BEIRUT: Kataeb MP Sami Gemayel criticized the Lebanese government Friday over its inaction on ties with Syria in light of the judiciary’s decision to recommend the death penalty for a Syrian security official on terror charges.

“Until this day, the Syrian Ambassador is still in Lebanon. How have the diplomatic relations with Syria not been severed yet particularly as the person who the ruling was issued against is still in an official post in Syria and he has not even been summoned or fired,” Gemayel’s office quoted him as saying.

His remarks came after a meeting with Future Movement MP Nabil De Freij along with several religious figures.

Military Investigative Judge Riyad Abu Ghayda recommended Wednesday the death penalty for former Information Minister Michel Samaha, Maj. Gen. Ali Mamlouk, the head of the Syrian National Security Bureau, and his aide, Col. Adnan, whose family name remains unknown.

According to the indictment, the Syrian officers handed Samaha explosives. It also charged Samaha with transporting the bombs in his car from Syria to Lebanon.

Gemayel appealed to the president, the prime minister and the foreign affairs minister to offer clarification for why the government has not taken any diplomatic measures against Syria.

“[They should] explain how the Lebanese-Syrian ties are still the same while the Lebanese judiciary recommends the death penalty for head of the Syrian National Intelligence Bureau who was officially appointed by the Syrian president,” the lawmaker said.

Gemayel, an outspoken critic of President Bashar Assad’s government, also demanded an answer from “all officials in Lebanon” with regards to the issue.

“We cannot deal with this issue as if nothing has happened,” he said.