BEIRUT, Aug 9 (Reuters) - A former Lebanese government
minister with close ties to Syrian President Bashar al-Assad was
detained in Lebanon on Thursday for questioning over what the
Lebanese prime minister described as security-related matters.
A security source said Michel Samaha, detained in the early
hours, was being questioned about alleged plans to cause
instability in Lebanon.
Elias Aoun, head of the Lebanese journalists' union, said
Prime Minister Najib Mikati had told him Samaha had been held
following an order from the acting public prosecutor.
Samaha has been an outspoken supporter of Assad during the
17-month-old uprising against his rule, echoing an official
Syrian narrative that portrays the opposition as terrorists.
He served as a minister in three Lebanese governments
between 1992 and 2004 - a period when Syria dominated politics
and security in its smaller neighbour. Samaha is also a former
member of parliament.
In 2007, he was named on a White House-issued list of
Lebanese and Syrian figures suspected of working to undermine
Lebanon's stability and the Western-backed government in office
at the time.
The list also included Assef Shawkat, a senior Syrian
security official and Assad's brother-in-law, who was killed in
a bomb blast in Damascus last month.
Further details on Samaha's detention were not immediately
available. Live television footage showed members of the
security forces searching his house.
(Writing by Tom Perry; Editing by Alistair Lyon)