NNA - The Council of Ministers, convened in an extraordinary session at Baabda Palace headed by President General Michel Aoun and in the presence of Prime Minister Najeb Mikati, Army Commander General Joseph Aoun, Intelligence Director Brigadier General Antoine Kahwaji and Naval Forces Commander Colonel Haitham Dannawi. the cabinet decided to assign the Higher Relief Commission to take all necessary measures related to the sinking of the boat in Tripoli and assigning the ministries of social affairs to communicate with international bodies to search for the possibility of providing assistance to the victims and their families, and the Foreign Ministry, expatriates and national defense to communicate with international bodies to help float the sank boat.

The army command was asked to conduct a transparent investigation into the circumstances of the accident under the supervision of the competent judiciary and to intensify efforts to search for the missing in cooperation with the international emergency forces.

After the session, the Minister of Information announced that the army commander had placed himself and the army and military leadership at the disposal of the judiciary.

The council formed a ministerial committee headed by the deputy prime minister whose goal is to prepare a draft law aimed at establishing a council for the development of the north, and decided to request the ministries of interior, municipalities and finance to transfer Tripoli municipality dues from the independent municipal fund.

The Council condemned the attack on the Minister of Energy and Water, Walid Fayyad, and asked the security and judicial authorities to take the necessary measures to prosecute the perpetrators and impose penalties against them.

The session was preceded by a retreat between President Aoun and President Mikati, in which they discussed the latest available data and information on the sinking of the boat, in addition to the security situation in the country.

President Aoun

President Aoun began the session by calling for a minute of silence to mourn the souls of the victims if Tripol port, stressing the need to address what happened from various aspects, and the judiciary to investigate the circumstances of the sank boat amid conflicting accounts about it, with the aim of clarifying the truth and putting an end to any contradictory interpretations. He described other security incidents in Tripoli and Beirut and the attack on Energy Minister Walid Fayyad as "unacceptable and unjustified," calling for taking the necessary measures to prevent their recurrence.

PM Mikati

Prime Minister Mikati stressed the inadmissibility of diverting attention from the grief and tragedy of this case to its legal and judicial context, which must take its course to the end that leads to revealing the circumstances of what happened and the retribution of those responsible for what happened. While expressing his refusal to throw accusations arbitrarily before the investigation is completed, he stressed “to conduct investigations quickly and transparently, away from media pressure and cheap political, populist and electoral investment,” He stressed that the case will be pursued according to judicial and security principles, and that investigations must be comprehensive.  He called for strictness in following up on what happened, calling on all security services to be strict in preventive security to avoid any disaster, expressing great confidence in the wisdom and leadership of the army and the investigations it will carry out.

He said that the recent incidents, which took place in a close and consecutive circumstance, all "undermine the prestige of the state, and we must take firm stances towards it.”

Statement

At the end of the session, Minister of Information Ziad Makary read the following statement:

"The Council of Ministers held an extraordinary session this morning at Baabda Palace, headed by the President of the Republic. At the beginning of the session, President Aoun asked to observe a minute of silence for the victims of the boat, then offered his condolences to their families and wished recovery for the survivors, hoping to know the fate of the rest of the passengers who are being searched for.  President Aoun said: What happened is an accident that has hurt us all, and it must be dealt with from various aspects, and the judiciary should investigate the circumstances of the sinking of the boat, amid conflicting accounts about it, with the aim of clarifying the truth and putting an end to any contradictory interpretations or interpretations.

President Aoun also drew attention to other security incidents in Tripoli and Beirut and an attack on Energy Minister Walid Fayyad, all of which are unacceptable and unjustified, calling for taking the necessary measures to prevent the recurrence of such incidents.

After deliberation, the Cabinet decided the following:

1- Assigning the Higher Relief Commission to take all the necessary measures related to the matter to accompany the families of the victims and to transfer the necessary appropriations from the general budget reserve to the budget of the Presidency of the Council of Ministers - the Higher Relief Commission - on the basis of the twelve rule.

2- Assigning the Ministry of Social Affairs to communicate with international bodies and organizations to explore the possibility of providing assistance in the health, humanitarian, and psychological fields to the victims and their families.

3- Requesting the army command to conduct a transparent investigation into the circumstances of the accident, under the supervision of the competent judiciary, and requesting the army to intensify its search and rescue efforts for the missing in cooperation with the international emergency forces (UNIFIL).

4- Requesting the Ministries of Foreign Affairs and Emigrants and National Defense to communicate with international bodies to help secure the equipment and mechanisms needed to float the sunken boat.

5- Assigning the Minister of Social Affairs to amend the conditions for benefiting from the emergency social safety net project and the poorest families project to enable the largest segment of the Lebanese to benefit from them.

6- Formation of a committee headed by the Deputy Prime Minister and the membership of the Ministers: Justice, Finance, Administrative Development Affairs, Interior and Municipalities, Social Affairs, Economy and Trade.

7- A request to the Ministries of Interior, Municipalities and Finance to transfer Tripoli municipality dues from the Independent Municipal Fund.

8- A request from the Ministry of Public Works and Transport to instruct whoever is required to register all marine boats with the Presidency of the concerned ports in accordance with the rules, within a maximum period of 3 months from its date, at the risk of confiscating all unregistered boats within this period, as required by the laws and regulations in force.

The Council of Ministers also decided to approve the request of the Ministry of Social Affairs to pay the coverage of joint contracts with civil and religious associations for the year 2022.

In addition, the Council condemned the attack on the Minister of Energy and Water, Walid Fayyad, and asked the security and judicial authorities to take the necessary measures to prosecute the perpetrators and impose penalties against them.

The Council of Ministers also asked the security services to prevent attacks on people and property.

Q&A

Then a dialogue took place between Minister Makary and the journalists, and he was asked about the position of the army commander and the responsible officers putting themselves at the disposal of the judiciary and whether he will investigate them.
He replied: “It is true that the military judiciary is the one who will investigate them, and the army commander confirmed today that he and all the command of the army and the military are at the disposal of the judiciary.”

Asked how to prevent the recurrence of this scenario, amid talk that some boats may be preparing at the beginning of the summer to repeat the matter.
He replied: "The army command, with its few capabilities, is trying to do everything it can to prevent incidents of this kind. It is not that easy.  There is another issue related to the judiciary, which is not strict enough when arresting smugglers, and this is what was discussed."

He was asked about the method of dealing with smugglers and pursuing them after they started repeating their actions.
He replied: "Because the judiciary is lax with them. I learned that one of the smugglers in this particular incident was arrested and released in a short time, while the sentences should be strict."

Asked: Pictures and documents were shown. Can we know what these pictures contained?He replied: "I do not prefer that, because the judiciary will take over the matter, and the case is very delicate."

Question: Were you convinced by the proofs and evidence presented by the Army Commander?

He replied, "I want to be very precise with every word I say and for the judiciary to decide. We have seen pictures and videos, but I prefer not to comment on this matter."

Asked about the possibility of events of this kind in order to postpone the elections?

He replied: "I do not feel that there is a "long and broad" conspiracy to postpone the elections. We say that in every election - and we all experienced elections - accidents happen. The country is in crisis?  The session was dedicated to resolving this issue."

He was asked about the case of Dr. Richard Kharrat.

He replied: "We did not discuss this issue today, but we did touch on it in the previous session."

He was asked about the possibility of the third party, which will provide assistance in recovering the sunken boat, to contribute to the investigation as well.

He replied: "No. The investigation is carried out by the Lebanese courts, and mainly the military court."

On the possibility of adopting technical reports.

He replied: “We can take technical reports. The defense and foreign ministers were asked to contact the major countries surrounding the country so that we could withdraw the boat, but I do not know whether this matter should be linked to the investigation because it has begun and there are arrested, and there will be other detainees."

Asked: Do you think that the investigation can absorb the anger of the street in Tripoli, especially since we have seen the anger of the people and the direct accusation of the Lebanese army?

He replied: “May God help the people of Tripoli, the Lebanese, and the poor. No one wants to be in someone else’s place. Imagine the degree of despair that some have reached, so that they decided to sell everything from home furniture, gold and clothes, to resort to a boat that does not know whether it can sail a kilometer.”  One in the water dies as it happened. May God help the people. the investigation is supposed to warm hearts a little."

Asked: Did the Council of Ministers stop at the cost of shooting, which took place despite the extreme poverty in the region?

He replied: "The Council of Ministers discussed all issues related to security. Do you mean that there is an entity that funds this work? Today there are elections and there is a lot of money, as you know. But I want to say something to the media that I said previously and they criticized me on social media."  The issue of publishing pictures of victims is not humanely acceptable, there are those who put a picture of a child, this is an ethical and humanitarian issue and not a legal or media issue. We ask the media and social media pioneers to take this into consideration, with love and humanity.