Releasing tension

Seeking to calm public anger, Lebanese authorities released nearly all those who were arrested after rumours of a plot to undermine state security. Zeina Abu Rizk reports from Beirut
The authorities plainly wanted to ease the growing tension provoked by the furiously-criticised detentions of Christian anti-Syrian activists in Lebanon. On Monday, all detainees held since 7 August were released, with the exception of four who were officially charged with contacting Israel and one who is held pending investigations.
Seventy-five supporters of the banned Lebanese Forces (LF) and the Free Patriotic Movement were freed, including Nadim Lteif, a retired general who leads supporters of former army-commander General Michel Aoun.
Arrest warrants were issued against the four still held for "establishing contact with Israeli officials" and forming an "opposition association of Christian political parties to undermine state authority and disturb the country's ties with Syria."
The four held are Antoine Bassil, a correspondent for the Saudi-owned Middle East Broadcasting Corporation (MBC); Tawfiq Hindi, a political adviser to Samir Geagea, the imprisoned leader of the disbanded Christian Lebanese Forces; Elie Keyrouz, a lawyer and LF member; and Salman Samaha, an LF student coordinator. Bassil is accused of "revealing information that serves Israel's interests; Hindi is accused of being "in constant contact with Uri Lubrani, the former coordinator of Israeli activities in Lebanon; and Keyrouz and Samaha are accused of withholding incriminating information and attempting "to form an association with the purpose of undermining the state's authority."
A fifth detainee, Habib Younes, the managing editor of the Beirut edition of London-based Al-Hayat newspaper, remains in custody pending further investigation.
The release of the other detainees came as tension worsened amid speculation that politicians might be next on an already long list of detainees.
But local authorities refuted these rumours. A senior political source asserted that such speculations were aimed at increasing tension and harming the investigations.
Some also judged that the releases might restore the calm needed for an economic revival; over the weekend bankers and investors warned that the currency might devalue if political problems were not immediately addressed.
Moreover, the decision to release all detainees on the eve of a crucial meeting on Tuesday between Lebanese president Emile Lahoud and Maronite Patriarch Cardinal Nasrallah Butros Sfeir was interpreted as a goodwill gesture, aimed at preparing the ground for a positive session between the two men.
Meanwhile, the Lebanese press syndicate and human rights groups denounced the arrest of the two journalists, claiming that security bodies did not follow proper legal procedures.
Judicial sources responded by accusing MBC journalist Antoine Bassil of building links with Israelis. They added that he sent coded messages from his home in Ballouneh, in the Christian Kesrouan region of Mount Lebanon. Reportedly, "a computer, coded messages, and books in Hebrew" were confiscated from his home.
Bassil, investigators alleged, also had "close ties" with Hindi, was formerly an LF member and previously worked for Middle East TV, run by the disbanded South Lebanon Army, which collaborated with Israel. The TV station collapsed after Israel's withdrawal from the south last year.
According to the Lebanese National News Agency, Bassil revealed in his confessions that "the disbanded Lebanese Forces chose to collaborate with the Jewish state after fears that former senior LF official, Fouad Malek, who showed signs of taking a pro-government stance, would take control of the disbanded militia."
Al-Hayat's Younes was arrested at his home in Jbeil, Saturday night, on the grounds that he was planning to meet an Israeli official in Cyprus on Sunday. According to military intelligence, Younes was about to meet Odid Zaray, an adviser to Israeli coordinator Uri Lubrani. But Al-Hayat's Beirut bureau denied the charge, saying that Younes was scheduled to work a 10-to 12 hour shift on Sunday.
Later the details changed. Reports then said that Younes was accused of meeting Israelis in Cyprus two weeks ago. A senior judicial source confirmed that allegations about Younes' planned trip to Cyprus on Sunday were untrue. The source also said that Bassil had recommended Younes as an informant to Zaray and Younes agreed to the mission. This information allegedly arose during Bassil's interrogation, leading the State Prosecutor's Office to arrest Younes for further investigation.
It is not only the journalists who are accused of links with Israel. Hindi allegedly held several meetings with Uri Lubrani, the former coordinator for Israeli activities in Lebanon. He is also accused of visiting the Jewish state. According to sources close to the investigations, Hindi had maintained contacts with Israel since Geagea led the LF, in the mid 1980s. The sources added that Hindi's most recent encounter with Lubrani took place in Paris two months ago, when the two discussed ways to revive the LF, hasten Geagea's release, and strengthen partisans so they could carry out anti-Syrian activities.
But Hindi's wife, Claude Abu Nadher-Hindi, dismissed the charges as the "latest lies" to come from security authorities. She insists her husband has not visited Cyprus since 1996.
Meanwhile, the army did concede some of the criticism made of it since the arrests. Although an army statement over the weekend asserted, "all investigations [with detained opposition activists] were conducted according to existing laws," military sources acknowledged that "a number of mistakes" were committed by "all sides" at a demonstration against the detentions that took place outside the Palace of Justice on 9 August, when plainclothes security agents beat several students.
The sources added that the army command had instructed the military police to investigate the matter and identify those who had "overstepped" their orders not to assault civilians. "This is to avoid a repeat of such acts in the future," the sources said.
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