President Michel Aoun holds a security Meeting at Baabda Palace

The President of the Republic chaired a security meeting at Baabda Palace to discuss the current situation.
President Aoun: To respect freedom of expression while preserving public and private property, the security forces must control the security peacefully in accordance with the applicable regulations.
President of the Republic: For the Forensic Audit to take place, so that citizens can recover their rights.

The President of the Republic, General Michel Aoun, stressed “the importance of respecting freedom of expression while preserving public and private property and not attack it,” stressing that “Forensic Audit must take place so that citizens can recover their rights after revealing the causes of the financial deterioration in the country.”

President Aoun said, “The important thing is the return to order and to understand people’s pain and worries and that the security forces must control security peacefully in accordance with the regulations in force.” For his part, Prime Minister Dr. Hassan Diab stressed, “the need to avoid convulsions resulting from economic and social circumstances, to form a government as soon as possible, and to make all efforts to pass the Capital Control Law, and to proceed with the completion of the criminal financial audit that the government decided to achieve since March 2020.

The President of the Republic and Prime Minister’s words came during the security meeting chaired by President Aoun this afternoon at Baabda Palace, to discuss the general situation, especially what happened in the vicinity of Awkar region.

The security meeting was attended by: Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of National Defense Zeina Akar, Minister of Interior and Municipalities Muhammad Fahmy, Army Commander General Joseph Aoun, Director General of Public Security Major General Abbas Ibrahim, Director General of the Internal Security Forces Major General Imad Othman, and Director General of State Security Major General Tony Saliba, the Assistant Director General of State Security, Brigadier Samir Sinan, the Director of Intelligence, Brigadier General Antoine Kahwaji, the Head of the Information Branch of the Internal Security Forces, Brigadier Khaled Hammoud, and the Director of Information at the General Directorate of Public Security, Colonel Yusef Al-Medawar. The meeting was also attended by: Director General of the Presidency, Dr. Antoine Choucair, and the security and military advisor to President Aoun, Brigadier General Boulos Matar.

At the end of the meeting, the following statement was issued: His Excellency the President started the meeting with a quick presentation of the general situation in the country and the recent events that took place in the Awkar region, specifically near the offices of the Mkataf company specialized in shipping funds to and from abroad.

His Excellency expressed the importance of respecting freedom of expression while preserving public and private property and not attacking them, considering that the important thing is to return to order and understand the pain and worries of citizens , especially since they have lost their money and deposits, and the security forces must control security peacefully in accordance with the regulations in force.

Then His Excellency the President spoke of the necessity to avoid tensions arising from economic and social circumstance calling for the need to form a government at the earliest. He also insisted on the need to make all efforts to approve the Capital Control Law, which constitutes an appropriate solution to the financial issues that citizens suffer from, and to proceed with the completion of the criminal financial audit that the government decided to achieve since March 2020.

After that, the Minister of Interior discussed the circumstances that occurred in the Awkar region and the developments that accompanied them, considering that the internal security forces acted within the scope of controlling security and not attacking private and public property.

His Excellency stressed at the meeting that what happened would not be repeated, and he also called on citizens to be patient, saying that he understands their pain and suffering, and for this he is focusing on the importance of Forensic Audit that citizens can recover their rights after uncovering the causes of the financial deterioration that the country is experiencing. His Excellency the President also asked the military and security forces to work according to the tasks entrusted to them, and that within the applicable laws and regulations.

President Aoun with the Prime Minister Diab

President Aoun had met with the Prime Minister before the meeting, where PM Diab presented to him the results of his recent visit to Qatar, in which he met with senior Qatari officials.

President Diab conveyed to President Aoun that Qatari officials stand by Lebanon, and their desire to help Lebanon in various fields, especially in the difficult circumstances it is going through.