Khalil Lashes Out at Bassil over Leaked Video

Finance Minister Ali Hassan Khalil on Monday lashed out fiercely at Free Patriotic Movement and Foreign Minister Jebran Bassil after a leaked video footage that showed Bassil saying that Speaker Nabih Berri is a “thug.”

“Let everyone know that his favorite son-in-law is impolite and lowly and his words are not leaks, but rather the rhetoric of decadency and the hooliganism of political dwarfs who think they can reserve a place for themselves among leaders through their arrogance,” said Khalil in a tweet on Monday.

Khalil was referring to Bassil, the son-in-law of President Michel Aoun.

Khalil added: “Speaker Berri is bigger than positions, his image in the conscience of people will not be tarnished. But now that he has been insulted, all the boundaries he had placed in front of us to prevent us from exposing everyone's history, crimes, killings and deals, have fallen.”

Al-Akhbar daily also quoted Khalil as saying: “The red lines have collapsed. They are taking the country into a confrontation we do not want, but we are prepared for it, whatever its shape is.

“We used to believe that the President is not involved in what's happening. But it seems he is part of it,” the daily quoted Khalil.

A video footage was leaked on social media on Sunday that showed Bassil during a visit to a town in Batroun.

Bassil said hinting at Berri: “This is not a head of parliament, this is a thug,” he said after the Speaker's instructions that his supporters boycott the February Lebanese Diaspora Energy conference for Africa organized by Bassil.