Naharnet

Aoun Says Won't Sign Amnesty for Those Involved in Killing Soldiers

President Michel Aoun has announced that he will not sign any general amnesty that would pardon inmates involved in the killing of Lebanese Army soldiers.

Talking to reporters aboard the plane that carried him overnight to Beirut, Aoun described his meeting in Saudi Arabia with King Salman as “positive, excellent and fruitful.”

The president also reassured that the monarch told him that Gulf tourists “will definitely return to Lebanon this summer.”

“The Saudi king announced the kingdom's support for Lebanon in everything related to the revival mission that the current government has launched,” Aoun told reporters.

Lebanese authorities have rounded up hundreds of Sunni Islamists over the last years, including some involved in bombings against civilians and deadly clashes with the Lebanese Army. They also include extremists believed to belong to al-Qaida-linked groups and the Islamic State group.

A lot of Islamist prisoners and their families have decried delay in judicial procedures and trials. Some prisoners are held for several years without trial or conviction.


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