Army is Closing in on Bekaa Fugitives
President Michel Suleiman has said the Lebanese army is closing in on those involved in Monday”s attack on an army patrol in the eastern Bekaa valley.
An Nahar newspaper on Friday quoted Suleiman”s visitors at Baabda Palace as saying that the president said the army is making major progress in its crackdown on crime rings and identified an area where the killers could have resorted to.
Suleiman also expressed relief at the cooperation of all parties with the army and their condemnation of the attack that left four soldiers dead.
Army Commander Gen. Jean Qahwaji told a delegation from Baalbek-Hermel on Thursday that the army crackdown is only targeting the fugitives and not the area”s citizens.
He said he only wants to arrest those involved in the attack because they are outlaws.
On the parliamentary elections, Suleiman”s visitors said the president was sure that the polls would be held under calm circumstances on June 7.
Suleiman also stressed that he will not be with any party against the other whatever the results of the elections were. "Bias obstructs the role of the presidency," he said.
As Safir daily also quoted Suleiman”s visitors as saying that the issue of appointing governors is no longer urgent.
As for the appointment of a director general for the interior ministry, it is now clear that it would go to a Shiite brigadier general, As Safir said.
The newspaper reported that contacts will get underway between Baabda and Rabiyeh before the next dialogue session as a last attempt to find a solution to the Constitutional Council crisis.
Both Suleiman and Free Patriotic Movement leader Gen. Michel Aoun want the biggest Christian shares of Council members.