Mikati reverses position on the assassination of UNIFIL peacemaker

During a meeting on Wednesday with a delegation from the Press Editors Syndicate, Caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati was asked about the deadly attack on UNIFIL in south Lebanon which resulted in the assassination of an Irish pacemaker , Mikati warned against exaggerating the incident. He added : “Seeing as the incident took place outside UNIFIL’s area of operations, it is likely that it was not premeditated.”

Ali Hussein a political analyst accused Mikati of reversing his position with regards to the attack against UNIFIL which was blamed on Hezbollah supporters . “Only couple of days ago Makati promised that those responsible for this attack will be brought to justice, but there is already an acknowledgement that this will be a complex investigation.” The analyst added and concluded that Mikati must have received a threatening call from Hezbollah’s top security officer and this could be the reason he reversed his position

Nicholas Blanford a Beirut based consultant with US think tank the Atlantic Council visited the scene of the attack and commented as follows :

“The elephant in the room here…is the Hezbollah organization,” he said , pointing to the power and influence of the political organization in Lebanon.

UNIFIL accuses Hezbollah of inciting residents against it

According to Lebanese media reports , during a Zoom meeting between UNIFIL’s commander  and Hezbollah’s top security official Wafic Safa , the official reiterated that his party is keen on the relation with UNIFIL and that it had nothing to do with what happened in the town of al-Aqbiyeh,” where the shooting took place

“If you are not directly responsible for the incident, you are responsible for inciting the popular environment in the South against us,” sources quoted UNIFIL’s commander as telling Hezbollah’s official.

Little faith

Irish officials have little faith in the Lebanese investigation into the murder of Private Seán Rooney amid indications the soldier was killed in a targeted gun attack, Irish Times reported on Tuesday

There are also increasing suspicions about Hezbollah’s denial of involvement in the attack which occurred against a backdrop of heightened tensions between Unifil forces (United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon) and the militant group, the Times added

The firing of the bullet from the rear of the vehicle through a broken window or open door indicates Pte Rooney’s death was of a targeted nature, rather than the result of a haphazard spray of bullets, an Irish defense source told the Times

On Friday, Irish Government and defense officials refused to accept on face value a statement by Hezbollah that it had no involvement in the attack which it called an “unintentional incident”. They were echoing comments from Minister for Foreign Affairs Simon Coveney on Thursday refusing to accept “any assurances until we have a full investigation concluded to establish the full truth”.

Analyst Hussein believe that Mikati must have received a threatening call from Hezbollah’s top security officer and this could be the reason he reversed his position, which proves the Irish right in having little faith in Lebanese justice.