Pharaon: No Financial Scandal Linked to State Security Agency

Tourism Minister Michel Pharaon stated on Monday that there is no financial scandal linked to the controversial file of the State Security Agency and slammed reports claiming that there is a kind of political “fight” over the file.

“There is no battle and no one is raising the stakes in the State Security file,” said Pharaon in a press conference.

“After we studied the file thoroughly we found out that there were some nonlegal measures that were taken based on a political background,” he said without elaborating on the issue but stressed that contacts with several ministers were made to unify the points of view.

“There is no financial scandal linked to the file. The agency is carrying out its duties in countering terrorism,” stressed the Minister adding “no one is trying to transform the security institutions into sects.”

The dispute over the file centers on the budget of the State Security agency and differences between its director Major General George Qaraa and his deputy Brigadier General Mohammed al-Tufaili.

The disagreements between the two officials have started to take on a sectarian turn, reports have said.

They added that Pharaon supports Qaraa, who represents Christians, while Finance Minister Ali Hassan Khalil supports Tufaili, who enjoys the backing of several ministers, including Nouhad al-Mashnouq, Akram Shehayyeb, and Wael Abou Faour.

Given these differences, reports have doubted that a cabinet session set for Tuesday will be able to solve a breakthrough in this file.

In March, the Kataeb Party’s three representatives in the cabinet in addition to Pharaon warned that they would take action if the government fails to resolve the “marginalization” of the general-directorate of state security.

Economy Minister Alain Hakim, of the Kataeb Party, had said at the time that all Christians reject the neglect of the department.

The general-directorate of state security had sent a bill to the cabinet on March 20, 2014 asking for the creation of a six-member leadership authority under which Qaraa, a Catholic, would have the casting vote.

But the former secretary general of the cabinet, Suhail Bouji, paralyzed the plan by saying that the approval of the bill requires a draft-law to be adopted by the parliament unlike a decision made by the Shura Council, reports say.

Media reports quoted a ministerial source as saying that Bouji’s move likely came as a result of his friendship with Tufaili.

D.A.

M.T.