BEIRUT: Further support for the Lebanese Army in its battle against Islamist militants in the north poured in Monday, with political, religious and diplomatic figures expressing solidarity with the military. Progressive Socialist Party leader Walid Jumblatt lauded former Prime Minister Saad Hariri’s long-standing support for the Army, which was able to take over the last bastion of militants in Tripoli after four days of fighting Monday. The military continues to chase militants in Akkar.
Hariri’s position over clashes in north Lebanon “is reminiscent of his father, the late Prime Minister Rafik Hariri’s historical stand during the clashes in Dinnieh back in 2000,” Jumblatt said, referring to eight days of clashes between the Islamist group Takfir wa al-Hijra and the Lebanese Army in the mountainous Dinnieh region in north Lebanon.
The PSP head also commended the Future Movement leader’s insistence on declaring his support for the Army and the state because it resolved the “reluctance” of some of Tripoli’s officials to back the Army without caveats.
Earlier this week, Hariri stressed his full support for the government, the Army and security forces in their mission to restore security and stability in the capital of the north.
Jumblatt also called Army commander Gen. Jean Kahwagi to express his support for the military.
For his part, Future bloc MP Ahmad Fatfat in a televised interview blamed Hezbollah’s weapons for all Lebanon’s problems.
“There are three primary issues that must be addressed if we are to avoid repeating the same cycle in the north,” Fatfat said. “The first is economic, social and developmental, as well as the need to address security files justly, and the issue of Hezbollah’s illegitimate arms and the party’s interference in Syria.”
The Higher Islamic Council echoed some of Fatfat’s comments. It condemned attacks on the Army but also called for the military to treat residents of all communities equally and to free the country of “illegitimate” weapons, in an apparent reference to Hezbollah’s arms.
“The council rejects all attempts to ... drag [Muslims] toward a confrontation with the Lebanese Army,” the Higher Islamic Council’s deputy head Omar Miskawi said after a council session chaired by Grand Mufti Sheikh Abdel-Latif Derian.
The council, which administers the affairs of Dar al-Fatwa, condemned the calls for defection from the Army by extremist groups.
The recent events in the northern city are the result of “decades of negligence and lack of serious development,” he added.
This, the council said, should prompt the state to immediately start implementing a concrete action plan to revive Tripoli’s economy and develop social and health services.
Hezbollah Minister of State for Parliamentary Affairs Mohammad Fneish told Al-Markaziah News Agency that the violence in the north was to be “expected” due to the spread of takfiri groups and some politicians’ willingness to exploit their presence for their own aims.
These groups target the Army and civilians because they are founded on intolerance and reject current borders, and Lebanon must unite to stave them off, he said.
The deputy head of the Higher Shiite Council Sheikh Abdel-Amir Qabalan condemned the attacks on the Army as “an attack on the honor and sovereignty of the people of Lebanon” and praised the Army as the guardian of security and stability.
He also called on politicians to exercise “wisdom,” warning that they would be held responsible for inflammatory rhetoric.
Meanwhile, the head of the U.N. Interim Force in Lebanon, Maj. Gen. Luciano Portolano Monday offered his condolences to the families of the 11 Army troops killed in the country’s northern battles.
At least 11 Army soldiers, 23 militants and eight civilians have been killed over four days of fighting in northern Lebanon since the clashes broke out late Friday.
The violence largely subsided Monday after soldiers took over Tripoli’s Abdullah bin Masoud Mosque, which was being used as a base by militants.
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