TRIPOLI, Lebanon: The Abdullah bin Masoud Mosque in Tripoli’s neighborhood of Bab al-Tabbaneh is now under the control of local sheikhs after supporters of two notorious militants withdrew from the building following a settlement Sunday, military and security sources told The Daily Star Tuesday. The armed supporters of Shadi Mawlawi and Ousama Mansour had been using the mosque, which is located in Abdul Hamid Alley in the restive Bab al-Tabbaneh neighborhood, as a base for operations, blocking routes leading to the mosque and installing surveillance cameras around the building.
Mawlawi and Mansour were sentenced to death in absentia for their involvement in a deadly bombing targeting the Lebanese Army in Tripoli in August.
Influential local sheikhs, led by Sheikh Khaled al-Sayyed, intervened, negotiating the group’s withdrawal directly with Mawlawi and Mansour, who agreed that their men would leave the mosque within 48 hours.
The armed men left the mosque Monday and reopened the streets leading to the building and removed the surveillance cameras.
Mawlawi and Mansour disappeared shortly after the mediation Sunday and have not been seen since. Conflicting reports place them both in and outside Bab al-Tabbaneh.
According to a high ranking military source, the Army will not use military force to enter Bab al-Tabbaneh and arrest the two now that a settlement has been reached. Army commander Gen. Jean Kahwagi had warned that the military would use force if the armed men refused to dismantle their security zone.
The source said the problem in Tripoli was “over,” in the view of the military establishment. “We got what we wanted” from the settlement, he added. “The Army is satisfied.”
Meanwhile, the Committee of Muslim Scholars in Tripoli called for a meeting to be held Wednesday at 5:30 p.m. at the Harba Mosque in Bab al-Tabbaneh where it will release a statement tackling the various security issues in Tripoli.
The committee also emphasized that the Abdullah bin Masoud Mosque was indeed under its control.
“There are no manifestations of armed [groups around the mosque] and those that used it have left it. It is now controlled by local sheikhs, who are holding religious rites in it,” Tripoli Mufti Malek Shaar also said.
Shaar expressed hope that those “sabotaging the security and attacking the Lebanese Army” will be held responsible by the security forces.
Former Tripoli and Future Movement official Mustapha Alloush blamed unrest in the northern city on “suspicious groups” allegedly backed by Hezbollah
Mawlawi and Mansour were relatively unknown before the National Security Plan went into effect in Tripoli earlier this year in an effort to curb recurring clashes between Bab al-Tabbaneh and its rival neighborhood, Jabal Mohsen.
The plan led to the arrest of many militia leaders in Tripoli which observers say created a vacuum later filled by Mawlawi and Mansour.
Separately, the military source did not rule out the renewal of clashes in and around Arsal between the Army and Islamist militants.
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