Rifi calls on Cabinet to fill vacant commission posts

BEIRUT: Justice Minister Ashraf Rifi urged the Cabinet Friday to fill vacant posts in a 2005 commission tasked with following up on the case of hundreds of Lebanese believed detained in Syrian jails, the state-run National News Agency reported.

In a letter sent to the prime ministers office, Rifi demanded the appointment of a new head of the commission replacing Judge Joseph Maamari, who retired.

He also asked the Interior Ministry to appoint a replacement for commission member Sami Nabhan, who also retired.

Rifi also referred documents published by Lebanese and Arab newspapers on the issue of Lebanese detainees in Syria to the commission to investigate them further, the NNA said.

Around 600 Lebanese are being held in Syrian prisons and eyewitness accounts and documents have indicated that many are still alive and in Syria, say the families of the detained Lebanese.

Continued here:
Rifi calls on Cabinet to fill vacant commission posts