Masdar Diplomacy
Radio Monte Carlo International conducted a conversation with the Director-General of General Security, Major General Abbas Ibrahim, in which he was interviewed by the editor-in-chief Andre Mohawej and the radio correspondent in Beirut, Nicolas Nassif, about the judicial, political and national repercussions of the Beirut Port explosion, and the critical situation in Lebanon, as well as the role of General Security at the current stage
Mohawej initiated the dialogue with the following introduction
“A security man who has elevated his department and achieved organized modernity, or a mediator who extinguished hot humanitarian files? No, he is a diplomat who has mastered the three tasks, and so the Director General of General Security, Major General Abbas Ibrahim, has become the expert in managing troubled affairs in a country where difficulties are many, and the institutional effort is scar
Here is the interview with Major General Ibrahim
* Major General Abbas Ibrahim, this is your first meeting with the audience of Radio Monte Carlo International, but on this occasion we will start, if you please, with the issue of the port explosion, while we are on its first anniversary
-First, through you, I extend my deepest condolences to the families of the martyrs, and I wish recovery to the wounded. I know the extent of the calamity that befell them, and in fact it afflicted the whole country and not only the families of the martyrs. We in General Security are part of the martyrs’ families, because we have three martyrs who died in an attempt to put out the fire that led to the explosion of the port. Therefore, their pain is ours, and their loss is our loss. I think in the end it is a national loss that has nothing to do with an institution or individuals
*Is it possible to say that the Lebanese in general, and the families of the victims and those affected in particular, can one day come to know the truth about what happened in the port of Beirut a year ago
-Truth will never be lost if pursued. But we don’t want to rush things. I will give an example here – since we are in the presence of Radio Monte Carlo – which is a similar explosion that occurred in the city of Toulouse in 2001. This explosion continued to be investigated until 2012, meaning that it lasted 11 years. I am not saying that the truth will not emerge, but this type of operation or explosion needs time, and time is the key to revealing the truth. Haste, speed and pressure will not lead to the desired truth, so everyone must be patient if they want to reach the truth. But if something else is required, then hurry is very important
* General Security is responsible for regulating the movement of people, as it is known, and it has a presence in the port. Does it have any responsibility for what happened on August 4 last year
-Our powers as the General Directorate of General Security are very specific in a law issued in 1959, and this law will not change. There is no relation to the General Security, nor the authority of the General Security to deal with the goods in the port. General Security is concerned with the entry and exit of persons, and the investigation of persons inside and outside the port and throughout Lebanese territory. So, based on your question, the General Security has absolutely no authority to deal with goods, whether they are dangerous or not. This subject has specialized devices concerned, in addition to the management and investment of the port
* Why was your name leaked through the media, of course, in this file
-You should ask the leaker. You should ask the one who did not summon me as a witness through the regular procedure, but then took the next step and leaked my name
We did the next step before the first, so you should ask who did it
* There is a responsibility that one or more people should bear for what happened in the port of Beirut. Will the Lebanese judiciary, which some describe as politicized or affected by political dependency, be able to reach the truth of what happened and arrest the direct officials and punish them
– Of course, if we insist on reaching the truth, we will not run out of means. Neither we nor the judiciary. Even as security agencies, we are at the disposal of the judiciary to reach the truth. If any one of us has information, he must submit to the judicial investigator and he must submit it to the judiciary, and this is a national duty to reach the truth. It is not impossible to reach the truth, and it is not impossible for the families of the martyrs and the Lebanese in general, to know what happened and how we got to what we have reached and to a disaster of this magnitude. But what is required is calm, deliberation, and dealing with the file technically only, and nothing else. I go back and cite the Toulouse explosion and similar explosions, to the extent that there was an explosion that happened before in America and it took so long to reach the truth
*But the issue is taking on a political debate in Lebanon rather than a confined judicial file
– Yes, unfortunately, every file in Lebanon is polluted by politics
* Within a broader framework of security, General security is present in all land, sea and air facilities. In light of the current situation today in Lebanon and the region, are there dangers of security breaches on the Lebanese interior
-Of course. I have previously said on several occasions, most recently in France, during my meeting with French counterparts, that there is a revival of ISIS in the region, whether in Syria or in Iraq in particular, and this issue must have repercussions and extensions to Lebanon. From this point of view, we have taken measures and raised the degree of preparedness and inquiry, so that there are no major breakthroughs inside Lebanon. This may occur at any time, but what we are doing our best to limit these penetrations. Certainly, we are affected by what is happening around us in the brotherly countries, and it is natural that there should be security coordination between us and these countries, to mitigate the dangers to Lebanon and the Lebanese people.
* To emphasize this matter, Major General, what is the importance of pre-emptive security, which General Security was a forerunner to adopting and ahead of all other Lebanese security services, what did the pre-emptive security give you, what did it prevent, and how did it ensure protection for the Lebanese
-Let me first explain what is proactive security and how can we reach it? Proactive security is the race to obtain information in order to take measures that prevent the negative repercussions of this information, such as a terrorist act or any other scheme
Of course, proactive security is preventive security, as it deals with the event before its arrival and mitigates the damage to the Lebanese people and any official or unofficial Lebanese goal. Pre-emptive security is to arrest those who think of carrying out terrorist operations before committing them, and I think that one of the most prominent pre-emptive operations that we carried out and that was the beginning of pre-emptive security in Lebanon was the operation of the Hotel Duroy in Raouche, when General security elements raided a room in which many terrorists were staying and they blew themselves up. They were in the process of carrying out an operation in one of the Lebanese regions
* What is the situation of the security institutions in Lebanon? We know that it is experiencing difficulties and problems in light of the current economic crisis, and we have seen and heard about the issue of the army. On the other hand, the General Security was able to make significant improvements in the way of dealing and facilitated transactions with citizens and so on, which we noticed during our arrival at the airport. What is the status of this institution today, in light of your assumption of its management in the year 2011
- At the level of the Directorate, we started to modernize it and put in place a five-year plan. From the first day I assumed the position of Director General of General Security, there were Saudi offers at that time, fortunately for us, to help the Lebanese security services. Thanks to this assistance, electronic border programs have been updated to control the borders, and the biometric passport has been launched. We are currently reaping the fruits of this work, which we also carried out proactively. We saw that things were going in directions with which the state would not be able to meet our needs, so we relied heavily on aid or on the Saudi donation to the security services, and we were the first to obtain our share of this donation. But as for the other security services, unfortunately the army may be one of them. I don’t know. They were late in providing what they needed from this donation, and the gift stopped at a point where the rest of the agencies were unable to obtain what was necessary to carry out their work. We were the first to provide our requirements to the guardians of this gift, so we are now reaping the result of this work
* With regard to your role as a mediator, weren’t you able to play the role of mediator also for the other security services
- I think that the security services are doing their duty and more in an attempt to get what they need from friendly and brotherly countries. We, in turn, are doing what is necessary to ensure the steadfastness of the institution and the steadfastness of the military. If anyone needs us to play the role of mediator, we will of course welcome it, because mediation will surely secure a share for the Directorate
* You have talked about your role in the General Directorate since 2011, but there is another important role that you play, and you have emerged in it more than any of your predecessors, and it is a role that may be a political and security mediator and sometimes remote or isolated from the post of Director General of General Security. In examples of this, the exchange of prisoners and kidnapped persons, and the release of Lebanese soldiers, there is a long history of mediation work that you conducted with Arab and foreign countries and inside Lebanon. From where did you derive the role of mediator in these security and political files? Were you a substitute for an absentee or someone who lost his role
- Many times I filled the place of an absentee, and I personally took initiatives, but I consider this work to be the core of anyone who wants to work in the security forces. This work is from the core of his role and from the core of his duties, because in the beginning we started this field by recovering the kidnapped of Azaz, and recovering the bodies of the dead in Tal Kalakh. The issue started in Lebanon, or it started somewhere in Lebanon – Syria – Turkey – Qatar. It had many ramifications, but in the end it was to serve the Lebanese. As a result of the experience that we have gained in this matter, there are countries that contact us to play the role of mediators, and when matters become outside the scope of the Lebanese state, one must ask permission of politicians to play these roles. Thankfully, we succeeded in many of these tasks. As for the political issue, this is an internal issue, and I believe that the Director of General Security has traditionally played this role from my predecessors, and each of them to a varying degree. It can be said that I came in difficult political circumstances that show this role more, because the circumstances require this intervention and these mediations
- Countries intend to punish the Lebanese because they are confident that they are capable of creating solutions
* The last mediation is the issue is the Albanian nationals in Syria
- Yes, yesterday this mission ended, and the bulk of it ended. This mission extended over two years, and 25 women and children were recovered, and another 19 people (5 women and 14 children) were brought back yesterday in a private plane brought by the Prime Minister of Albania, friend Edi Rama, and took everyone to Albania
* Through your experiences in the field of politics, as you mentioned as the role of mediator, where is the problem now in the work or regularity of the work of institutions in the Lebanese state, and can it be said that they are on the verge of collapse
-The Lebanese state is going through very difficult circumstances, but not to make the matter a catastrophe. It’s too easy. The Lebanese agreement on a political solution is the magic recipe for getting out of the crisis tomorrow. I say consensus is to form a government because its formation is the magic key to solving all the problems we are going through. The situation is very difficult and is on the verge of collapse, but the issue of saving Lebanon and returning it to its historical and natural role is not impossible if the Lebanese agree to that
* Is there any hope of reaching this rescue, especially that the political class is in a confrontation with the street, and it has a bad reputation in the international community, and the evidence is the threat of sanctions against Lebanese officials and leaders, and in light of the collapse of institutions, national criticism and the economy, as well as the faltering formation of the government
– Countries deal with us based on their interests, not ours, and punishing those responsible, I think, is the result of these countries’ belief that they are able to come up with solutions. So the issue is Lebanese and the solution is Lebanese, and when someone punishes someone because they realize that the result of this punishment can generate a solution to the problem, so let’s solve our problem without penalties and solve it in the hands of the politicians. The gap that exists between them and large segments of society is caused by the mistrust that has accumulated for decades.
I go repeat that the countries intend to punish the Lebanese because they are confident that they are capable of creating solutions
* You received the appreciation of a large number of foreign countries for the work you carried out at the head of the Directorate, as well as for the roles you were briefed on, and you were honored in the United States of America and received warm receptions in France and some countries. Are you preparing for a future role outside the security framework, a political role
– I do not want to open the door to problems, knowing that I am neither preparing nor dedicating my work or part of it in the directorate or my powers, in order to reach any political position. I am not prepared, but I think it has become known in Lebanon that the military in general have a role in internal politics after their retirement, and I am no exception from this rule. But if this rule does not apply, I will not be sad
* Are you afraid for the future of Lebanon
- Frankly, No. Lebanon has been exposed to many crises, and this crisis may be the most severe in its history, but I am not afraid for Lebanon’s future. What is happening in Lebanon is the result of regional and international interactions, and the situation is not an internal situation separated from the outside, but rather the result of interactions. These interactions must end sooner or later. What is required is steadfastness and steadfastness only, and I am sure that Lebanon will emerge from this tunnel