Future MP: Hezbollah behind Army attack

BEIRUT: Future MP Khaled Daher has explicitly accused Hezbollah of masterminding a roadside explosion against an Army patrol in which two soldiers were killed and three wounded in the outskirts of Arsal last week, in order to drag the Army into the Syrian war.

“The explosion is suspicious because those who were targeted were all Sunnis,” Daher said at a press conference Monday.

He charged that Hezbollah and its ally Michel Aoun, head of the Free Patriotic Movement, were manipulating the Army and dragging it into a confrontation inside Syrian territory in order to serve their private interests.

“We will not keep silent on Hezbollah’s practices and attempts to draw the Army into the Syrian war and call on the government to deploy the Army along the border to prevent the movement of all terrorists from either going to or coming from Syria,” Daher said, in a clear allusion to Hezbollah’s military involvement on the side of the Syrian regime.

“If the number of troops is not sufficient we can summon reserves or seek support from UNIFIL,” Daher added.

He called for Hezbollah’s withdrawal from Syria, warning that “otherwise Sunni soldiers would be requested to disobey orders and retreat in their barracks.”

The Future legislator also called for the release of Islamic detainees held in Roumieh Prison to preserve the lives of soldiers and policemen held captive by extremist militants from Syria’s Nusra Front and Islamic State (ISIS).

“There should be a (direct) dialogue with the (Syrian) militants to deprive Hezbollah and MP Michel Aoun of the chance to exploit the Army in personal battles,” Daher said

The militants detain at least 21 soldiers and policemen whom they want to swap for Islamic detainees in Roumieh prison. They were among 30 personnel captured last August when the militants overran the border town of Arsal, clashing with the Army for five straight days in the most serious spillover of the violence raging in Syria.

The militants have executed three captive soldiers and released seven. They are threatening to kill more captives if their conditions to free the Islamist prisoners are not met.

Daher also blasted Army commander Gen. Jean Kahwagi, whom he accused of complicity with Hezbollah in persecuting the Sunni community in Tripoli, north Lebanon, in order to reach the presidency.

“Military intelligence is torturing and insulting innocent Sunni people in the military prisons, but we will not accept that such situation persists,” Daher said, warning of a “Sunni rebellion” in Tripoli.