Fattoush: I would never hit a woman

BEIRUT: MP Nicolas Fattoush says there is much more than meets the eye to the controversial accusation that he attacked a judicial worker this week, telling a news conference Thursday that he was in the office to file a lawsuit against Tourism Minister Michel Pharoun over adultery when the incident happened.

Fattoush Thursday said he was submitting a lawsuit against Pharaon on behalf of the minister's wife when he was accused of attacking Manal Daou, a charge he vehemently denied.

During an animated press conference in which he showed a picture of Pharaon standing next to a woman alleged to be his mistress, Fattoush contrasted himself as a wholesome man who respected women and accused Daou of provocation.

“I was insulted twice. Once [by Daou] inside the office, and then again when they said I slapped the woman,” he said.

Sources inside the Baabda Judicial Palace told The Daily Star Monday that the Zahle MP and former minister attacked Daou after she said he would need to wait several minutes before she would process his file.

Activists gathered Thursday outside Beirut's Justice Palace to protest the alleged attack on Daou. She addressed the crowd to thank them for their support.

“The legal case I submitted was on behalf of Mrs. Mouna Pharaon, and it was a lawsuit against Minister Michel Pharaon and his girlfriend ... over an adultery offense,” Fattoush said, claiming that the office worker had treated him with disrespect.

“It was the third lawsuit I personally submitted to the same employee,” he said.

“When I entered the office to submit the lawsuit, there was no lawyer submitting any case before me,” he said, adding that she asked him to wait his turn although there was no one else in line.

“I told her, 'I am the member of Parliament, the minister, the lawyer,'” but she insisted that he needed to wait.

The two engaged in a short verbal dispute before Daou “threw the file” back at him and dared him to register a complaint against her.

Fattoush insisted that he would “never attack a woman,” saying that the people of Zahle were famous for their dignity, manhood and heroism.

He also took a jab at Justice Minister Ashraf Rifi, who had earlier said that his ministry was following up on the case and called for legal measures to be taken against Fattoush.

In the picture Fattoush held up for the journalists, Rifi and his wife are seen standing next to Pharaon and his alleged mistress.

Fattoush said Rifi's statement was influenced by his relationship with Pharaoun.