Alloush Says Jahliyeh Raid 'Coordinated' with Aoun

Al-Mustaqbal Movement official ex-MP Mustafa Alloush announced Wednesday that a controversial Internal Security Forces operation in the Chouf town of Jahliyeh had been “coordinated” with President Michel Aoun.

“The operation was coordinated with the President,” Alloush said in a video interview with the IMLebanon website.

“All its details and its entire course were not withheld from the president,” the ex-MP claimed.

“They (March 8 forces) know that such an operation in such a situation and in the presence of a caretaker cabinet cannot take place without an agreement with the President,” Alloush went on to say.

“The president is the commander-in-chief of the armed forces,” the former lawmaker pointed out.

“He could have taken punitive measures against the security officials” had the operation lacked judicial legitimacy as Wahhab is claiming, Alloush added.

Informed sources meanwhile told LBCI TV that Aoun’s stance on what happened in Jahliyeh and the previous and subsequent verbal attacks “were clearly stated in the speech he delivered at the opening of the national library.”

“What Mustafa Alloush said about President Aoun’s prior knowledge of the security operation in Jahliyeh requires him to disclose the side that told him that the operation was coordinated with the President so that his remarks can enjoy credibility,” the sources added.