Army Soldiers ’Suicided’ in Arsal!!!

Mona Tehaini

Head of the Military Cassation Court, Judge Alice Shabtini, revoked the decision of Military Investigation Judge, Fadi Sawwan, hereby refusing to release Fadi Hojeiri, detained on charges of an attack on the army in Arsal town. She instead ruled his release on bail of LBP 1 million.
This might seem odd, as the prestige of the military institution is in question. Yet this is normal enough, considering the history of Judge Alice Shabtini. It is Alice Shabtini who released collaborators like Charbel Azzi-Alfa mobile company's agent who easily handed the telecom data to the Zionists during July war. Shabtini seems adamant to release everyone who connived in attacking the Lebanese army in Arsal. In fact, Fadi Hojeiri "is not the first detainee to be freed in this case; he will not be the last," according to a senior security source well informed of the Arsal incident details. "Is the problem in the investigation judges tasked with enquiring this incident? Are their dossiers full of lacks and gaps which allowed Shabtini to find a way out?" the source succinctly wonders.

These questions are not necessarily implying any doubt, as security authorities are indeed keen on judiciary. However, the aforementioned source sees it binding that an attorney follows up on the legal details, the why and wherefores, to reach satisfying answers. This top military official confirms that Hojeiri is undoubtedly involved. Tremendously dismayed by Shabtini's rule, he even dares shove it: "In the end, one may conclude that army soldiers killed themselves in Arsal!" Albeit very cruel, this utterance revealed aversion and bitterness. "Every now and then, the army arrests someone in this case, and then, the lenient military judiciary frees them!" he notes. "Here, weapons smugglers to Syria get caught, but not before long, they return to their normal life. There, people affiliated with extremist sides are arrested, but not before long, they are freed as heroes," he says. He does not seek to undermine the credibility of the military investigation judges, but he is pointing out at mistakes and flaws, which must be highlighted.

Arsal incident...a new accused

Turning to Arsal incident, the source unearthed to Al-Ahed news site that investigations with Mohammad Nayef Rayed, Lebanese, arrested days ago in North Bekaa, showed that arms he possessed were en route for Arsal and particularly for Syrian gunmen. Rayed was also proven to be involved in the attack on the Lebanese army patrol in Arsal over two months ago, where two soldiers were martyrized.

He also indicated that the key accused in this case were not apprehended as yet after they fled into border Syrian towns. But he confirmed that pursuit was still underway to hand them to justice.

Lebanese-Syrian borders

The source gave a lowdown on the security tension along the northeastern borders with Syria. He said that shells fired by Syrian armed groups towards the Lebanese populated areas were a serious danger. As to the solution, the source, fully understanding the situation of the army command and the sensitivity of politicians, explained that the answer could not be to upsize the presence of the military in the border areas. He even made it clear that dispatching army to these regions, where military makes little presence, was not the sought solution, because such a step would not really prevent Syrian gunmen from firing rockets on Lebanese soil. According to him, the solution must be as follows:

- Whether to directly counter the fire source, which means a Lebanese official implication in the conflict in Syria
- Or to control fire source, which means the infiltration of the Lebanese army into Syrian lands where gunmen are present; this is certainly not envisaged.

In conclusion, he avowed that these two solutions could not be feasible. "The solution is in the hand of the Syrian army itself; that is, the Syrian army must win the battle in the towns bordering on Lebanon. Any other thing is non-sense," he stressed.