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Security Departments Report to Interior Ministry
Interior Minister Ziad Baroud has said reports by security departments under his jurisdiction are referred to the ministry for tackling and "not to any other political authority."
Baroud, in an interview with LBC television late Thursday, made the remark in answering a question as to whether director of airport security Wafiq Shoqeir was reporting to him.
Hizbullah cracked down on Western Beirut in May to protest against a government decision to suspend Shoqeir and ban its communications network.
Baroud said the interior ministry took "all the required procedures" following the Tripoli bombing, but declined to answer questions about results of the ongoing investigation into the attack.
He urged the national unity government of Premier Fouad Saniora to start tackling the issue of "individual weapons."
Baroud disclosed that he coordinates with Hizbullah whenever coordination "is needed."
Efforts are being exerted to remove posters and banners from the Beirut Airport highway, Baroud explained, saying the move should later cover the whole of Lebanon.
Baroud said Lebanon has entered the era of "direct relations with Damascus" following the visit by President Michel Suleiman to Syria and his talks with President Bashar Assad.
"Any contact between the two states should go through the official channel," he stressed.
He called for speedy reforming of the constitutional council to shepherd the forthcoming parliamentary elections.