After Assad, Kataeb calls for investigation into 'crimes against Lebanon'

BEIRUT — The Kataeb's political bureau released a statement on Tuesday saying the party believes the fall of the Assad regime in Syria should be used as a chance to investigate "crimes committed against Lebanon."

"The change in Syria should be an opportunity to reopen the files of the crimes committed against Lebanon and the Lebanese and to obtain the necessary information through agencies, delegates and committees to conduct the necessary procedures and restore the rights lost for decades," the statement reads.

Syria, first under Hafez al-Assad and then under his son, occupied Lebanon from 1990 to 2005, and exercised considerable influence in the country for more than a decade prior.

In its statement, Kataeb emphasized a need to establish equal relations between Lebanon and Syria, "dissolving the Lebanese-Syrian Higher Council ... limiting diplomatic relations between the two countries through the two official embassies in accordance with the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations and preventing the establishment of any parallel channels outside the constitutional and diplomatic frameworks."

With regard to reports about the "infiltration of wanted Syrian leaders into Lebanon,” Kataeb said it believes that the illegal crossings must be under the "strict control of the concerned security agencies."

Commenting on other reports that mentioned the use of Beirut's airport as a "crossing point for the passage of some Syrian leaders of the deposed Assad regime," Kataeb called for tight control of the entry and exit movement through the airport.