Naharnet

Rifi to Aoun: Ask Your Allies about Joseph Sader's Abduction

Former Internal Security Forces chief Maj. Gen. Ashraf Rifi on Tuesday hit back at Free Patriotic Movement leader MP Michel Aoun over the issue of the 2009 kidnap of Middle East Airlines employee Joseph Sader.

"Ask your allies and request the minutes of the human rights parliamentary committee's meeting that was held to discuss the kidnappings of Shebli al-Aysami and Sader,” Rifi tweeted.

Aysami, 86, a co-founder of Syria's Baath party who fled his country in 1966 over political differences, was last seen in May in Aley.

In an interview on MTV on Monday evening, Aoun said: “Let Ashraf Rifi and the (ISF) Intelligence Bureau be asked about the identity of those who kidnapped Joseph Sader.”

Rifi clarified that during the parliamentary committee's meeting, “all details about the abduction of Shebli al-Aysami and Joseph Sader were unveiled.”

“I told the committee that the abductors took Sader from the airport road to Beirut's southern suburbs, which are under Hizbullah's control, and he disappeared there,” Rifi added.

The ex-ISF chief called on Aoun to “ask Sader's wife, who said during the meeting that the motive behind her husband's kidnap was the desire to replace him given that whoever occupies this MEA post would have access to crucial information.”

“It seems that your mission now is distorting facts and misleading the public opinion to serve the interests of your allies,” Rifi added, addressing the FPM leader.


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