The cabinet has deemed retired General Tony Saliba resigned from state employment after he failed to report for duty within the legal deadline, and has demanded he file a declaration of assets.
Retired General Tony Saliba, the former director general of State Security, sought to return to work at the Grand Serail about two months ago, more than a year after his removal from the security directorate and placement at the disposal of the Prime Minister. His request has been rejected on procedural grounds, and the cabinet has now declared him formally resigned from state service.
Saliba was notified of his dismissal from State Security on 13 March 2025. Under civil service regulations, he was required to assume a new post at the Grand Serail by 29 March of that year. He did not report on that date and submitted no explanation for his absence.
Throughout the following year, Saliba did not appear at the Grand Serail. When he finally sought to return to active duty roughly two months ago, he approached the Prime Minister's office directly to request reassignment to a position there.
Prime Minister Nawaf Salam rejected the request on the grounds that Saliba had breached the civil service code, which deems any official who does not take up a new post within 15 days of notification without legitimate cause to have forfeited his position.
The cabinet, acting on Salam's recommendation, voted to consider Saliba resigned from state service effective from the date of his dismissal from State Security. The decision treats his failure to report within the prescribed period as a constructive resignation rather than merely a prolonged absence.
As part of the resolution, Saliba has been required to file a declaration of assets disclosing what he, his spouse and his children own. Such declarations are standard procedure for officials leaving state service and are intended to establish their financial position at the moment of departure.
The timing of Saliba's dismissal and the circumstances surrounding it reflect broader questions about the management of security personnel during a period of significant change in Lebanon's governing structure. His removal from State Security itself was not unprecedented, but the procedural handling of the transition has now taken on formal significance.
Saliba's status as a retired officer with longstanding ties to the security apparatus makes the asset declaration requirement a matter of some sensitivity. The filing will become part of the official record of his departure from state employment.
The cabinet's action establishes that officials placed at the disposal of the Prime Minister remain subject to the full force of civil service law, including its provisions on timely assumption of duty. This sets a formal precedent for how similar cases will be handled going forward. No appeals or further extensions have been indicated, and the declaration requirement remains in effect.
