Beirut, Lebanon - Lebanon’s Shiites will retain the key security post of General Security chief, which has been held by a Muslim since 1998.
The post has traditionally been held by Christians.
A ministerial source told The Daily Star Friday that the post of head of General Security would be going to a Shiite, expected to be named as Brig. Gen. Abbas Ibrahim in an extraordinary Cabinet session to be held Monday.
He said the decision came after consensus had been reached on Ibrahim, who currently is deputy army intelligence chief.
Earlier this week, local media reported that the key security post was a point of contention between Lebanese with some saying that President Michel Sleiman and Free Patriotic Movement leader Michel Aoun favored restoring the post to the Maronite sect while Hezbollah and Amal Movement of Speaker Nabih Berri wanted to maintain the General Security position and install Ibrahim.
The post was held by a Christian until 1998, when pro-Syrian President Emile Lahoud appointed Maj. Gen. Jamil Sayyed to the post. Sayyed held the post until his arrest along with three other high-ranking pro-Syrian Lebanese generals in 2005 connection with the assassination of former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri.
Sayyed and the three generals were released nearly four years later without charges or trial.
Minister for the Displaced Alaa Terro, also a Progressive Socialist Party official, confirmed there was unanimity on Ibrahim’s appointment.
“There is Lebanese consensus on Ibrahim. His appointment should not be a point of contention between Lebanese,” Terro said Friday.
His colleague in the Cabinet, Tourism Minister Fadi Abboud, also stressed there was no dispute over Ibrahim’s appointment.
“There is no Christian-Shiite dispute over the position of the General Security director general,” Abboud said Friday.
Prime Minister Najib Mikati’s Cabinet renewed Thursday Riad Salameh’s term as Lebanon’s Central Bank governor.
Cabinet also appointed Brig. Gen. Walid Salman as Lebanese Army Chief of Staff and Antoine Choucair as the director general of the Lebanese presidency.
The government, however, postponed a decision to appoint a new head of the General Security until an extraordinary meeting to be held Monday to give negotiations a chance.