BEIRUT: The people of Mount Lebanon will not be afraid to take up arms if the Army fails to protect them against takfiri threats, former minister Wiam Wahhab said Sunday.
“As long as the state and the Army are capable of protecting this country, our choice will remain the Army and the state,” Wahhab said addressing crowds who visited his Jaheliyye residence to greet him for Eid al-Adha.
“But if the state fails to protect Lebanon, we will not leave this nation as others did, because we are rooted in this land and we will stay and defend it,” he added.
Speaking to his mostly Druze supporters, the head of the Arab Tawhid Party said the religious group will not accept to be eliminated “like other sects that are being eliminated in some Arab countries.”
“This Mountain with its Muslims and Christians is able to protect itself,” Wahhab added, calling on the supporters to brace for possible attacks. “There will certainly be weapons defending the unity of Lebanon and protecting the state alongside the Army.”
Wahhab, who has been speaking of threats against Druze for months, intensified his rhetoric in August when members of the sect in the southeastern Syrian area of Jabal al-Arab clashed with Bedouins, leading to dozens of deaths.
The prominent Druze leader Walid Jumblatt has sinced toured many Druze areas in Mount Lebanon and the West Bekaa to urge for calm.
No comments:
Post a Comment