Cabinet Legalizes Students Certificates, Mashnouq Says 'Thousands' of Gunmen on Border

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The government on Thursday issued a decree legalizing the passing certificates that will be granted to students after official exam papers were not corrected due to a teachers' boycott, as Interior Minister Nouhad al-Mashnouq warned that “thousands” of jihadist militants are deployed on the country's eastern border with Syria.

“The issue of Arsal has become more dangerous than we already know and the interior minister told us that the Islamic State has become on the border along with new reinforcements,” several media outlets quoted Education Minister Elias Bou Saab as saying after the cabinet session that was held at the Grand Serail.

“The interior minister informed us that the gunmen are in their thousands on the border,” Bou Saab added.

Briefing reporters after the cabinet session, Information Minister Ramzi Jreij said Mashnouq offered “a detailed presentation regarding the security situation and the threat of terrorist and takfiri groups against Lebanon, as the rest of ministers voiced their remarks over the issues in question.”

Jreij quoted Prime Minister Tammam Salam as saying that negotiations over the abducted army troops and security forces had been launched “in a spontaneous manner by the Muslim Scholars Committee” before it suspended its mediation and that the government “did not have a choice but to defend Arsal.”

“After the Scholars Committee stepped aside, the government will not renounce the duty of exerting its utmost efforts to liberate the abductees and support the army in its confrontation against takfiri terrorism and in its defense of Lebanon," Salam added, according to Jreij.

On August 2, jihadists from the Qaida-linked al-Nusra Front and the Qaida breakaway group Islamic State overran Arsal, killing 19 soldiers and abducting 36 troops and policemen before eventually releasing two. Clashes renewed at noon Thursday, which has so far resulted in the disappearance of a soldier and the wounding of another, according to an army communique.

“The cabinet discussed the security situation and sessions will be held Tuesday and Thursday to discuss it,” Jreij said, reassuring that “the cabinet is on alert and it can discuss the security developments at any given time."

Separately, the cabinet approved "a decree containing extraordinary articles regarding the 2014 official school exams and the higher education of the students who underwent these exams."

The education ministry "will issue a statement clarifying the mechanism through which the certificates will be granted" to students, Jreij added.

Earlier this week, Education Minister Bou Saab issued a resolution granting passing certificates to students who underwent official exams, backed by the approval of the Shura Council and the support of the government.

Bou Saab's move drew the ire of the Syndicate Coordination Committee, a coalition of private and public school teachers and public sector employees.

The SCC has been pressing for fair salaries for teachers and employees since three years and it has decided to boycott the correction of exam papers to speed up the approval of a controversial new wage scale.

Y.R.

M.T.

Comments 16
Missing coolmec 28 August 2014, 19:45

tom1
No objections at all. I fully support that idea. But will our army do it??

Thumb tom1 28 August 2014, 20:21

Yes HA is above all

Default-user-icon sectarian (Guest) 29 August 2014, 07:30

dear tom1; we all know you are josephani, lebanesepatriot, among your other fake accounts.

Missing imagine_1979 28 August 2014, 20:44

Waw tom....
Chupachups?...

Missing imagine_1979 28 August 2014, 22:51

Southern stop picturing hezbollah as the savior,
Hezbollah fought in lebanese war only aklim el tofah was around 3000 killed
Hezbollah assassinated comunists, leftists, leaders of lebanese patriotic resistance front and took over the south
True resistants were killed by hezbos on their way to operation and on their way back home (georges hawi)
Hezbollah forbes the army going south (politicaly) after israel retreat and all calling the army going south was considered traitor remember?

Missing imagine_1979 28 August 2014, 22:55

5 hezbos are wanted by stl (yes it is zionist plot; like israel killing levanese officer samer hana, zionist plot untill co pilote came and told the truth. But dont worry the guy only took 6 months because c pas grave bassita

Missing imagine_1979 28 August 2014, 22:56

Hezbos killed hach salman in day light in front of armed forces and taken in pictures but no charged pressed because no proof

Missing imagine_1979 28 August 2014, 22:57

Hezbos tried to assassinate butros harb ( and yes like most of our beloved politician and good christian he pardons but he wont have presidency anyway...

Missing imagine_1979 28 August 2014, 22:58

Hezbollah waged 7 ayyar leaving dozen deads to protect their comunication network

Missing imagine_1979 28 August 2014, 22:58

Hezbos commited to political bureau in doha but forgot their promisses

Missing imagine_1979 28 August 2014, 23:01

I forgot hezbos did a divine victory (lawou kountou a3lam to divine victory, 1200 deads billions lost but ca va oncle khomaini pays so if harriri wanna wage a war indt assad regime which i conssider as an enemy as israel after all both did to my country and saoudia pays reconstruction ca va???

Missing imagine_1979 28 August 2014, 23:02

After supporting eid familly incriminated in tripoli bombing, supporting at least not denoncing smaha, covering twiter anssar al sonna account which was spreading more sectarian hatered

Default-user-icon The Inconvenient Truth (Guest) 28 August 2014, 23:03

So HA protects Lebanon by going into Syria and helping the regime push the terrorists into the Lebanese border, brilliant strategy Lmao!

Thumb zahle1 29 August 2014, 02:47

This is true actually.

Missing imagine_1979 28 August 2014, 23:04

Engage in war in syria witha assad against syrian oppressed people (bc u might believe it was a great democracy, the guys jailled for winning a horse race against bassel el assad more than 15 years ago got released last month, ryad el turk ex syrian comunist/people party leadder was jailled nearly as mandella..

Missing imagine_1979 28 August 2014, 23:06

Hezbos officially are performing jihadist duty in irak!!!
Screw hezbollah, screw his jihad, screww them for dragging us in all that mess and screw u for supporting such a sectarian millicia....