Caretaker Interior Minister Mohammed Fahmi will no longer grant permission for the prosecution of General Security chief Major General Abbas Ibrahim, reported LBCI citing judicial sources.
This news contradicts Fahmi’s previous stance in which he had expressed willingness to give permission for the prosecution “in respect of the law” after Beirut Blast investigator, Judge Tarek Bitar, requested to lift the immunities of several political and security officials.
In a statement issued on Thursday, Gen. Ibrahim thanked supporters who showed solidarity with slogans on billboards and dismissed the request to prosecute him as an organized campaign to “assassinate him morally,”
He reportedly asked for the removal of pictures and banners and assured that he was under the law and that he “will appear before the judiciary when things are clear according to the administrative and legal frameworks.”
Gen. Ibrahim’s stance mirrors that of caretaker Prime Minister Hassan Diab, and former ministers Ali Hassan Khalil, Ghazi Zeaiter, and Youssef Fenianos when summoned by former investigative judge Fadi Sawan.
His dismissal also strikes similarities to statements made by Central Bank Governor Riad Salameh when the latter was accused of money laundering.
It’s worth noting that Gen. Ibrahim is a possible candidate to succeed Nabih Berri as Parliament Speaker.
