BEIRUT: The fingerprints of at least four million Lebanese citizens may have fallen into the hands of an Israeli firm via its links with a French company, As-Safir newspaper reported Friday.

A front-page article bearing the headline “Fingerprint records: contract annulment or new government dispute?,” said fingerprint records of more than four million Lebanese had fallen into the hands of a private French company, which is also partners with an Israeli military establishment.

Asked for comments, Interior Minister Marwan Charbel told As-Safir he had no knowledge of the partnership between the French and Israeli firms.

Charbel nevertheless vowed to look into the issue and “take the necessary measures to verify the authenticity the report.”

“If the report turned out to be true, I would immediately raise the issue in Cabinet so it can take the appropriate action on this sensitive issue out of concern for the national interest,” Charbel said.

He confirmed that the Interior Ministry had details of fingerprint records of some four million Lebanese, adding that the data was being kept at the Central Bank.

As-Safir said that Charbel’s assertion did not rule out the possibility that such data may have fallen into Israeli hands some time ago.

It quoted ministerial sources as saying that Hezbollah ministers would bring the issue up during Cabinet’s next meeting.