Police State Security Pyramid Seen Crumbling after Azar's Leave
The Syrian-controlled security pyramid that has turned Lebanon into a police state is beginning to crumble ahead of the arrival of a U.N. mission of inquiry to conduct a full-blown investigation into ex-Premier Rafik Hariri's assassination, the Beirut press reported on Wednesday.
"The rain came," said An Nahar of the one-month leave given to the commander of the Lebanese army's intelligence service, Maj. Gen. Raymond Azar, as of Tuesday. He is one of the security commanders whose heads have been demanded since the Feb. 14 assassination. An Nahar implied the heads of the others will roll soon.
Azar told As Safir he had taken the decision to request the leave out of his own volition and without pressure from anyone. "I am ready along with my team for any reckoning or accountability. I wouldn't have requested the leave if I am not confident of my innocence," he said.
Hariri's Al Mustaqbal newspaper said Azar had already left Lebanon, implying he escaped before the U.N. commission's arrival, but did not report his destination. There was no official or independent confirmation immediately available for Azar's departure.
An Nahar and Al Mustaqbal suggested that Internal Security Forces (ISF) commander Brig. Gen. Ali Hajj was expected to follow Azar's suit. But he personally made an emphatic denial to An Nahar. Other media reports said whether or not Azar would return to his post depends on outcome of the forthcoming probe of the U.N. mission of inquiry into Hariri's murder.
In addition to Azar and Hajj, the opposition is insisting on sacking State Prosecutor Adnan Addoum plus Brig. Gen. Jamil Sayyed, chief of Lebanon's Surete Generale, Brig. Gen. Edward Mansour, head of the State Security apparatus and Col. Ghassan Tufaili, chief of the telephone espionage department.
General Georges Khoury, head of intelligence service of Mount Lebanon province, was appointed to fill the post in Azar's absence. Khoury was described by the Beirut press on Wednesday as the liaison officer between President Lahoud and Maronite Patriarch Nasrallah Sfeir.
"The rain came," said An Nahar of the one-month leave given to the commander of the Lebanese army's intelligence service, Maj. Gen. Raymond Azar, as of Tuesday. He is one of the security commanders whose heads have been demanded since the Feb. 14 assassination. An Nahar implied the heads of the others will roll soon.
Azar told As Safir he had taken the decision to request the leave out of his own volition and without pressure from anyone. "I am ready along with my team for any reckoning or accountability. I wouldn't have requested the leave if I am not confident of my innocence," he said.
Hariri's Al Mustaqbal newspaper said Azar had already left Lebanon, implying he escaped before the U.N. commission's arrival, but did not report his destination. There was no official or independent confirmation immediately available for Azar's departure.
An Nahar and Al Mustaqbal suggested that Internal Security Forces (ISF) commander Brig. Gen. Ali Hajj was expected to follow Azar's suit. But he personally made an emphatic denial to An Nahar. Other media reports said whether or not Azar would return to his post depends on outcome of the forthcoming probe of the U.N. mission of inquiry into Hariri's murder.
In addition to Azar and Hajj, the opposition is insisting on sacking State Prosecutor Adnan Addoum plus Brig. Gen. Jamil Sayyed, chief of Lebanon's Surete Generale, Brig. Gen. Edward Mansour, head of the State Security apparatus and Col. Ghassan Tufaili, chief of the telephone espionage department.
General Georges Khoury, head of intelligence service of Mount Lebanon province, was appointed to fill the post in Azar's absence. Khoury was described by the Beirut press on Wednesday as the liaison officer between President Lahoud and Maronite Patriarch Nasrallah Sfeir.
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