Interior Minister in the caretaker government Nohad al-Mashnouk denied, on Monday having allowed the municipality of Ghobeiry in Mount Lebanon to name a street in the locality after Mustafa Badreddine.
“I have not signed any decree allowing Ghobeiry municipality to name a street after Mustafa Badreddine, a key accused of the assassination of Rafik al-Hariri before the Special Tribunal for Lebanon,” Mashnouk said.
“I do not approve such denomination; therefore, the decision of Ghobeiry municipality is rejected by the Ministry of Interior and Municipalities,” he added.
Social networking sites reported on Monday that the caretaker interior minister had granted a year ago the municipality of Ghobeiry the permission to name a street after Mustafa Badreddine, a senior Hezbollah leader who was killed in Damascus in May 2016. The Special Tribunal for Lebanon (STL) accuses Badreddine of involvement in the assassination of Hariri in 2005.
“Refusing to sign this decision does not mean any implicit approval,” Machnouk stressed.
He noted in this regard that the ministry would send a letter to the municipality of Ghobeiry to ask for the removal of the street signs bearing Badreddine’s name.
The municipality of Ghobeiry falls under the province of Mount Lebanon and located south of Beirut.
