Cabinet Forms Committee to Treat 'Widespread Arms Possession': For Lifting Political Cover Off Security Violators

Prime Minister Saad Hariri on Wednesday wondered "about the benefit from the presence of weapons on Beirut's streets," noting that "what happened (Tuesday night) was not new of its kind: since in many regions in Lebanon and for various reasons, light- and medium-caliber weapons quickly appear and trigger violent clashes that terrorize people."
"What happened yesterday in Borj Abi Haidar is totally unacceptable and it is condemned," Information Minister Tareq Mitri quoted Hariri as saying following Cabinet's weekly session.

During the session, Hariri stressed the need "that security forces quickly and firmly impose law and order in Beirut and all regions," adding that "all political factions must restrain the street and lift (political) cover off (security) violators."

Hariri asked media outlets to "shoulder their responsibilities and refrain from agitating feelings and spreading news that favor excitement over exactness and accuracy, or news that contain rumors and speculations that contribute to increasing tension and fears."

"The Cabinet expressed its regret over the victims and stressed the need to ask political leaders to shoulder their responsibilities in defusing tension that provides a suitable environment for the occurrence of incidents, such as those of yesterday," Mitri announced.

"The Cabinet asked the military, security and judicial agencies to pursue their full duties and arrest the perpetrators, whoever they are and to whichever political faction they belong. It also formed a committee, headed by the prime minister and comprising the ministers of defense and interior, tasked with remedying the phenomenon of arms in the hands of citizens in all regions across Lebanon, especially in Beirut, and to find the effective solutions," Mitri added.

He said that the aforementioned committee was supposed to submit its recommendations to the Cabinet during a session to be held soon.

nahar