Ashraf Rifi
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Rifi to Raad: Those Criticizing Usurpation of Yemenis' Will Have Condemned themselves in Syria

Justice Minister Ashraf Rifi criticized Hizbullah's Loyalty to the Resistance bloc chief MP Mohmmed Raad's response to Mustaqbal Movement leader MP Saad Hariri over the developments in Yemen and Iran's role in the region, reported the daily al-Mustaqbal on Friday.

He said: “Those speaking against the usurpation of the will of the Yemeni people have condemned themselves in supporting the actions of the Syrian regime, which has destroyed its cities and villages on its residents.”

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Syrian 'Nuclear Equipment' Keep Beirut Authorities Busy

Lebanese security and judicial agencies had been busy in the past days investigating a cargo for the Syrian regime, which was dubbed as “nuclear equipment” but turned out to be office material, al-Joumhouria newspaper reported on Wednesday.

The daily said that the apparatuses launched a probe when the manifest of several containers that reached Beirut Port said they included nuclear material.

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Rifi Says Hizbullah Members Linked to Global Corruption, Money Laundry Cases

Justice Minister Ashraf Rifi revealed on Monday that a number of Hizbullah members around the world are involved in corruption and money laundering cases, pointing out that several were detained in Lebanon on the same charges.

“A number of cases have been unveiled related to Hizbullah's illegal activity and evading custom fees and taxes in Beirut's port and airport,” Rifi said in an interview with the Saudi newspaper al-Watan.

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Rifi Slams Nasrallah's Call to Join Fight against Terror, Seeks to Criminalize Combating Abroad

Justice Minister Ashraf Rifi stated that defense strategies all over the world include articles on criminalizing fighting outside of home soil, adding that he is seeking to devise an article on this matter for Lebanon's strategy, reported Kuwait's al-Rai newspaper.

He told the daily in an interview set be published on Sunday: “I insist on criminalizing any fighting of Lebanese, whether they be Hizbullah or anyone else, on foreign soil.”

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Rifi Confirms Officials Thwarted Plot to Kill Samaha

Justice Minister Ashraf Rifi confirmed on Tuesday that a plot to kill former pro-Syrian Information Minister Michel Samaha, who is on trial on terrorism charges, has been thwarted.

Rifi told al-Liwaa newspaper that he had received information from a highly credible security agency that Samaha would be killed during his transfer to hospital for having information about the Syrian regime.

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Security Forces Thwart Alleged Plot to Kill Samaha

Police have thwarted a plot to kill former pro-Syrian Information Minister Michel Samaha who has been indicted in a series of terrorist plots, security sources said Monday.

The sources told al-Joumhouria newspaper that the military prosecutor had recently granted Samaha the right to be transferred to hospital for medical reasons.

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Rifi Orders Prosecution of Those who Fired during Nasrallah Speech

Justice Minister Ashraf Rifi on Friday asked the public prosecution to seek the arrest and penalization of those who opened fire in celebration of a much-anticipated speech by Hizbullah chief Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah.

The celebratory gunshots and rocket-propelled grenades sparked panic and damaged cars and the facades of some buildings in the capital Beirut and its suburbs.

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March 14 Denounces Israeli Raid: It is Clear Evidence of Hizbullah's Involvement in Syria

The March 14 General Secretariat condemned on Wednesday the Israeli airstrike on Hizbullah fighters in Syria's Golan, however, considering it as clear evidence of the party's involvement in the fighting in the neighboring country, “which violates the broad Lebanese unanimity.”

In a statement issued after its weekly meeting, the General Secretariat stressed that Hizbullah insists, through its ongoing engagement in battles in Syria, on transferring sedition into Lebanon, despite all of its claims.

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Mansour and Mawlawi among 28 Charged in Tripoli Bombing

The military prosecutor charged on Tuesday 28 people, four of them detainees, in the double suicide bombing that rocked the Jabal Mohsen district of the northern city of Tripoli earlier this month.

The state-run National News Agency said the charges issued by Judge Saqr Saqr include membership to an armed terrorist organization for the purpose of carrying out terrorist activities.

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Rifi Says Islamist Inmates Trials to End in 2 Months, Blames 'Syrian Regime Legacy'

Justice Minister Ashraf Rifi announced Sunday that the long-stalled trials of Islamist inmates held at the Roumieh prison would be finalized “within two months,” blaming the delay on “the Syrian regime's legacy” in Lebanon.

“The Syrian regime's 30-year legacy cannot be ended in three months and the issue needs more time and we have a long way ahead,” Rifi told families of Islamist prisoners during a meeting at the al-Salam Mosque in Tripoli.

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