Al-Tufayli Says Hezbollah, FPM Are Corrupt Partners

Former Secretary General of Hezbollah Subhi al-Tufayli. Photo: His official Twitter account
Former Secretary General of Hezbollah Subhi al-Tufayli. Photo: His official Twitter account
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Al-Tufayli Says Hezbollah, FPM Are Corrupt Partners

Former Secretary General of Hezbollah Subhi al-Tufayli. Photo: His official Twitter account
Former Secretary General of Hezbollah Subhi al-Tufayli. Photo: His official Twitter account

The former Secretary General of Hezbollah, Subhi al-Tufayli, has slammed the party, accusing it of taking the Lebanese government “hostage.”

In remarks to the Central News Agency (Al Markazia) on Friday, Tufayli, who for years has opposed Hezbollah’s policies, said that the party is adopting “destructive” stances “to paralyze and disintegrate state institutions.”

He dubbed Hezbollah and its ally the Free Patriotic Movement, which has been founded by President Michel Aoun, as the “corrupt duo.”

“Taking the cabinet captive and preventing the state from functioning is part of (Hezbollah’s) destructive policy,” he said.

The cabinet formed in September has not met in more than two months amid a political row on the investigation into the 2020 Beirut Port blast.

Hezbollah wants the lead investigator, Judge Tareq Bitar, to step down.

“The country has been destroyed, the state has been lost and the people have gone hungry under the reign of the corrupt duo - Hezbollah and the FPM,” Tufayli said.



Taiwan Prosecutors Say Four Questioned So Far over Exploding Pagers in Lebanon

FILE PHOTO: Pagers on display at a meeting room at the Gold Apollo company building in New Taipei City, Taiwan, September 18, 2024. REUTERS/Ann Wang/File Photo
FILE PHOTO: Pagers on display at a meeting room at the Gold Apollo company building in New Taipei City, Taiwan, September 18, 2024. REUTERS/Ann Wang/File Photo
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Taiwan Prosecutors Say Four Questioned So Far over Exploding Pagers in Lebanon

FILE PHOTO: Pagers on display at a meeting room at the Gold Apollo company building in New Taipei City, Taiwan, September 18, 2024. REUTERS/Ann Wang/File Photo
FILE PHOTO: Pagers on display at a meeting room at the Gold Apollo company building in New Taipei City, Taiwan, September 18, 2024. REUTERS/Ann Wang/File Photo

Taiwan prosecutors said on Thursday that they have so far questioned four people as witnesses in their investigation into a Taiwanese company linked to pagers that detonated last week in Lebanon in a deadly blow to Hezbollah.
Security sources said Israel was responsible for the pager explosions that raised the stakes in a growing conflict between the two sides. Israel has neither confirmed nor denied its involvement.
How or when the pagers were weaponized and remotely detonated remains a public mystery and the hunt for answers has involved Taiwan, Bulgaria, Norway and Romania.
Taiwan-based Gold Apollo said last week it did not manufacture the devices used in the attack, and that Hungary-based company BAC to which the pagers were traced had a license to use its brand. Taiwan's government also said the pagers were not made in Taiwan.
A spokesperson for the Shilin District Prosecutors Office in Taipei, which has been leading the probe into Gold Apollo, said in addition to two people questioned last week it had also questioned one current and one former employee as witnesses.
"We are processing this case expeditiously and seeking resolution as soon as possible," the spokesperson added, declining to name the people questioned or say whether prosecutors planned to question further people.
Last week, prosecutors questioned Gold Apollo's president and founder, Hsu Ching-kuang, and Teresa Wu, the sole employee of a company called Apollo Systems.
Gold Apollo has not commented on that investigation and did not respond to a further request for comment on Thursday.
Reuters has not been able to reach Wu for comment. Neither answered reporter questions last week when they left the prosecutors' office.