Cabinet Postpones State Security Issue as Bassil Accuses OGERO Chief of 'Theft'
The cabinet on Thursday postponed discussing the thorny issue of the State Security agency as Foreign Minister Jebran Bassil reportedly accused OGERO chief Abdul Menhem Youssef of “theft.”
“There is theft in the internet issue and Abdul Menhem Youssef is the culprit,” MTV quoted Bassil as saying during the session.
The minister alleged the presence of “a suspicious contract worth over 100 billion Lebanese pounds between OGERO and the Telecommunications Ministry,” MTV said.
Telecom Minister Boutros Harb meanwhile called on the cabinet to “postpone the debate over the OGERO and internet files until after the municipal polls,” the TV network added.
“Bassil, (Health Minister Wael) Abou Faour and the ministers of Hizbullah have been calling for putting the OGERO file on the cabinet's agenda for a month now to no avail,” MTV said.
Earlier in the day, MP Hassan Fadlallah, the head of the parliamentary media and telecommunications committee, vowed that the judiciary will continue investigating the case of illegal internet providers, stressing that the case will not witness a political cover-up.
“All low- and high-ranking officials linked to the case will be held accountable,” he said.
Harb had revealed last month that around four illegal internet stations were operating in the mountainous terrains of Dinniyeh, Oyoun al-Siman, Faqra and Zaarour. Suspects involved in the case and accused of being associated with state-owned OGERO Telecom have been arrested over possible links to the networks.
Early in March, the parliamentary media and telecommunications committee unveiled what it described as a “mafia” that is taking advantage of internet services by installing Internet stations that are not subject to state control.
The owners of these stations were reportedly buying international internet bandwidth with nominal cost from Turkey and Cyprus which they sold back to Lebanese subscribers at reduced prices.
Ministerial sources had predicted that disputes among officials would renew over the contentious issue of the general-directorate of State Security.
The dispute centers on the budget of the agency and differences between its director Major General George Qaraa and his deputy Brigadier General Mohammed al-Tufaili.
The disagreements between the two officials have started to take on a sectarian turn amid differences between Tourism Minister Michel Pharaon and Finance Minister Ali Hassan Khalil.
Pharaon supports Qaraa, a Greek Catholic, and Khalil supports Tufaili, who enjoys the backing of several ministers, including Nouhad al-Mashnouq, Akram Shehayyeb, and Wael Abou Faour.
In March, the Kataeb Party’s three representatives in the cabinet, in addition to Pharaon, warned that they would take action if the government fails to resolve the “marginalization” of the general-directorate of State Security.
"The siege laid on this agency is unjustified," said Pharaon.
Economy Minister Alain Hakim of the Kataeb Party had said at the time that all Christians reject the neglect of the department.
The general-directorate of State Security had sent a bill to the cabinet on March 20, 2014 asking for the creation of a six-member leadership authority under which Qaraa would have the casting vote.
But the former secretary general of the cabinet, Suhail Bouji, paralyzed the plan by saying that the approval of the bill requires a draft-law to be adopted by the parliament unlike a decision made by the Shura Council, the report said.
Media reports quoted a ministerial source as saying that Bouji’s move likely came as a result of his friendship with Tufaili.
M.T./Y.R.
| Copyright © 2012 Naharnet.com. All Rights Reserved. | https://www.naharnet.com/stories/en/208479 |