Joseph A. Kechichian Gulf News Senior Writer

New York: According to the pro-Hezbollah Lebanese daily Al Safir, the country’s political elites agreed during the 20th session of the putative National Dialogue to activate the security plan first proposed in February 2015. Speaker Nabih Berri declared that an accord in principle was reached between Hezbollah, which controls the Bekaa Valley, and the Future Movement, which insists that the Ministry of Interior apply the law throughout the country.

Earlier this year, Internal Security Forces (ISF) raided towns in the Valley though no arrests were made at the time, since most suspects were forewarned and were believed to have fled to Syria. About 1,000 army soldiers, 500 police officers and an equal number of ISF personnel were involved in the February 11, 2015 joint operation against Hur Taala, Brital and surrounding villages to search for wanted drug suspects. Comically, the Ministry of the Interior divulged that operation’s launch several days before it was implemented, precisely to give Hezbollah an opportunity to remove its men from the area, which is what occurred.

Amazingly, ISF troops were surprised to discover that fugitives had dismantled illicit businesses, including Captagon drug factories, which left little evidence behind, but enough to highlight what type of illegal activities were underway in various spots. In fact, when ISF men came up empty-handed in terms of actual drugs or to apprehend any individuals that presumably used the manufacturing facilities, the security plan was called off. Of course, Interior Minister Nouhad Machnouq meant well, as he wished to extend his security plan to go beyond northern Lebanon to clamp down on crime and, presumably, arrest suspects who were involved in clashes as well as attacks on the Army and who routinely found refuge in Hezbollah-controlled territories.

In addition to the Baalbek-Hermel area in the Bekaa Valley, Machnouq wanted his security plan to also apply in Beirut and its southern suburbs, where Hezbollah enjoys wide support, although neither was introduced for political reasons. According to Speaker Nabih Berri, the Amal and Hezbollah parties were now ready to give their full support to the ISF, allegedly because neither were able to rein in the chaos that enveloped the area. Whether Hezbollah concluded that it could no longer cover for violators because the number of victims grew in recent months, was difficult to gauge. Suffice it to say that petty thefts, kidnappings and killing incidents were on the rise, which was why the party turned to state security forces.