Caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati Holds Consultation Meeting with Ministers to Discuss Security and National Stability

A consultation meeting was held between the caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati and the ministers in the palace, which included the ministers of Foreign Affairs and Expatriates, Abdullah Bou Habib, Displaced Persons, Essam Sharaf al-Din, Youth and Sports, George Kallas, Finance, Youssef Khalil, Education, Abbas Al-Halabi, Public Works and Transport, Ali Hamiya, and the Environment, Nasser, participated in, social affairs, Hector Hajjar, communication, Johnny Al-Qurm, agriculture, Abbas Al -Hajj Hassan, culture, Muhammad Wissam Al-Murtada, interior, Bassam Mawlawi, tourism, Walid Nassar, media, Ziad Al-Makari, justice, Henry Khoury, labor, Mustafa Bayram, director general of the Presidency of the Republic, Antoine Choucair, and the general secretary of the Republic. Minister of the Council, Judge Mahmoud Makiya.

At the beginning of the meeting, Mikati spoke and said: “I wanted this meeting to be an opportunity to discuss the security situation in general and in the south in particular, and the file of those who were expelled and the situation of supply food in the country. We meet together to consult and think together about the actual situation, security and national, and to discuss the steps that need to be taken to strengthen social stability, and to have one position for Lebanon before the international community. national on the issue of displaced Syrians and its impact on the reality of Lebanon in all aspects, economic, social, security and sovereignty.”

He said: “Our aim is to face all the challenges together. We are living through an old crisis, which we own and will not ignore, in terms of security and economic. In fact, in agreement with all the officers and authorities.”

Mikati emphasized “the need to accelerate the election of the president of the republic, to finish the institutions, and the need to get out of the ban of vacancies, which shows all the parts of the state and national stability national and social responsibilities, and this is what I said to His Beatitude Patriarch Al-Rahi, and we do not use political luxury, and it is not ours. “

He said: “The country has seen security incidents this week, and their share would have increased, if not for the efforts of the army and security forces, the seriousness of the investigation, the wisdom of the leaders and the authorities , and calling for reason, consideration, and coming together with conscience, that is the only way to overcome the crisis of students being responsible and appreciating the national situation in -now.”

Mikati continued: “With the proliferation of crimes committed by some displaced Syrians, the security services must deal firmly with this situation and urgent measures must be taken to prevent any criminal activity and prevent on basic actions that cannot be accepted by our ordinary Syrian. We ask His Excellency the Minister of the Interior to be strict in applying Lebanese laws to all displaced people and we will be strict with cases that violate these laws. “

He said: “What is happening must not make us ignore what is happening in the south of Israel’s aggression, the fall of martyrs, the wounded, destruction, devastation, and land burning In terms of war, it cannot be accept Israeli attacks, and we do not accept that our airspace will be violated.

He continued: “Israel is dragging the region into war, and the international community must pay attention to this issue and stop this war.” Through the connections we make, it will be clear to us how many friends Lebanon has in the world that protect it and are making every effort to put pressure on Israel to stop the attack and prevent the conflicts.”

After the meeting, Minister of Information Ziad Al-Makari said: “According to the current situation, His Excellency the President invited the ministers to a consultative meeting and the following was discussed:

First: The situation in the south and the call to stop the Israeli attacks on southern Lebanon and Gaza, and recommending to the Council of Ministers to establish a committee to develop a procedure to investigate the damage and identify needs, as well as submit proposals. to finance the rebuilding process.

Second: His Excellency the President and his attendants emphasized the importance of protecting civil peace in these fragile situations, and praised the role of the security authorities in maintaining security and detecting crimes as quickly and professionally as possible.

Third: Regarding the presence of Syria, the attendees discussed the mechanism and how to classify them between legal and illegal displaced persons, and it was proposed that Lebanese laws be applied applied to everyone without regard to the current work of the person who was fired, and the governors were generalized to close all bankruptcy centers and request a Public Request for Discrimination, through The Ministry of Justice, limiting the reviews of Syrians to the public prosecutors of appeals to prevent the interventions that take place in this regard, and examine the possibility. to address overcrowding in prisons and the ability to deport Syrians from them in accordance with the relevant laws and regulations, as well as emphasizing the need to send the decisions and circulars The Ministry of the Interior and municipalities issued related to the issue of displaced Syrians to act. .

Fourth: Determining shortages of food, rations and fuel, as well as ensuring that the supply chain is normally and properly available, and demonstrating that the necessary rations are available at this stage for a minimum of three months.

Question: Will we remain in the same circle of displaced people without a political decision to address the issue? He replied: “Many events have happened recently that revived this file, and at this time all the Lebanese are united on this delicate and vital issue related to Lebanon, and you can see the decisions and their implementation in a bad way in this regard. .

Question: When will the Cabinet session be held?
He replied: “The session will be held on April 26.”

Question: Was the file of displaced Syrians transferred because of the recent events and the lack of statistics on their number He answered: “As we said, the first thing is related to this procedure , classification, and those statistics.

Question: Does the government have a general view to bring to international forums regarding the issue of displaced people, and when will a meeting be held in Brussels?

He replied: “The meeting in Brussels will be held at the end of May next May, and we will certainly hold meetings about new relations with the Europeans after the meeting with the president of Cyprus.”

Question: Will the government provide aid to compensate for the harm to southerners?
He replied: “The government made a decision in this regard without any information, but in principle there is certainly support.”

The Director General of the Ministry of Economy and Trade, Muhammad Abu Haidar, who participated in part of the meeting due to the absence of Minister Amin Salam outside Lebanon, made a statement in which he said: “At the level of food security, supply widely available and food products are available for three months, and the same applies to flour It is available for about a month, in addition to the fact that there is a new shipment that arrives within 12 days , and in terms of fuel, gasoline and diesel are available and there are no problems at the market or supply level. “