Mikati defends stance on Shabaan death

Prime Minister Najib Mikati is seeking to maintain stability in Lebanon by disassociating the country from the crisis in Syria. Sources close to Mikati told An Nahar newspaper that the premier and his cabinet don’t accept any violation of freedoms especially those of journalists. The sources confirmed that the death of al-Jadeed cameraman Ali Shaaban is being followed up in cooperation with the Syrian authorities. Former prime minister Saad Hariri described the death of Shabaan as “an attack on the Lebanese sovereignty.” He accused Mikati’s government of “turning a blind eye to the continuous assaults and violations carried out by the Syrian forces against the Lebanese territory for months.” Shaaban, 32, was killed while reporter Hussein Khreis and cameraman Abed Khayyat, who was lightly wounded in his arm, managed to escape after their car came under a volley of gunfire from the Syrian side of the border. Shaaban was buried in his hometown of Maifadoun in southern Lebanon on Tuesday.