BEIRUT: Information Minister Ghazi Aridi vowed Monday to resolve the case of New Television reporter Firas Hatoum and his crew, after a news conference was held at the Journalists Union in support of the New TV team. Hatoum and cameramen Abdel-Azim Khayyat and Mohammed Barbar have been held in custody since December 19 for having allegedly broken into the apartment - and tampering with evidence - of Mohammad Zuhair Siddiq, a key witness in the assassination of former Prime Minister Ra-fik Hariri. "If media outlets are concerned about being attacked, I assure them that none of the country's officials, ministers or even officials at media institutions have any interest in doing so," Aridi said after a meeting with Journalists Union president Melhem Karam and Press Federation president Mohammad Baalbaki.

"If a journalist feels that he might be attacked, I believe that all our fellow journalists will stand united to follow up on the issue for we are keen on sparing media outlets and journalists any attacks," he added. The minister said that he followed up on the New TV case "from the first moment," adding that he was trying to resolve it "as soon as possible." Addressing his "colleagues" in media outlets, Aridi said that "we have to know how to deal with each other in order to protect the freedom of speech in Lebanon and offer the best of our work while abiding by the media law.

" "I wish the current conditions would change so that we can modify media laws as soon as possible," Aridi added. Meanwhile, journalist Antoine Chidiac said that the Journalists Union was trying to find a "compromise" to give people their rights. "If media is attacked then the dignity of Lebanon is attacked .

.. I'd say Lebanon will be finished," Chidiac said during the news conference held at the Journalists Union to show support for the New TV crew.

Stressing that Hatoum and his colleagues were practicing an "honest journalistic job," Chidiac said that a "scoop cannot be political." "We should not turn the issue into a political project because it will harm us all," the journalist added. Chidiac urged the Lebanese judiciary to look into the case from "a media perspective and nothing else.

" "The mission of our colleagues was merely journalistic ...

Their sin is their excessive search for truth," Miriam Bassam said. Urging her colleagues to show solidarity with Hatoum and his crew, Bassam said that visual media outlets would be provided with a film including pictures of the three arrested. "A poster displaying a picture of our three colleagues will also be distributed to the press, while journalists will be provided with pins," she added.

Addressing reporters, Bassam accused the Information Ministry of not looking "seriously" into the case. - The Daily Star

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