Charbel Says Baabda Attack Clearly Targets Lebanese Army, Presidency

Caretaker Interior Minister Marwan Charbel condemned on Saturday the Baabda rocket attack, considering that it targeted the Lebanese army and the presidency, Says President Michel Suleiman's speech wasn't targeting the resistance.

Charbel expressed hope in comments to Voice of Lebanon radio (100.5) that politicians would try to evade all disputes, pointing out that the incident will have a dangerous impact on the security and economic situation in the country.

On Thursday, two rockets were fired in the Baabda area with one landing in the garden of the Freiha villa that is located near the Officers' Club.

The second rocket landed near the Khashoqji castle in al-Yarzeh.

No one was injured in the incident.

The attack came on the same day that President Michel Suleiman gave a speech on the occasion of Army Day in which he criticized Hizbullah's involvement in the Syrian war in support of President Bashar Assad's forces.

Charbel clarified that Suleiman meant that a “successful resistance is that only defends it country.”

“He wasn't only talking about the resistance but all the sides that are intervening in battles outside Lebanon,” the officials said.

Charbel said that Suleiman's statements were taken out of their context.

“The army's role would be difficult if a party or more get involved in conflicts outside Lebanon,” Suleiman said on Army Day.

Suleiman called for a review of the national defense strategy in light of Hizbullah’s involvement in Syria, while stressing the state should enjoy a monopoly over the use of military force to defend Lebanon’s sovereignty.

But Suleiman said that “true martyrdom is only in the defense of the nation … The Lebanese people want sacrifices for Lebanon.”