The leader of the Change and Reform bloc MP Michel Aoun praised reconciliation efforts underway currently underway in Tripoli. However, he said that that his party had been among the first to warn about the danger of the tension in Tripoli and, for doing so, had been attacked with accusations of inciting conflict by the same people now leading the reconciliation process.

In a press conference after the bloc’s weekly meeting on Monday, Aoun said he were disappointed that L’Orient Le Jour had not been taken to court, even though the paper had said Captain Samir Hanna, who died in last month’s shooting of a military helicopter, was “murdered” before the investigation was complete. “We respect freedom of expression but it does not mean the freedom to attack and change the truth,” he said. Aoun had harsh words for “all the cheap pens,” that is journalists, who prostitute themselves by selling their “pens.”

Aoun issued what he described as “formal request,” to the army, asking them “to tell us who directed the military helicopter to the place where the shooting occurred. They must tell us who gave this order and what was the mission.” He said his party wanted to know what the guiding principle of the flights over these regions was, especially since they are zones where the UNFIL and the Resistance were present. “Accordingly, we can tell the mother of Capt. Hanna why her son was killed and who killed him.”

“When I say there was a mistake, I do not intend to justify Hezbollah’s act. I just want to know why the military helicopter was there to understand how the incident happened,” he said.

Aoun said he was surprised, on Monday, to see a law that was issued in 2004, suddenly asserted. The law says that the monetary balance of the Communication Ministry must be included in the general finance of the state. “This will not happen, the minister does not have financial independence anymore and cannot lower communication costs,” Aoun said. He said that as long as the ministry was his party’s responsibility, he would not allow the law to be implemented.  “I present the issue to public opinion. Things should not be dealt with in silence anymore, and if they want to change the law, let them do it in parliament,” he said.

-NOW Staff