Suleiman Says Violators Should not Be Protected through Army Criticism

President Michel Suleiman defended on Monday the army against critics who accuse it of making illegal arrests of suspects, saying the investigation with them was being carried out in a high level of transparency.

Suleiman was briefed by Army chief Gen. Jean Qahwaji on the situation in Lebanon in general and mainly the northern city of Tripoli, a Baabda Palace statement said.

He also briefed him on the path of recent investigations and arrests, it said.

Suleiman and Qahwaji agreed that the army was acting legally and was preserving civil peace and the security of residents.

The statement did not mention any names but it came a day after Muslim scholars and clerics staged a protest outside the defense ministry in Yarze to condemn the arrest of Sheikh Omar al-Atrash, who has reportedly admitted his role in recent suicide bombings.

“The investigation is led by the specialized judiciary and is being carried out through a high degree of accuracy and transparency,” it said.

“It is rejected to protect those who have committed violations or to cover their acts” by flooding the army, which forms the backbone of civil peace and stability in the country, with accusations, the statement added.

Media reports have said that al-Atrash, who is from the Bekaa Valley, has admitted to the Army Intelligence that he has smuggled terrorists, rigged cars and explosives belts, some of which have been used in recent bombings.

But his lawyer denied to Voice of Lebanon radio (100.5) that the Sheikh had made any confessions.

Sunday's protesters urged the army to release him after it accused it of acting as a gang.