Beirut, April 06: Caretaker Interior Minister Ziyad Baroud said Tuesday that the security situation in the country was “not at its best,” but stressed that ongoing investigations into two security incidents that occurred in Zahle in late March were being conducted in a “professional and serious” manner.
Baroud spoke to reporters after chairing a meeting of the Central Security Council at the Interior Ministry which convened to tackle the recent riots at Roumieh prison, the case of the abduction of seven Estonian tourists, who were snatched near the Bekaa Valley town of Zahle on March 23. Also on the meetings’s schedule was the case of a bomb blast that targeted a Syriac Orthodox church in Zahle shortly after the abduction of the seven Estonians.
“It is clear that the crime is not a regular case of kidnapping … this issue was dealt with [by Lebanese authorities] with the highest levels of professionalism as acknowledged by the Estonian government and the EU-tasked French Investigations team,” Baroud said.
Baroud said the Lebanese Army and Internal Security Forces maintained the highest level of readiness and were doing their utmost to find and free the abducted Estonians.
“This resulted in arrests, there are four detainees who confessed to being involved … Important clues have been discovered but they are not enough to free the Estonian tourists,” Baroud said.
As for the attack on the church, the caretaker interior minister said that the timing of the explosion, which detonated at dawn on March 27, indicated that the perpetrators had not intended to inflict casualties.
“Investigations are ongoing and we will announce any clues uncovered,” he said. “The linkage between the church blast and the abduction of the Estonians is a probability, but once finished, probes will reveal the truth.”
But Baroud said that the security situation in Lebanon was not “at its best.”
“Everybody is aware that the security situation is not at its best … our borders … are exposed to threats by the Israeli enemy at any moment and we and Syria have a mutual interest in resolving all problems related to the illegal border crossings along our borders,” Baroud said.
“The situation on our maritime borders isn’t much better … and there is an armed presence inside and outside the [Palestinian refugee] camps, not to speak of the political crisis in the country. It is clear that whenever the political situation deteriorates, it will reflect on security,” Baroud added.
The caretaker minister said that alleviating the living conditions of prisoners at Roumieh required sufficient funding and a decision at Cabinet level.
Separately, Lebanese Forces leader Samir Geagea said in an interview with Media that Syria was most likely responsible for the abduction of the seven tourists, adding that Zahle’s explosion was intended as a diversion.
“Until further notice, I can say that the main side behind it [the abduction] is the brothers in Syria,” he said.
In other news, Sheikh Arfan Maarbouni, who was arrested by an ISF Information Branch patrol in the Bekaa town of Bar Elias, was released Tuesday after investigations revealed that he was not linked to the operation, the National News Agency reported.
Estonia’s Foreign Minister Urmas Paet said that close cooperation with Lebanon and other “partners” like Turkey were ongoing to uncover the fate of the Estonian cyclists.
——–Agencies