Lebanese Leaders Vow to Hunt down LA Killers in Arsal

Local Editor

Lebanon's top officials and the Army commander pledged Sunday to apprehend the militants involved in an ambush that killed two Lebanese soldiers in the eastern town of Arsal, as the two victims were laid to rest amid calls for punishing the perpetrators.

In this context, Army commander Gen. Jean Qahwagi described the ambush that killed Captain Pierre Bashaalani, 31, and Sergeant Ibrahim Zahraman, 32, as a "premeditated crime, vowing to punish the "criminals" who fired on an Army patrol trying to hunt down a wanted man in Arsal Friday.
This comes as the Lebanese Army beefed up their presence in Arsal, sealing off the town's entrances and exits in what appeared to be part of the LA's measures to apprehend the gunmen involved in the deadly ambush that also wounded a number of soldiers and gunmen and killed the wanted man accused of "several terrorist acts."
For his part, Lebanese President Michel Suleiman told George Bashaalani, the father of the slain captain, that the Army was determined to find all those involved and put them on trial.
"The Army Command is determined to arrest the attackers on its patrol in Arsal," Suleiman said after offering condolences to Bashaalani's parents in the Zahle town of Mreijet.

In response, George Bashaalani urged Suleiman "not to be lenient with the killers and to strike with an iron fist against anyone who tries to break the law and tamper with security."

In the same context, House Speaker Nabih Berri viewed that "what happened in Arsal is a crime against the whole nation."
In an interview with as-Safir Lebanese daily, Berri confirmed that "the incident is intolerable."
He further urged the judiciary to follow up the case till the end.

The speaker also gave the LA the green light to impose its authority across all the areas in Lebanon, saying "it doesn't need a permission to enter any specific area."

Similarly, Prime Minister Najib Mikati visited the Army Command headquarters at the Defense Ministry in Yarze, east of Beirut, in a show of solidarity with the military measures taken in Arsal to apprehend the gunmen suspected of involvement in killing the two soldiers.
"I confirmed my full support for the Lebanese Army. At the same time, I stressed to the command the need for this problem to be solved as soon as possible and the gunmen to be handed over to the Lebanese Army," Mikati said after meeting Qahwagi and Defense Minister Fayez Ghosn.

He said he had agreed with Qahwagi on a series of measures to be taken in Arsal. "Let's leave it to the Army to resolve this matter away from any [sectarian] tension. We will not accept that a group of Lebanese feels targeted in these circumstances," Mikati said. "I came here to support the Army. I call on the media outlets to stop inflaming sectarian sentiments."

Meanwhile, Qahwagi, issued a stern warning to the two soldiers' killers.
"We will not keep silent or accept any political compromise over the blood of Maj. Pierre Bashaalani and Sergeant Ibrahim Zahraman. We reject any attempt by any party to play down the impact and horror of the crime that was committed against the Army in a premeditated manner and by barbaric means alien to our Christian and Muslim beliefs," the Army chief said in an order of the day to the military.

He further added that the Army would take all necessary action to apprehend the killers. "The Army will not back off come what may until the criminals, regardless of their identities and affiliations and no matter how loud the cries of their defenders are, are punished," Qahwagi said.
In parallel, he stressed: "Our promise to our two martyrs, their families and friends that the perpetrators and accomplices will get their punishment whatever the cost, is for the sake of Lebanon' unity, security and stability."
"Anyone who thinks that our work against terrorism, that seeks to destabilize our society and coexistence, might stop for any reason is mistaken," he stated.

Source: Lebanese dailies, Edited by moqawama.org