Hizbullah”s seeking gains from Homsi”s Arrest
Reacting to the arrest of Saadnayel”s former head of municipality Ziad Homsi, March 14 sources said that the first Israel-linked cell uncovered in Lebanon included three Hizbullah officials.
The sources told An Nahar daily in remarks published Sunday that at the time the majority did not try to take advantage of the situation politically because those who coordinate with Israel are agents.
The army arrested Homsi at his home in Saadnayel on the basis of the ongoing investigations regarding the Israeli espionage rings. Angry friends and relatives briefly blocked the main international highway from Beirut to Damascus that passes through the town.
MP Saad Hariri denied that Homsi, now deputy to the current mayor, is a Mustaqbal movement cadre.
"There are cheap attempts to associate him with Mustaqbal," Hariri told pan-Arab daily Asharq al-Awsat. "We are sometimes referred to as terrorists and at other times as traitors or seculars."
"The problem of the opposition, or the March 8 forces, is that they want to fabricate anything on the Mustaqbal movement," Hariri added.
Hizbullah”s al-Manar TV station said in its evening newscast on Saturday that Homsi is a top Mustaqbal cadre in the central Bekaa.
The network also drew question marks on his role in previous clashes between Saadnayel and Taalbaya.