Lebanon First bloc MP Mohammad al-Hajjar said on Saturday that the Internal Security Forces and its Director General Achraf Rifi do not even come close to suspicion. 

This comes after several March 8 coalition figures, including head of the Media and Telecommunications Commission Hassan Fadlallah and Speaker Nabih Berri, criticized former Prime Minister Fouad Siniora’s cabinet for reportedly signing an agreement with Washington to supply long-term training and equipment to the army and ISF when the parliament was shut down from December 2006 until May 2008.

In an interview with Al-Mustaqbal newspaper published on Saturday, Rifi said the terms of the agreement were established in 2007, and circumstances in Lebanon at that time did not allow the cabinet to sign the agreement. The government asked him to sign it, he said, and it was approved by the cabinet four days later.

“There are many false rumors against anyone trying to work in Lebanon’s favor,” said Hajjar, adding that the campaign against the ISF is futile. The ISF will continue to uncover espionage networks in Lebanon and provide citizens with security, he said. 

He also touched on the Israeli threats to Lebanon, saying a “legitimate Lebanese decision” based on a joint Arab strategy should be behind any confrontation of the Jewish State.

-NOW Lebanon

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