Report: Nasrallah beefs security over ISIS threats
Roi Kais/Ynetnews/Published:07.28.15/ Israel News/150 strong group of ‘Royal Guards’ protect Hezbollah’s leader in system of tunnels beneath Beirut with direct access to the city’s international airport. Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah has beefed up his security detail in response to a growing number of threats on his life from the Islamic State and al-Qaeda-affiliated Nusra Front, reported the London-based Arabic newspaper Al-Quds Al-Arabi on Tuesday. According to the report, Nasrallah makes use of Iran’s Revolutionary Guards for his personal security needs. Only six men are reportedly allowed in the bunker where Nasrallah lives, including Mustafa Badr Al Din, Hezbollah’s military leader and Nasrallah’s deputy, Naim Qassem. Al-Quds also claimed that Nasrallah is capable of movement through a network of tunnels in southern Beirut that has an entrance/exit point into the international airport of Beirut. Nasrallah also reportedly gets his meals imported from Tehran, directly into the tunnels in Beirut. According to Al-Quds, the team that guards Nasrallah had earned the title of “Royal Guard” and includes 150 combat-ready troops including the personal bodyguards of Hezbollah’s internal security chief who was trained in Iran and North Korea. The central team of guards surrounding Nasrallah is said to be made of 20 men led by Abu Ali Jawad. Nasrallah spoke publically through massive screens erected throughout Lebanon on Tuesday, laying out his stance on the Palestinian issue. According to the Hezbollah leader, in order to bring the plight of the Palestinians to the forefront, Arab governments and peoples must be reminded of Israel’s aggressive and terrorist nature – a “monster lying on Palestinian ground.”
Salam Postpones Cabinet Session to Prevent its Possible Collapse
Naharnet/28 July/15/Prime Minister Tammam Salam postponed a cabinet session that was set to take place on Tuesday to pave way for more consultations and to avoid a further confrontation on its controversial decision-making mechanism. A statement issued by the premiership said Salam set Thursday as a new date for the cabinet to convene. Speaker Nabih Berri and Progressive Socialist Party chief MP Walid Jumblat had urged him to postpone the session. They wanted the consultations carried out by the different parties to pave way for agreements to facilitate the work of the government. Sources close to Salam told al-Mustaqbal newspaper that his resignation is still an option. The prime minister prefers to have a caretaker government rather than keeping a cabinet that does not function, they said. The premier has recently come under huge pressure by the Free Patriotic Movement, which is backed by Hizbullah, to review the government’s decision-making mechanism that has been adopted in the absence of a president. The FPM accuses Salam of infringing on the Christian president’s powers and says its ministers have the right to take decisions inside the cabinet because they represent the head of state. The cabinet failed last week to agree on the mechanism and adjourned the issue to Tuesday. But it is unlikely to reach any decision this week amid a waste management crisis that is also threatening the government. The crisis erupted when the Naameh landfill that lies south of Beirut, and which receives the waste of the capital and Mount Lebanon, was closed on July 17. Garbage continued to pile up in dumpsters because the authorities had failed to find an alternative. A ministerial committee headed by Salam announced on Monday that garbage collector Sukleen started collecting waste. But it failed to mention the areas where a “balanced distribution of garbage” would be made. The committee’s decision is temporary amid a failure to establish new landfills.
Hollande Voices Support for Salam during Phone Talks
Naharnet/28 July/15/French President Francois Hollande has telephoned Prime Minister Tammam Salam and expressed to him France’s support for Lebanon and its state institutions, state-run National News Agency said Monday. he talks tackled the current cabinet crisis in Lebanon and its repercussions on the country, NNA said. The French president expressed his regret over “the continued presidential vacuum and the Lebanese political forces’ failure to agree on the election of a new president,” the agency added. Hollande lauded Salam’s “wisdom,” stressing “his full support for him in the efforts aimed at preventing the spread of paralysis to the council of ministers institution,” NNA said. The French leader also emphasized that France “will continue the plan of equipping the army and security forces in Lebanon that was endorsed as part of the Saudi grant.”On Sunday, Social Affairs Minister Rashid Derbas, who is close to Salam, announced that the embattled premier will “announce his decision at the right time,” amid reports that the PM is on the brink of resignation over the growing cabinet crisis. “What we’re seeing on the streets is an inevitable result of the cabinet paralysis,” the minister added, referring to the accumulation of garbage on the streets and street protests over the government’s failure to address the waste management crisis.
