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Mustaqbal Accuses President Aoun of Ordering Salameh's Arrest

Al-Mustaqbal Movement on Tuesday issued a statement in defense of Central Bank Governor Riad Salameh, after his residences were raided by State Security with the aim of bringing him to interrogation before Judge Ghada Aoun.

“It would be beneficial to warn all Lebanese that the prosecution of the governor and the raids of his houses and his office at the Banque du Liban represent a step on the course of collapse and not a step towards the solution illusions and the fight against corruption,” Mustaqbal said.

It charged that the raids and the arrest decision “had been taken at the presidential palace through a direct request from President Michel Aoun in person to the head of the State Security agency, Maj. Gen. (Tony) Saliba,” noting that “the date of the raids has been known for a week and has been circulated on social networking websites by Aounist activists.”

“The President’s insistence on this measure is aimed at serving the interest of the Free Patriotic Movement on the eve of parliamentary elections… It also aims to justify the shortcomings in the ongoing negotiations with the International Monetary Fund, to paralyze these negotiations and to undermine any possibility to achieve economic stability,” Mustaqbal added.

It also charged that Aoun said that he did not mind a “clash” between the raiding State Security agents and the Internal Security Forces members tasked with guarding Salameh’s properties should that lead to the governor’s arrest.

“Drag him (to interrogation), even if it requires a clash with the ISF,” Mustaqbal quoted the President as saying.

“This is an arbitrary decision by the Presidency. They are running in the parliamentary elections over the remains of the state and the economy,” Mustaqbal added.

Source: Naharnet


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