BEIRUT: Controversial Tripoli MP Khaled Daher denied Sunday having any links to terrorists after media reports alleged that a terror suspect accused of recruiting Army soldiers to fight with ISIS was coordinating his acts with the north Lebanon lawmaker.
“What has been said about my relationship with Ahmad Salim Mikati is a blatant lie,” Daher told the Kuwaiti Al-Siyasa newspaper published Sunday.
The remarks came after As-Safir newspaper Friday reported that Mikati revealed during interrogations that he was using WhatsApp mobile phone application to coordinate militant actions with a north Lebanon MP.
In his first public statement after accusations were levied against him, Daher blamed Hezbollah's top security official Wafiq Safa for fabricating the case. “If there had been calls as they allege, then there should be telecommunication data. Where is this data then?,” the Tripoli MP asked.
Daher did not deny knowing the terror suspect, but said that it has been “12-13 years since I’ve seen Ahmad Mikati, and I haven’t met with him [since] and there is no communication between us whatsoever.”
Daher dismissed the accusations as “fabricated lies” crafted by Hezbollah in an effort to shift attention away from their assaults in the Syrian province of Qalamoun and their obstruction of negotiations over the release of 27 service men held hostage by ISIS and the Nusra Front.
The divisive lawmaker known for being a vocal critic of Hezbollah, also said that he was targeted by the resistance for publicly announcing their plans and revealing facts that were not in their favor.
In further insistence on his innocence, Daher called on the Ministry of Telecommunications to review all his communications.
The lawmaker also insisted on his support of the Army and his commitment to the “every word that is said by [former Prime Minister] Saad Hariri,” while confirming his dedication to the Future Movement.
The Army carried out a dramatic predawn raid Thursday on an apartment in Asoun, during which it clashed with terror suspects, killing three and capturing a “key terrorist” Mikati, who was involved in recruiting Lebanese servicemen to fight with jihadi Islamists entrenched in the outskirts of the border town of Arsal.
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