Syrian Diplomat Urges Lebanese Security Agencies to Review Probe into Arms Smuggling
Syrian Ambassador Ali Abdul Karim Ali urged Lebanese security agencies on Thursday to reconsider their investigations into the smuggling of weapons from Lebanon to Syria.
“The amount of smuggled arms to Syria and the amount unveiled by the Lebanese investigation calls for a review by the Lebanese security agencies,” Ali told Hizbullah’s al-Manar TV station.
Asked about the head of the Syrian embassy guard unit, First Lt. Salah Hajj, the ambassador said the officer is loyal and deserves to be appreciated rather than slammed.
An investigation report by Internal Security Forces chief Maj. Gen. Ashraf Rifi on the kidnapping of Syrian opposition members reveals that Hajj was the ringleader of the group that abducted the Jassem brothers.
On the funding of the Special Tribunal for Lebanon that is set to try ex-Premier Rafik Hariri’s suspected assassins, Ali told al-Manar that the issue was an internal matter and it was up to the Lebanese government to decide on it.
He blamed the bloody crackdown by the Assad regime on the presence of extremist armed forces in Syria.
“That’s why the state is consolidating its security and dealing with those members that are tampering with national security and people’s interests,” Ali said.
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