Beirut: A day after Michel Samaha was apprehended by Internal Security Forces (ISF), Lebanese media outlets claimed that the former Member of Parliament and Information Minister admitted to involvement in a plot to carry out several bombings throughout the country. Reportedly, Samaha told investigators that the order to spread havoc in Lebanon came from Syrian President Bashar Al Assad in person. According to the MTV television network, however, Samaha acknowledged he “acted on orders from Damascus.”
“This is what Bashar wants,” Al Jumhuriyah paper claimed Samaha told his interrogators. Additional news leaks, attributed to security sources, alleged that Samaha met a high-ranking Syrian official a few days ago in Damascus. These sources said that Ali Mamluk, who was appointed head of Syria’s National Security office on July 24, apparently ordered Samaha to carry out the attacks. Interestingly, one of the unidentified security sources contended that Samaha admitted to transferring between 2 and 20 kilograms of explosives in his car (that receives semi-diplomatic protection) from Damascus to Lebanon through the Masna’ah border crossing, ostensibly to avoid questioning at the frontier. Why Mamluk needed to procure such explosives when they were readily available on the Lebanese market could not be explained, however. In the event, the supposed bombs were to be detonated in the super-sensitive Akkar region to ignite a Sunni-Alawi, or even Sunni-Christian discord. A claim that at least one device was destined for the Maronite Patriarch, Bisharah Al Rahi, who is planning a visit to Akkar on August 13, sent shivers across members of the community. Other bombs were allegedly destined to go off at Ramadan Iftars attended by important Sunni personalities in Tripoli. Samaha’s bodyguard, Ali Mallah, his chauffeur, Faris Barakat, and his secretary Gladys ‘Awadah were all briefly arrested for interrogation, although all three were released on bail by late Thursday. Other individuals may have escaped to Syria though this was pure speculation. MP Mohammad Ra’ad, head of Hizballah’s Loyalty to Resistance parliamentary bloc, described the accusations as “security fabrications.”
“We will not remain silent but we will wait for some time,” Ra’ad declared, further asserting:
“We have experienced these security fabrications for so long and some judges are linked to suspicious security agencies.” Unverifiable news reports maintained that President Bashar Al Assad called his Lebanese counterpart, Michel Sulaiman, as well as Prime Minister Najeeb Mikati, to obtain Samaha’s release. Given Syria’s traditional influence on Lebanese politics, it is difficult to ascertain whether the country’s judiciary would conduct the investigation without interference. New TV claimed that Samaha was arrested after he was shown a video of himself caught in the act, According to Lebanese daily L’Orient-Le Jour, the visual evidence showed the former minister in an underground car park transferring explosives from the trunk of his car to a vehicle parked nearby.
