Report: Rifi May Go back on Resignation in Wake of Samaha Sentence

Ashraf Rifi who resigned as justice minister may retract his resignation in light of the prison sentence against former Minister Michel Samaha, reported the pan-Arab daily al-Hayat on Saturday.

Ministerial sources predicted that Rifi may go back on his decision to resign.

He is still signing mail addressed to the Justice Ministry and he will inevitably return to the government because he linked his departure to the initial ruling against Samaha.

Samaha was sentenced on Friday to 13 years in jail, four-and-a-half of which he had already served as part of a Military Tribunal ruling.

The original sentence saw the former information minister walk free from jail in January, sparking an outcry in the country after he was caught red-handed transporting explosives from Syria for the purpose of carrying out attacks and assassinations in Lebanon.

His release prompted Rifi to step down from his post.

Samaha, an ex-adviser to Syrian President Bashar Assad, admitted during his trial that he had transported the explosives from Syria for use in attacks in Lebanon.

He, however, argued that he should be acquitted because he was a victim of entrapment by a Lebanese security services informer identified as Milad Kfouri.

The judge in his sentencing on Friday rejected the entrapment claim, saying that Samaha had the intent to carry out his plot and that it was only thwarted because Kfouri had informed the authorities.

The former minister was sentenced to 13 years in jail with hard labor and his civil rights were stripped.