Salam Meets Saniora: Some Trying to Seize Control of Judiciary

Former premier and Beirut MP Tammam Salam held talks Monday with ex-PM Fouad Saniora and defended him in the face of the latest controversy over the state's financial accounts.

“Everyone has been annoyed by the targeting of a grand patriotic figure, ex-PM Fouad Saniora,” Salam said after visiting Saniora's residence in Beirut's Bliss area.

“Saniora does not need a parliamentary, sectarian or political immunity from any side, seeing as he has national immunity,” the ex-PM added.

“He has always been a role model for professionalism, ethics and transparent and disciplined performance, especially in financial issues,” Salam went on to say.

He also stressed the need to “keep politics away from justice in this country,” warning that “some political sides are trying to control and influence this judiciary.”

Saniora for his part said his objective had always been to “reform and work against the spread of corruption” throughout “30 years of work in state institutions and as head of the commission overseeing banks.”

“I'm very confident of what I did and I know that what I did was in the interest of the state and the treasury... If time goes back thirty years, I would do the same work I did when I was finance minister and premier,” Saniora added.