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Lebanese Army Deployed Across Eastern Border | ASHARQ AL-AWSAT English Archive 2005 -2017
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Flags down at Presidential Palace on Friday/Dalati&Nohra


Beirut- The Lebanese officials and public laid to rest the bodies of 10 soldiers killed by ISIS two years after being captured in the eastern border town of Arsal in 2014.

At the Defense Ministry, an official state funeral was held on Friday morning in the presence of the three heads of state.

Following the funeral, the Higher Defense Council convened at the Baabda Palace and asked the Lebanese Army to “take the necessary measures to deploy its units along the eastern border, and to secure all needed military and logistic supplies the soonest possible.”

Presiding over the meeting, President Michel Aoun said an Army investigation into the circumstances that led to the abduction and killing of Lebanese soldiers by Daesh (ISIS) will pinpoint responsibility for those involved in the tragic events.

The president refused that some parties issue accusations before the Judiciary say its word.
Aoun said: “The investigation is aimed at putting an end to stances, interpretations and analyses. The investigation will pinpoint responsibilities in accordance with rules. This will also comfort the parents of martyred soldiers who have the right to know how and why their sons were killed. As I have said before, the judiciary will take its course so that no innocent person will be convicted or an accused will be cleared.”

Also attending the meeting of the Higher Defense Council, Prime Minister Saad Hariri said “the investigation requested by President Aoun does not have any retaliatory or malicious background, but rather aims at knowing the truth of what happened during that period.”

In response to the investigation requests, former Prime Minister Tamam Salam supported on Friday President Aoun in highlighting the need for “clarifying all the facts in the soldier martyrs’ case by launching a thorough investigation, and lifting confidentiality off the cabinet’s minutes of meeting, so that the fabrications of today do not become the facts of yesterday.”

Salam said the ambiguity which the President has made reference to in his speech is true in describing the positions and roles of the political forces, which have disrupted people’s lives for nearly three years.

As Lebanon mourned its 10 soldiers, the Lebanese Army was surrounding since Thursday evening, the private building of Mustafa al-Hujairi, known as “Abu Takiyyeh.”

Lebanon’s National News Agency reported on Friday that Hujairi might be hiding on the second floor of the building inside the Mosque.