Aoun Slams Rifi, al-Hasan over Roumieh 'Major Scandal'
Free Patriotic Movement leader MP Michel Aoun on Tuesday held Internal Security Forces chief Maj. Gen. Ashraf Rifi and ISF Intelligence Bureau chief Brig. Gen. Wissam al-Hasan responsible for the escape of three Fatah al-Islam inmates from the Roumieh prison, voicing rejection of the 50 districts electoral law proposed by his Christian rivals.
“It is unreasonable to be able to arrest Israeli spies without being able to arrest inmates or seize cellphones and knives. The main responsibility falls on the Intelligence Bureau, Wissam al-Hassan and his boss Ashraf Rifi, and the officers are the last to blame,” said Aoun after the weekly meeting of the Change and Reform parliamentary bloc in Rabiyeh.
“What happened in the Roumieh prison is a major scandal,” Aoun added.
Eleven security personnel and two officers were referred to the Military Court on Monday over the jailbreak on charges of "negligence and direct responsibility." The two officers are the prison's commander Major Ahmed Abou Daher and Lieutenant Abdul Hafiz Fawwaz.
“Who is facilitating the escape of prisoners? I'm sure it's not 'the angels,' but rather some officials inside the prison,” Aoun added.
“In 2011, I submitted an urgent bill to build two prisons and it was approved by parliament, but until now the ministry has not launched the project or done anything,” the FPM leader lamented.
Aoun raised the issue of a recent TV report about scandals in the Customs Department.
“I hold the state responsible for this because there is no chairman for the board of directors although there are candidates and there is a mechanism for administrative appointments. How can an institution function without a head?” Aoun added.
He accused the government of being “complicit in the crime that is being committed against the Lebanese state.”
Turning to the issue of the electoral law, Aoun noted that “the 50 electorates law was not discussed in the Bkirki meetings.”
“How did they come up with it? Let them say that they don't want the law proposed by the Orthodox Gathering,” he added.
“They are rejecting all the draft laws in order to keep the 1960 law, which is the ugliest electoral law ever implemented,” Aoun noted.
On Monday, Lebanese Forces leader Samir Geagea voiced his rejection of the 1960 electoral law, describing it as “inappropriate” and noting that the LF will try to convince all parties of its proposal, which is based on dividing Lebanon into 50 electoral districts.
“I call on Aoun and the FPM to endorse this law, which has the support of 55 MPs and only needs the support of Aoun's bloc to gain the needed majority,” Geagea added.
Source: Naharnet
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