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Lebanon Releases Detained Anti-Syrian Christians
BEIRUT, Aug 21 (IslamOnline & News Agencies) - Seventy-five supporters of the banned Lebanese Forces (LF) and Free Patriotic Movement arrested earlier this month were in the process of being freed late Monday night after each paid about $2000, Chief Military Prosecutor Nasri Lahoud said.
Among them was Nadim Lteif, a retired general who leads supporters of former army commander General Michel Aoun.
Aoun was a former Lebanese prime minister who led Christian forces in battle against Syria in 1989 before fleeing to France a year later, said the Lebanese
Daily Star.
Dozens of family members gathered outside the Military Tribunal Monday night clutching wads of money in anticipation of the imminent release of their loved ones, the online paper reported.
Those jailed in the Lebanese army crackdown from August 5th-8th were charged with "harming relations with a brother country," in reference to Syria, and insulting Lebanese President Emile Lahoud, who enjoys close links to Damascus.
Lahoud asked the military investigating magistrate to interrogate four LF supporters and issue arrest warrants for them on charges of contacting Israel and attempting to form an "opposition association of Christian political parties to undermine state authority and disturb the country's ties with Syria."
The Chief Military Prosecutor said 17 people belonging to the LF militia are still detained.
Among those still behind bars are former LF political advisor Tufiq Hindi, as well as two journalists, Antoine Bassil, a correspondent for Saudi Arabia's MBC satellite television channel, and Habib Younes, a correspondent for the London-based Arab
Al-Hayat newspaper.
Lahoud accused Hindi, the political adviser to jailed LF leader Samir Geagea, and Bassil of contacting Israel. He accused Bassil of "revealing information" that served Israel's interests.
Lahoud also accused LF student coordinator Salman Samaha and attorney Elie Keyrouz, also an LF member, of withholding incriminating information and attempting to form "an association with the purpose of undermining state authority".
According to Lahoud, investigations revealed that Hindi was in "constant contact" with Uri Lubrani, the former coordinator of Israeli activities in Lebanon, the
Daily Star online reported.
Lahoud said Hindi maintained contact with Lubrani's adviser, Odid Zaray, through Bassil, whom he said confessed he was arranging meetings for Hindi to meet Lubrani and Zaray in Israel and France in early 2001.
Lahoud also said Hindi and Israeli officials discussed ways to support a potential Lebanese presidential candidate. Lahoud said the candidate paid Hindi $2,500 for expenses, $500 of which was paid to Bassil for setting a meeting date.
Lahoud also said Bassil has confessed to collaborating with Israel and exchanging coded letters and reports with Zaray by telex and Internet.
The messages included political and military developments, including opposition to Syria and Hezbollah, the army's deployment in the South, and ties with Syria, the paper added.
Lahoud said Samaha and Keyrouz knew of Hindi and Bassil's contact with Israelis but failed to inform authorities about them.
Two weeks ago, the army's intelligence services, which are under the president's authority, arrested some 200 Christian activists hostile to the Syrian presence in their country. Some of them were released before Monday.
Earlier Monday, a car bomb exploded without causing injuries near the Beirut headquarters of the judiciary where some of the activists are on trial, police said, Agence France-Presse (AFP) reported.
Asked about the incidents, Transportation Minister Najib Mikati told reporters that the blast was "the work of a fifth column" and that "the forces of evil were looking to undermine Lebanese unity."
Overnight Monday, the office of the president of the Bar in north Lebanon, George Murani, was ransacked, police said.
On August 9-10, Murani's bar association, and its Beirut counterpart, had observed a strike to protest against the crackdown on Christian and anti-Syrian activists, and the manner in which they were carried out.
Also Monday, Lebanese Culture Minister Ghassan Salameh told the press that the arrests had "harmed Lebanon's image abroad".
Monday's releases followed sharp foreign criticism of the campaign of arrests, including a rebuke at the weekend from Pope John Paul, and warnings from across Lebanon's political spectrum that the country was in danger of becoming a Syrian-run dictatorship.
It also came a few hours before a Tuesday meeting scheduled between Lahoud, a Maronite Christian closely allied to Syria, and Maronite Patriarch Nasrallah Sfeir, who has been leading the campaign to end Damascus's grip on Beirut.
Lebanon's Maronite Christians have spearheaded a campaign to remove the 20,000 troops Syria has in Lebanon. Many Christians resent a Syrian-inspired post-war settlement that diminished the political influence of Christians in favor of Muslims.
According to AFP, Damascus sent its troops into Lebanon early in the country's 1975-1990 civil war to prevent the defeat of Christian militias by Muslim and Palestinian fighters.
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