The speaker of Lebanon's parliament believes he is the victim of illegal wiretapping, along with the rest of the country's political elite, diplomats and journalists, the press reported Thursday.
Nabih Berri, during remarks to a parliamentary commission on Wednesday, said that he, President Emile Lahoud, Prime Minister Rafiq Hariri, as well as "ministers, deputies, journalists and diplomats" are having their telephone conversations monitored, the reports said.
He was quoted as saying that he intended to see to it that a law governing wiretapping adopted at the end of 1998 is applied.
Commission member Mohammad Kabbani was quoted as saying regulations have never been ratified to implement the 1998 law, which limited taps to specific cases of specific duration that are subjected to judicial oversight.
Earlier this month, Lebanon's new prime minister, Rafiq Hariri, complained in parliament that his telephone conversations, notably those with Berri, were being monitored.
The parliamentary commission is expected to reconvene on November 28 to take a deposition from Hariri on the matter – BEIRUT (AFP)
© 2000 Al Bawaba (www.albawaba.com)
