Kataeb Rejects 'Politicization' of Military Appointments
The Kataeb Party criticized on Monday the stalling in the appointments of members of the military council.
It said in a statement after its weekly politburo meeting: “We reject the politicization of the appointments.”
“Such actions are an insult to the military institution and subject it to political meddling,” it noted.
“This will consequently suppress the role of the army and its power,” remarked the party.
The dispute over the military appointments has been crippling the functioning of cabinet.
The most recent incident in the dispute saw the Free Patriotic Movement and Hizbullah boycott a government meeting last week.
The FPM is calling for the appointment of senior military and security officers, especially to fill the vacancies in the military council, as a condition for attending cabinet sessions.
Addressing the release from prison of former Minister Michel Samaha, the Kataeb said: “The development was a resounding shock and major scandal that will be recorded in the history of the military judiciary.”
“The party therefore calls for reviewing extraordinary trials in general and the Military Tribunal in particular ahead of their elimination,” it said.
It revealed that it will make a proposal to cabinet on referring Samaha's case to the judiciary that is concerned with terrorist crimes.
Samaha was released from jail on Thursday after being arrested in 2012 after he was caught red-handed smuggling explosives from Syria for the purpose of carrying out bombings and assassinations in Lebanon.
He was sentenced to four-and-a-half years in jail.
The release sparked a wave of anger in Lebanon against the military court, most notably among the March 14 alliance.
Samaha, who was information minister from 1992 to 1995, was released in exchange for a bail payment of 150 million Lebanese pounds ($100,000), according the text of the Military Court's judgment.
Under his bail conditions, Samaha, 67, would be barred from leaving the country for at least one year, speaking to the press or using social media.
Samaha, a former adviser to Syrian President Bashar Assad, admitted during his trial that he had transported the explosives from Syria for use in attacks in Lebanon.
But he argued he should be acquitted because he was a victim of entrapment by a Lebanese security services informer – Milad Kfoury.
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