Gemayel Asks Govt. about 'Hizbullah Border Tunnels'
Kataeb Party chief MP Sami Gemayel on Monday addressed a parliamentary question to the government regarding the so-called Hizbullah border tunnels in southern Lebanon.
Gemayel asked whether “the necessary investigations have been conducted to identify the side that bypassed the Lebanese authorities and legitimacy represented in the Lebanese army and security forces.”
“What is the government's stance and what are the measures that it intends to take to close the tunnels and prevent their reuse?” he added, requesting “a written answer to the question within a 15-day deadline as per Parliament's bylaws.”
Gemayel based his question on “the Constitution articles that put the armed forces and the decisions of peace and war under the Council of Ministers' authority and on the penal code, which penalizes actions not authorized by the government, in addition to U.N. Security Council 1701, which emphasizes the need to extend the Lebanese government's authority across Lebanon, especially in the area south of the Blue Line.”
In January, Israel said it concluded an operation to unearth and destroy tunnels which it accused Hizbullah of digging across the border from Lebanon.
Hizbullah chief Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah acknowledged "there are tunnels in southern Lebanon," refusing to specify who built them and when, and mocking Israel for taking "many years" to find them.
A month-long war in 2006 between Israel and Hizbullah killed more than 1,200 Lebanese, mostly civilians, and more than 160 Israelis, mostly soldiers.
Source: Naharnet
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