Mashnouq Vows to Address 'Security Gaps' at Beirut Airport after Belgium Blasts

Interior Minister Nouhad al-Mashnouq on Tuesday vowed from Britain that he will exert efforts to address the “security gaps” at Beirut's Rafik Hariri International Airport, hours after suicide bombers killed 35 people and wounded over 200 at Brussels airport and a metro train.

Speaking after talks with UK Secretary of State for International Development Justine Greening, which tackled Beirut airport's security, the minister pledged that the priority once he returns to Beirut will be for “addressing the security gaps at Beirut's airport.”

He warned that the said gaps “might be equivalent to those that were present at the Sharm el-Sheikh airport and led to the bombing of the Russian plane, according to Western reports.”

He lamented that “the response was insufficient at the cabinet, which did not take into consideration the magnitude of the threats and the negative repercussions on the reputation of Beirut's airport in the world.”

Mashnouq noted that he has instructed Airport Security Chief Brig. Gen. George Doumit to “step up security readiness at Beirut's airport,” while calling on all security agencies to “maintain the highest levels of alert and vigilance and boost preventative measures.”

“Once I return to Beirut, the only choice will be to ask the Ministry of Finance to earmark the necessary funds in order to sign the needed contracts, in coordination with the Public Works and Transport Ministry,” the minister added.

“We must admit that administrative obstacles that have been running for around 20 months have prevented us from inking necessary contracts that have to do with repairing the airport's fence and buying advanced equipment and devices for baggage scanning,” Mashnouq went on to say.

Y.R.