Director-general of the Surete Generale, General Jamil Sayyed, said that security in Lebanon has never been better, and he gave credit for that to President Emile Lahoud.
Speaking in an interview with a monthly magazine Al-Amn, Sayyed said security in Lebanon under President Lahoud was better than it had ever been under any previous Lebanese leader. He said that security in Lebanon was better than in many other countries, but admitted that there were matters that needed time and effort to be resolved. He mentioned the matter of the shooting of four judges in Sidon in 1999, which is still being investigated, as an example.
He said that the media were “often unfair” to security agencies. “When a crime is committed, the media often focuses on the crime itself but never gives credit for discovering the killer and punishing him,” he said, explaining that when media coverage which concentrates on a crime rather than the manner in which its official investigation was proceeding, it is a setback for the security apparatus involved. He blamed public mistrust for the way politics interfered with public inquiries.
Sayyed called on members of the public to assist the security forces, arguing that the effectiveness of “security elements” accounted for only 30 percent of the country’s security. The remaining 70 percent depended on the willingness of the public to cooperate with the security agencies, because the security apparatus cannot function without cooperation from the public.
He said that all security agencies were cooperating with one another. “But the natural place for security agencies to coordinate was in the Central Security Council, which met once every month under the chairmanship of Interior Minister Elias Murr. During that meeting, all the problems encountered in the security field are discussed and decisions are made,” Sayyed said. On the basis of that discussion tasks are distributed among all the security-related agencies.
He said he had 35 years of experience in various public offices, and added that he had spent more than 25 years of them in the field of security.
He was involved in a confrontation with the Amal Movement only two weeks ago over the recruitment of six officers to be attached to the Surete Generale. Sayyed, who is regarded as a future competitor to Amal leader Nabih Berri for the post of speaker of Parliament, was accused by two sitting Amal ministers of overstepping his prerogatives.