lebanon, rebutting Defense Minister Fayez Ghosn’s claims that the group’s militants were sneaking into the country under the guise of Syrian dissidents. “Al-Qaeda organization does not exist in Lebanon. Lebanon could be a transit point for Al-Qaeda but not a sanctuary,” Charbel told a news conference at his office in the Interior Ministry. He said Ghosn’s statement on the alleged presence of Al-Qaeda members in the Bekaa town of Arsal near the border with Syria had been interpreted for political motives. Noting that the Lebanese were split over the nine-month Syrian popular upheaval against the regime of President Bashar Assad, Charbel said: “We must not interfere in Syrian affairs on the one hand, and we must control our border with the Syrians on the other.” He disclosed that the Lebanese Red Cross had transported to Lebanese hospitals 130 people who were wounded in Syria during the confrontation between Syrian security forces and anti-regime protesters. Last Monday, Ghosn stood firm on his statement earlier this month that Al-Qaeda members were entering Lebanon under the cover of Syrian opposition activists, rejecting March 14 criticisms that his remarks were meant to serve the Assad regime. Following Ghosn’s initial statement, a twin suicide car bomb attack struck security services buildings in the Syrian capital Damascus last week, killing 44 people and wounding more than 100. Syria has blamed Al-Qaeda for the attack. Ghosn’s statement has thrown the government of Prime Minister Najib Mikati, already riven by sharp differences over many key issues, into disarray after both Mikati and Charbel rejected the allegations on the presence of Al-Qaeda militants in Lebanon. Ghosn’s remarks on Al-Qaeda have since come under fire by March 14 politicians who have accused him of seeking to serve the Assad regime which is facing its most serious challenge to date from an ongoing popular revolt. The uproar over Al-Qaeda prompted President Michel Sleiman to convene the Higher Defense Council which met Thursday and decided to take measures to tighten security and prevent arms smuggling across the border with Syria. The tense Lebanese-Syrian border has witnessed deadly shootings in recent weeks as Syrian forces cracked down on suspected army defectors and refugees fleeing the fighting in Syria. Sleiman discussed the situation on the Lebanese-Syrian border during a meeting Friday with the Syrian Ambassador to Lebanon Ali Abdul-Karim Ali who briefed the president on the situation in Syria after Arab League monitors began their mission there. The monitors are verifying Syria’s compliance with a pledge to halt a military crackdown on protesters demanding Assad’s ouster. Sleiman and Ali underlined the need for coordination between the two countries “to prevent border violations and cooperate in the investigation into the killing of three Lebanese near the border with Syria in order to prevent a recurrence of such incidents on the one hand, and halt violations on the other by taking measures to control the situation on the border,” according to a statement released by the president’s office. Three Lebanese were shot and killed by Syrian army gunfire in the northern border area of Wadi Khaled Tuesday, in an incident that heightened tension on the Lebanese-Syrian border and triggered calls from the March 14 parties for the army to protect villages near the border with Syria. Sleiman also congratulated the Lebanese on the New Year, saying he hoped 2012 would bring stability to Lebanon. “The president hopes 2012 will bring happiness and stability to the country and be a year of dialogue and understanding to help in the institutions’ productivity and in maintaining Lebanon’s stability amid the turmoil in the region,” said a statement released by his office. Meanwhile, Akkar MPs from former Prime Minister Saad Hariri’s parliamentary Future bloc called on Sleiman and Mikati to take “serious measures aimed at protecting the Lebanese and Lebanon’s sovereignty against any expected attack” by Syria. MPs Qassem Abdul-Aziz, Kazem Kheir, Khaled Daher, Mouin Merhebi and Khaled Zahraman, who met at the residence of Tripoli MP Mohammad Kabbara, rejected Ghosn’s allegations about the presence of Al-Qaeda in Lebanon. They criticized the government for failing to protect the Lebanese against Syrian attacks and even failing to file a complaint with the Arab League or the United Nations against the Assad regime. At his news conference, Charbel announced what he called “a security gift” on the eve of the New Year, saying security forces have arrested a gang of 11 people accused of carrying out 122 crimes of murders, thefts and robberies. Asked about Lebanese authorities’ failure to arrest four Hezbollah members indicted in the 2005 assassination of former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri, Charbel said: “We have done our job. ... and we are still hunting for them.”   THE DAILY STAR .