DailyStar.com.lb BEIRUT: General Security chief Maj. Gen. Abbas Ibrahim said Friday that Lebanon was safer than the United States, after meeting with a delegation of the Lebanese Press Syndicate. “The security situation is under control and much better than security in countries around Lebanon, even – in some cases – in the U.S.,” Ibrahim said. As for cooperation between the U.S. and Lebanon, Ibrahim said the assistance works both ways, and “sometimes we give them more than they give us.” Asked about the possibility of war with Israel, he downplayed the chances of open conflict, citing no will for such an engagement. “One should only worry if an incident were to spiral out of control and snowball into a large-scale confrontation,” Ibrahim added.

Touching on the widely publicized spat between President Michel Aoun and Speaker Nabih Berri over a decree promoting Army officers, Ibrahim said he was trying to assist in finding a solution, but that the issue was not technical. “If it were just technical, then there are many ways to resolve it.” The General Security chief also voiced his belief that parliamentary elections scheduled for May would go forward as planned because of the prevailing domestic consensus to ensure they happened. A version of this article appeared in the print edition of The Daily Star on January 13, 2018, on page 2