Hariri rejects calls for Sunni Revolution, backs Army

BEIRUT: Former Prime Minister Saad Hariri Tuesday said he rejects calls for a Sunni revolution in Lebanon and warned against any attempt to undermine the Lebanese Army.

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Army restores order, militant leaders on the run

TRIPOLI, Lebanon: An uneasy calm took hold across Tripoli Monday shortly after the Lebanese Army, backed by helicopter gunships, brought the northern city fully under its control by seizing the last bastion of an Islamist militant leader blamed for attacks on military posts.

The Army’s campaign against terrorist groups has put an end to four days of fierce clashes with militants inspired by ISIS and the Nusra Front. The clashes left 42 people dead and some 150 wounded.

Among the fatalities were 23 gunmen, 11 soldiers and eight civilians. The wounded included 92 soldiers, and 63 gunmen and civilians, security sources said. By Monday evening, at least 162 gunmen had been arrested throughout the north since the fighting erupted, according to the Army.

The United States, meanwhile, voiced support for the Army after the Tripoli clashes.

Washington joined with Lebanon “as it mourns the loss of the soldiers and officers who died defending Lebanon from terrorist groups,” State Department spokeswoman Jen Psaki said. The U.S. also “commends the bravery of the personnel of the Lebanese armed forces who are working to keep Tripoli and Akkar safe for all residents.”

Psaki said Washington stood by the country and its government, adding: “We condemn those who seek to sow chaos in Lebanon and are confident that the Lebanese people will persevere if they stand united in the face of this threat.”

Psaki also praised Prime Minister Tammam Salam for his “strong stand,” adding Washington was “very confident” in the Army’s ability to defend the country.

Residents who fled their houses in the Bab al-Tabbaneh neighborhood, the scene of pitched battles between the Army and militants, returned Monday as troops surrounded the district and mounted raids in search for fugitive gunmen.

There was public relief over the end of the latest round of fighting in Tripoli, with residents expressing satisfaction with the heavy Army deployment in the city, ravaged by several rounds of sectarian clashes linked to the war in Syria.

A military source confirmed that the Abdullah bin Masoud Mosque, the stronghold of Shadi Mawlawi and his partner Osama Mansour, militant commanders reportedly linked to the Al-Qaeda affiliate Nusra Front, had fallen into the hands of the Lebanese Army. The fate or whereabouts of the two men were unknown.

The source told The Daily Star Lebanese commandos, backed by helicopter gunships, had combed the area around the mosque, which is inside the restive Bab al-Tabbaneh neighborhood.

Security sources told The Daily Star that soldiers found the mosque empty of militants. They believe the gunmen had melted away, their faces clean-shaven and dressed in civilian clothes, before the Army advance began early Monday morning. There was no resistance from gunmen when the Army advance began around 6:30 a.m.

They said that while the operation in Bab al-Tabbaneh was over, soldiers were still hunting for wanted men and other suspects in connection with attacks against the Army, after they fled into the orchards of the northern towns of Minyeh, Mhamra and Bhenin.

An Army statement issued Monday evening confirmed the details of the operations, but added that one soldier was slightly wounded during a gunfight with militants in Bhenin.

Army helicopters continued to chase fugitive gunmen from Bhenin to the Oyoun al-Samak region, while Army surveillance aircraft flew over the towns and villages of Akkar, Minyeh and Dinnieh and Nahr al-Bared River.

The Army called on fugitive gunmen to hand themselves in, or be hunted down. In a statement, the military urged “remnants of fleeing armed groups” to surrender to the Army. It said the Army would hunt them down in their hideouts and vowed to continue pursuing them until they are arrested and brought to justice.

The sources said the Army was resolute in the crackdown on armed militants and was taking a no-compromise approach.

Security sources earlier told The Daily Star that the Army had sealed off all entrances to the vegetable market as troops prepared to storm the militants’ stronghold in Bab al-Tabbaneh.

As the soldiers surrounded the Abdullah bin Masoud Mosque, troops fanned out through the surrounding neighborhood, combing the streets for militants, the sources said.

Earlier Monday, unknown assailants tossed a hand grenade toward a police station in the Tripoli neighborhood of Mina. No casualties were reported. However, three cars were damaged in the 5 a.m. attack.

The four days of running street battles between Lebanese troops and militants in Tripoli and the northern district of Minyeh represented the worst bout of Syria-related violence in Lebanon since ISIS and the Nusra Front briefly overran the northeastern border town of Arsal in August, leaving dead 19 troops and dozens of militants.

The Nusra Front said it had abandoned the execution of one of the captive soldiers, Ali Bazzal, after guns fell silent in Tripoli.

Salam, who pledged full political support for the Army in its battle against terrorism Sunday, chaired a security meeting at the Grand Serail with the heads of several security bodies.

He said the Army’s offensive in the north was drawing to a close after troops made significant advances against Islamist militants.

“The decision has been made, and it is to be firm with terrorists and terrorism,” he told reporters on a flight to Berlin. “We cannot surrender or move backward. The military confrontation was imposed on us by the terrorists.”

Meanwhile, Education Minister Elias Bou Saab said that public and private schools in Tripoli, Minyeh and Akkar would remain closed Tuesday.

Elsewhere, security forces in the southern city of Sidon are hunting down terror suspects after assailants tossed a hand grenade at an Army post, a day after the military foiled two attack attempts, a security source and the military said.

“At around 5:15 p.m. an Army unit raided the residence of Palestinian national Ahmad Adnan Sharaf, who was planning to launch an attack on an Army post in the south,” an Army statement said. Sharaf is still at large.

During the raid, the Army seized a Kalashnikov rifle, an RPG and 17 grenades, as well as two explosives weighing 1.5 kg each, the statement added.

The Army also announced the arrest of Palestinian Malek al-Agha after raiding his residence.

Agha is said to be a supporter of fugitive salafist preacher Sheikh Ahmad al-Assir. The Army seized rocket launchers, grenades, rifles, machine guns and explosives hidden in a cellar in his residence in the Bab al-Serail neighborhood.

A security source told The Daily Star that troops are fanning out across parts of Sidon, particularly in the old city, following the incidents.

Sunday’s grenade was thrown from the Palestinian refugee camp of Ain al-Hilweh toward the Sidon neighborhood of Villat, where troops were stationed. The attack came one day after the Lebanese Army foiled two similar attempts in Sidon.

The Army foiled an attack on Sidon’s Fatima Zahra Compound, which houses a Shiite mosque, an infirmary and a lecture hall, before thwarting an assault against an Army Intelligence office. – Additional reporting by Mohammed Zaatari

Tripoli neighborhood scarred by battles

TRIPOLI, Lebanon: A mural bearing the word “Allah” stood pierced with bullets in the heart of the restive neighborhood of Bab al-Tabbaneh. It was hours after the end of fierce battles between the Lebanese Army and militants inspired by ISIS and the Nusra Front that devastated swaths of the troubled streets and left residents in a daze as they picked up the pieces once more.

The military was deploying at the center of Bab al-Tabbaneh, its armored vehicles manned by soldiers who rarely held ground this deep in the heavily armed district. While the fighting had ceased, the occasional sound of a mine being exploded by the Army echoed nearby.

“The Army must enter because there is too much filth,” said one merchant who was clearing shards of broken glass from his shop, as Army soldiers snacked on sandwiches and smoked nearby, enjoying respite from the fighting. “Everybody wants their own state and think they know religion and God, and they know none of that.”

The merchant said the extremists had been recruiting young local men, preying on them amid high unemployment.

“Get any youth and give them a few thousand liras and they’ll do anything,” he said. “Let them clean up, we want to work and live.”

The neighborhood was devastated in the fighting, smoke rising from its center, debris lining the streets from burnt out apartments, vegetable stands in the district’s famed market toppled. Machine-gun casings and shells lined the street, and broken glass was everywhere as well as around the husks of cars with shattered windows and bullet holes.

The bullet holes were everywhere, some the mark of the weekend’s fighting while others had scarred the neighborhood in previous months when militia leaders fought fierce battles with the neighboring Jabal Mohsen, a predominantly Alawite area that supports the Syrian regime of Bashar Assad.

The corpse of a dog killed in the fighting lay in the sun on Syria Street, the traditional flashpoint of the previous clashes, rotting in the heat.

Shops had shuttered their doors, and there appeared to be little life in the ramshackle apartment blocks in the area, some of them collapsed and others blackened by shelling. A burning stench was omnipresent amid the estranged quiet that took hold.

The military’s fierce and unprecedented response, including the use of helicopter gunships to attack militant hideouts, was a clear message that the Army would no longer tolerate militancy.

But some residents decried the Army’s measures, saying many civilians had been wounded in the assault, pointing out trails of dried blood and locations where family members were wounded in the shelling as well as pathways through which they were evacuated.

They said the use of force was excessive, that the Army could have arrested the militants without a broad campaign, and pointed out in particular the use of aerial fire.

“We are Lebanese,” one resident said, implying the Army should not have used helicopters against citizens.

Some residents claimed that there were no gunmen in the area when the Army launched its campaign.

“Those houses all had women and children and they destroyed them,” said a resident of the neighborhood who appeared to be in his 20s, gesturing at a row of damaged houses in the center of Bab al-Tabbaneh.

Still, flags belonging to the Nusra Front, the Al-Qaeda offshoot fighting in Syria, fluttered in the neighborhood alongside posters glorifying Sheikh Houssam Sabbagh, a Salafist militia commander arrested back in July.

A poster of fugitive Salafist Preacher Ahmad Assir, whose fighters engaged in deadly clashes with the Army last year in Sidon, declared him the “lion of the Sunnis.”

“Only God is with us,” said a resident who expressed his anger at the campaign as well as the rampant poverty of the neighborhood. “Where are the human rights? Nobody hates the state but the state is walking over all the poor people.”

But some older residents praised the Army campaign, saying it was necessary to “cleanse” the neighborhood of extremists who were using the poverty and high unemployment in one of the most impoverished areas of Tripoli to recruit young men.

Some said night watches of gunmen with long beards and face covers had emerged and were recruiting youth and disbursing austere religious teachings to residents, giving them meager cash handouts to earn their loyalty and take up arms for various groups of unknown affiliation.

But many did not remain. Some families fled during a two-hour cease-fire on Sunday to the nearby public schools in the Zahriyya neighborhood. One widow who fled with her four children said she was woken up at 5 a.m. by the sound of gunfire, and shots landing inside her home.

She said the presence of gunmen, weaponry and lawlessness in the neighborhood had intensified in recent times, and that more teenagers were taking up arms. She heard the gunmen paid the youths in the neighborhood quite well.

Aid workers distributed food and household products to displaced residents. They held activities for children to comfort them after the violence they witnessed.

“Our hope is for things to be cleaned up,” the woman said. “We want to live in security.”

Tripoli neighborhood scarred by battles

TRIPOLI, Lebanon: A mural bearing the word “Allah” stood pierced with bullets in the heart of the restive neighborhood of Bab al-Tabbaneh. It was hours after the end of fierce battles between the Lebanese Army and militants inspired by ISIS and the Nusra Front that devastated swaths of the troubled streets and left residents in a daze as they picked up the pieces once more.

The military was deploying at the center of Bab al-Tabbaneh, its armored vehicles manned by soldiers who rarely held ground this deep in the heavily armed district. While the fighting had ceased, the occasional sound of a mine being exploded by the Army echoed nearby.

“The Army must enter because there is too much filth,” said one merchant who was clearing shards of broken glass from his shop, as Army soldiers snacked on sandwiches and smoked nearby, enjoying respite from the fighting. “Everybody wants their own state and think they know religion and God, and they know none of that.”

The merchant said the extremists had been recruiting young local men, preying on them amid high unemployment.

“Get any youth and give them a few thousand liras and they’ll do anything,” he said. “Let them clean up, we want to work and live.”

The neighborhood was devastated in the fighting, smoke rising from its center, debris lining the streets from burnt out apartments, vegetable stands in the district’s famed market toppled. Machine-gun casings and shells lined the street, and broken glass was everywhere as well as around the husks of cars with shattered windows and bullet holes.

The bullet holes were everywhere, some the mark of the weekend’s fighting while others had scarred the neighborhood in previous months when militia leaders fought fierce battles with the neighboring Jabal Mohsen, a predominantly Alawite area that supports the Syrian regime of Bashar Assad.

The corpse of a dog killed in the fighting lay in the sun on Syria Street, the traditional flashpoint of the previous clashes, rotting in the heat.

Shops had shuttered their doors, and there appeared to be little life in the ramshackle apartment blocks in the area, some of them collapsed and others blackened by shelling. A burning stench was omnipresent amid the estranged quiet that took hold.

The military’s fierce and unprecedented response, including the use of helicopter gunships to attack militant hideouts, was a clear message that the Army would no longer tolerate militancy.

But some residents decried the Army’s measures, saying many civilians had been wounded in the assault, pointing out trails of dried blood and locations where family members were wounded in the shelling as well as pathways through which they were evacuated.

They said the use of force was excessive, that the Army could have arrested the militants without a broad campaign, and pointed out in particular the use of aerial fire.

“We are Lebanese,” one resident said, implying the Army should not have used helicopters against citizens.

Some residents claimed that there were no gunmen in the area when the Army launched its campaign.

“Those houses all had women and children and they destroyed them,” said a resident of the neighborhood who appeared to be in his 20s, gesturing at a row of damaged houses in the center of Bab al-Tabbaneh.

Still, flags belonging to the Nusra Front, the Al-Qaeda offshoot fighting in Syria, fluttered in the neighborhood alongside posters glorifying Sheikh Houssam Sabbagh, a Salafist militia commander arrested back in July.

A poster of fugitive Salafist Preacher Ahmad Assir, whose fighters engaged in deadly clashes with the Army last year in Sidon, declared him the “lion of the Sunnis.”

“Only God is with us,” said a resident who expressed his anger at the campaign as well as the rampant poverty of the neighborhood. “Where are the human rights? Nobody hates the state but the state is walking over all the poor people.”

But some older residents praised the Army campaign, saying it was necessary to “cleanse” the neighborhood of extremists who were using the poverty and high unemployment in one of the most impoverished areas of Tripoli to recruit young men.

Some said night watches of gunmen with long beards and face covers had emerged and were recruiting youth and disbursing austere religious teachings to residents, giving them meager cash handouts to earn their loyalty and take up arms for various groups of unknown affiliation.

But many did not remain. Some families fled during a two-hour cease-fire on Sunday to the nearby public schools in the Zahriyya neighborhood. One widow who fled with her four children said she was woken up at 5 a.m. by the sound of gunfire, and shots landing inside her home.

She said the presence of gunmen, weaponry and lawlessness in the neighborhood had intensified in recent times, and that more teenagers were taking up arms. She heard the gunmen paid the youths in the neighborhood quite well.

Aid workers distributed food and household products to displaced residents. They held activities for children to comfort them after the violence they witnessed.

“Our hope is for things to be cleaned up,” the woman said. “We want to live in security.”

Support pours in for Army in battle against Islamists

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.

Tripoli battles part of ISIS-Nusra scheme to establish Islamic emirate

BEIRUT: Four days of fierce fighting between the Lebanese Army and Tripoli’s militants were part of a scheme by ISIS and the Nusra Front to establish a foothold in northern Lebanon, and eventually set up an Islamic emirate in the multi-sectarian country, analysts said Monday. They added that the Army’s determination to crush militants in northern Lebanon, regardless of the sacrifices that entailed in the ongoing battle against homegrown terrorism, has foiled attempts by ISIS and Syria’s Al-Qaeda affiliate Nusra Front to establish an Islamic state in the country.

“The scheme to establish an Islamic emirate in north Lebanon is a long-term objective of militant groups. ISIS and the Nusra Front had prepared this scheme two years ago,” Hisham Jaber, a retired Lebanese Army general and an expert on terrorism, told The Daily Star.

“Destabilizing north Lebanon and awakening sleeper cells to attack the Army are signs of laying the ground for establishing an Islamic emirate,” said Jaber, director of the Middle East Center for Political Studies and Research, a Beirut-based think tank. “The Army is being targeted because it is the only force confronting terrorist groups in the north.”

He added that the establishment of even an “illusory” Islamic emirate is “a very dangerous signal” for Lebanon, long known for its religious tolerance and sectarian diversity.

Fadia Kiwan, head of the political science department at Universite St. Joseph, said she shared fears voiced by Lebanese officials, including Army chief Gen. Jean Kahwagi, that ISIS and the Nusra Front were planning to set up an Islamic emirate in the north.

“In the past, extremist groups threatened to set up an Islamic caliphate or emirate in north Lebanon,” Kiwan told The Daily Star. “Now, part of the ISIS-Nusra Front scheme is to make a breakthrough to reach the sea and secure a safe access to the sea in order to export oil.”

“I have confidence in the Army commander’s statement when he says these groups were planning to establish an Islamic emirate in the north,” she added. “The Daesh [ISIS] phenomenon, which is alien to the Lebanese, has found home among Lebanese militants in the north.”

“ISIS and the Nusra Front have two goals: to incite Sunni-Shiite strife and build a foothold in Lebanon,” Kiwan said. “ISIS and the Nusra Front have shattered all borders [between Syria and Iraq] and are now trying to expand to Lebanon.”

Speaking at a news conference following clashes between Lebanese troops and ISIS and Nusra Front gunmen in the northeastern town of Arsal on Aug. 2, Kahwagi said confessions by Imad Ahmad Jomaa, the alleged ISIS commander in Syria’s Qalamoun region whose arrest by the Army triggered the fighting, showed that the militants planned to establish an Islamic state between the Bekaa Valley and north Lebanon.

Tripoli was calm Monday after Lebanese commandos, backed by helicopter gunships, captured the stronghold of militant leaders Shadi Mawlawi and Osama Mansour following four days of pitched battles that rocked the predominantly Sunni city, leaving 42 people dead and some 150 wounded. The two militants are reportedly linked to the Nusra Front.

The fighting in Tripoli and the Minyeh district was the worst spillover of Syria’s war into Lebanon since ISIS and Nusra Front gunmen briefly overran Arsal in August.

Both Jaber and Kiwan said the Tripoli militants were part of the regional ISIS-Nusra Front network operating the region with the aim of promoting an Islamic Shariah-based rule in the Arab and Muslim worlds. They also praised the Army’s role in foiling alleged plans to set up an Islamic emirate in the north.

“The Tripoli battle is over but the Army’s war against terrorist groups is not finished at all. This war will drag on for a long time,” Jaber said.

“With its offensive in Tripoli and the Dinnieh region, the Army has thwarted a major terrorist scheme aimed at undermining Lebanon’s security through three bomb-rigged cars, an arms cache and explosives belts and devices discovered by the military [in Minyeh],” he said.

Kiwan said: “The Army has so far succeeded in saving Lebanon from a scheme to set up an Islamic emirate. The Army has proved that it had prepared Plan-A and Plan-B for the battle against terrorism.”

Because the Army’s siege had severed supply routes to ISIS and Nusra Front militants who are holed up in Arsal’s outskirts and are still holding 27 servicemen hostage, Jaber said the gunmen would try to secure safe access to the sea.

“I expect these terrorist groups to try again to break into Arsal or attack villages in northern Bekaa with the aim of finding a logistical outlet to secure food, water, arms and ammunition during the winter,” he said.

However, Imad Salamey, a political science professor at the Lebanese American University, said he did not think ISIS and the Nusra Front were working to establish an Islamic state in north Lebanon for the time being.

“The strategy of all radical political Islamic groups, Sunni or Shiite, calls for the establishment of an Islamic state,” Salamey told The Daily Star. “ISIS and Nusra’s plan for now is to maintain Lebanon as a logistical backup for their operations in Syria, rather than establish an Islamic state.”

Although noting that the Lebanese Army has taken control of Tripoli, Salamey said: “The Tripoli battles definitely will breed more extremism, setting the stage for new rounds of fighting in the future.” He said the threat of renewed fighting in Tripoli will persist “unless there is a comprehensive solution under which the Lebanese government applies the law equally among all its citizens and the state is the sole authority politically and militarily on its own territory.”

Salamey said he expected Lebanon to continue to suffer from the fallout of turmoil in the region. “The regional environment is unstable. So it is difficult for Lebanon to be stable. Lebanon needs to take any possible measures to prevent a spillover of external conflicts,” he said.

In addition to strengthening and reasserting government authority across the country, Salamey said Lebanon needs to maintain “neutrality” on regional conflicts and comply with the Baabda Declaration.

Asked about whether the Tripoli militants were part of the regional ISIS-Nusra network, he said: “Some of them might be part of this network, but others are local residents who do not like what they see as the Lebanese Army’s ‘aggressive role’ against the Sunnis. These people reflect long-standing Sunni grievances.”

Sorrow grips Bekaa Valley as fallen soldiers laid to rest

RIYAQ, Lebanon: The Bekaa Valley town of Riyaq was mired in grief and sorrow Monday as Lebanese Army Maj. Ibrahim Fawzi Salhab was laid to rest after being killed during clashes with Islamists in north Lebanon. The town’s husseinieh was crowded with locals who gathered to mourn the fallen soldier, including Salhab’s father, who wore his son’s military uniform.

Also attending the funeral were Lt. Col. Mohammad Shmaiteli, representing Army commander Gen. Jean Kahwagi and Defense Minister Samir Moqbel, as well as representatives of the Internal Security Forces and General Security.

Salhab was killed during one of the worst bouts of violence to hit the north in years, and was one of 42 people who died, 11 of whom were soldiers.

The Lebanese Army has been fighting militants since late last week after a military unit was attacked by Islamist militants in Tripoli in retaliation for the arrest of an alleged ISIS member Thursday during a raid in Dinnieh.

“Assaulting people’s security and insulting the Army are prohibited,” Shmaiteli said, explaining that the military institution had a strict goal to prevent terrorism from destabilizing the country.

Riyaq Imam Sheikh Saadoun Ayoub urged the government and officials to provide the Army with the necessary support. “This is how we protect the country and its security.”

Salhab’s coffin was then raised on the crowd’s shoulders as the anthem of martyrdom was played and he was honored by Shmaiteli, who presented the fallen soldier with the Cedars medal and other honors.

Not far away in the village of Halaniyeh in Baalbek-Hermel, soldier Ihab Halani was also laid to rest.

Various officials and representatives participated in the funeral, which was dominated by a sense of overwhelming sadness.

“We will combat the terrorism plans,” said Col. Michel Nakhle, representing the Army commander.

Maj. Deeb Tahesh, who hails from the Akkar district village of Qerqouf, was also buried amid a motorcade of local officials and representatives.

“[We put our hands] with our children that are building this country in the face of terrorists who are trying to ruin it,” said Mohammad Tahesh, the late soldier’s father, during the funeral.

First Lt. Firas al-Hakim was laid to rest Sunday in his hometown of Mechrefe in Aley district, Private Ahmad al-Asaad was buried in Safinet al-Qaytaa in Akkar, recruit Abbas Ibrahim was laid to rest in Shmestar in Baalbek-Hermel, and recruit Jaafar Asaad was buried in Arida in Akkar.

Syrian regime needed for refugee fix: Azzi

BEIRUT: Labor Minister Sejaan Azzi said Monday that he did not mind contacting the Syrian regime in order to try to solve Lebanon’s Syrian refugee crisis, adding that the Lebanese Army should press ahead with its campaign against terrorism until it was finished completely.

“It would be naive to think we can solve the problem of Syrian refugees without the help of the Syrian regime,” Azzi, a Kataeb official, told The Daily Star in an interview. “But dealing with Damascus regarding refugees does not mean that we support the Syrian regime. This move serves the interests of Lebanon.”

“This is a normal thing as long as Lebanon has not expelled the Syrian ambassador and Damascus has not asked Lebanon’s envoy to leave and there are also regular contacts between Lebanese and Syrian intelligence,” Azzi said.

There are around 1.2 million registered Syrian refugees on Lebanese territories. The unofficial number is believed to be much higher. Their presence has presented Lebanon with a range of socioeconomic and security challenges.

However, Azzi said he believed that the Syrian regime did not want to resolve the problem of refugees, since it considered those who had fled the country to be supportive of the opposition.

As a member of a ministerial committee tasked with following up on the Syrian refugee crisis, Azzi said the clearest solution to the issue would be for them to return home. “But this is not possible now, given the fighting in Syria.”

In the meantime, Azzi added, measures should be taken to stop the flow of refugees into Lebanon, reduce the number of those already here and take full control of sites where they are present.

Azzi said a policy approved by the government last week served this purpose. He explained that the idea of establishing Syrian refugee camps in Lebanon was no longer an option, particularly after informal camps in Arsal were exposed as having been used as a base for militants to hide and store their weapons during clashes with the Army in August.

Azzi explained that Lebanon had begun suggesting to the international community that a buffer zone or protectorate inside Syria for refugee camps could be established.

“This was impossible to achieve in the previous period, but it has become possible now after the formation of an international coalition fighting terrorism,” the minister said, in reference to the international anti-ISIS coalition.

“This international coalition is launching airstrikes on Syrian territories and thus one of its first duties should be to secure an area inside Syria on the border with Lebanon where camps for all refugees can be established,” Azzi said.

“Of course this will not be implemented today or tomorrow, but the Lebanese state should start proposing it in a serious manner.”

Separately, Azzi said the Lebanese Army should continue its operations in the north until it totally eradicates any trace of terrorism there.

“It was as if the north was kidnapped recently, not only from Lebanon, but from its own people,” Azzi said. “People of the north, regardless of their sect, particularly Sunnis of Akkar and Tripoli, are honorable and moderate Lebanese who have nothing to do with extremist movements.”

The Army began a crackdown on Islamist militants in Tripoli and Akkar over the weekend and was able to take over their last bastion in Lebanon’s northern city Monday.

The fighting left 42 people dead and some 150 wounded.

Azzi said the military should take action without waiting for political cover from the government, saying that it already had it.

“The military is not in need of cover from any side, because its duty is to preserve security in any area in Lebanon and it is the duty of the state to support it in fulfilling its mission,” Azzi said.

Commenting on a visit Kataeb MP Sami Gemayel paid to Saudi Arabia earlier this month, Azzi said the trip aimed at holding talks with the Saudi leadership.

“The presidential deadlock was a topic in the discussions given that the kingdom has influence on sisterly states in the region and due to the fact that it was never late in playing a positive role that will lead to electing a president,” Azzi explained.

Azzi denied that discussions tackled an imminent second extension of Parliament’s term and reiterated his party’s opposition to such a move.

“We have a stance in principle, which is that under a democratic system, the transition of power is essential and it takes place through elections,” Azzi explained.

“That’s why we can never accept the extension of Parliament’s term or vacuum in the presidency,” the minister said, stressing that that Kataeb’s position would not change.

Azzi said the Kataeb Party understood rationales presented by political parties, including its allies, for extension, but added, “our stance will remain different from theirs.”

He said there were no indicators that a president would be elected soon to end five months of vacuum in the top Christian post.

“If we want to wait for developments in the Middle East to facilitate the holding of a presidential election, then these changes are unlikely to happen soon,” Azzi said. “And if they happen, they will not necessarily help in electing a president because events are heading toward instability rather than stability.”

“This requires that Lebanese leaders, if they still have a grain of responsibility and national conscience, forget their external affiliations ... and head to Parliament to elect a president.”

US backs Lebanon army after Tripoli clashes

WASHINGTON: The United States Monday praised the courage of Lebanese soldiers caught in clashes with Islamist militants in the northern city of Tripoli, in which 11 troops were killed.

Washington joined with Lebanon "as it mourns the loss of the soldiers and officers who died defending Lebanon from terrorist groups," State Department spokeswoman Jen Psaki said.

The U.S. also "commends the bravery of the personnel of the Lebanese armed forces who are working to keep Tripoli and Akkar safe for all residents."

The fighting was among the fiercest bouts of Syria-related violence in the northern port city since the 2011 outbreak of the neighboring war, and has also left eight civilians dead since Friday.

It was also the first to pit Islamists against the army in Tripoli.

Psaki said Washington stood by the country and its government, adding: "We condemn those who seek to sow chaos in Lebanon and are confident that the Lebanese people will persevere if they stand united in the face of this threat."

Psaki also praised Lebanese Prime Minister Tammam Salam for his "strong stand," adding Washington was "very confident" in the army's ability to defend the country.

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Navajo Nation Changes Language Law

Supporters of Navajo presidential candidate Chris Deschene gather outside an administrative court in Window Rock, Ariz. Questions about his fluency in the Navajo language have dogged his campaign. Felicia Fonseca/AP hide caption

itoggle caption Felicia Fonseca/AP

In the space of a few months, the quest for one candidate to become the next Navajo Nation president has become intertwined with the changing culture of Indian Country. It has turned into what could be described as a political thriller with a distinctly Navajo hue.

Here's the set up: Navajo law states that Navajo presidents must speak the language to hold office. Forty-three year-old Chris Deschene received enough votes in the first round of presidential voting to make it to the final Nation's ballot. But later, a series of complaints and lawsuits accused him of not being fluent in Navajo.

Efforts to have Deschene disqualified culminated on Thursday in the Navajo Nation Supreme Court. By a 2-to-1 vote, the court ordered that Deschene be removed from contention, and that the election be postponed in order to reprint the ballots with the name of another candidate.

However, just after midnight Thursday, the Navajo Nation Council voted to adjust the language requirement for presidential candidates. "The bill keeps the current Navajo language fluency requirements intact," reports the Farmington Daily Times. "But adds that the language proficiency 'shall be' determined by the people voting in favor of the candidate."

In other words, the bill acknowledges the importance of the Navajo language for presidential candidates, but also recognizes the right of voters to decide who best represents them. It wasn't an easy sell, though. The bill passed narrowly – 11 to 10.

The close decisions in both the judicial and legislative branches underscore the divide in the Navajo Nation over how important language and identity are to tribal members. Many citizens have been concerned that electing a leader without language fluency would undermine Navajo identity, while others – especially a growing number who are not fluent in Navajo themselves – say that they finally feel represented in the Nation's political sphere. In 2007, researchers estimated that around 30 percent of Navajo first graders spoke the language fluently, compared to around 90 percent in 1968.

Deschene says he's prepared to represent the Navajo Nation. "As an element of our culture, things like our land, things like our traditions and customs, including our language, are priority," he says. "I've conveyed to our people that those unique characteristics, identifiers, elements of our culture, make us separate, unique and special to the rest of the world. They are the foundation of sovereignty."

There are over 300,000 Navajo citizens spread across the Navajo Nation – an area just slightly smaller than the country of Panama – as well as across the United States and the world. Navajo efforts to stop language loss have ranged from partnerships with companies like Rosetta Stone to translating films like Star Wars into Navajo.

Provided that current Navajo president Ben Shelly signs off on the new language policy, Deschene will face Dr. Joe Shirley, Jr. – a two-time former Navajo president – for the Nation's top post on November 4.

"I'm Navajo and because of that I have the right to participate in my government, especially when I see that my government is in trouble," said Deschene. "So if that message carries throughout Indian Country, and if people are qualified and willing and able, they should be afforded the same opportunities to help their own people."

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North Lebanon offensive nears end: Salam

BEIRUT: The four-day Army offensive in north Lebanon is drawing to a close after troops made significant advances against Islamist militants, Prime Minister Tammam Salam said Monday.

“The decision has been made, and it is to be firm with terrorists and terrorism,” Salam told reporters on a flight to Berlin. “We cannot surrender or move backward.”

The premier is traveling to Germany for an international conference to support Lebanon amid the Syrian refugee crisis.

“The military confrontation was imposed on us by the terrorists,” Salam added. “But the patriotic stance was a choice, and it allowed the Army and security forces to confront this great challenge and succeed.”

But he cautioned that Lebanon's troubles may not be over, as security incidents are impossible to predict.

“I believe we have made real advances in imposing security and stability in Tripoli, the north and all over Lebanon,” he said.

The remarks came during the fourth day of an Army offensive in Tripoli and other parts of north Lebanon to root out militants.

The fighting was sparked after militants in Tripoli attacked an Army position near the old souks Friday night. At least 42 people were killed in the ensuing battles over the next three days in Tripoli and the northern towns of Minyeh, Mhamra and Bhenin.

Security sources told The Daily Star that 162 militants have been arrested as of mid-Monday across the north since the clashes broke out.

Salam is due to attend the latest conference of the International Support Groups for Lebanon over the Syrian refugee crisis.

“There are 29 countries and 10 international organizations working with German sponsorship to help Lebanon and neighboring countries carry the great burden of Syrian refugees,” he said.

More than 1.1 million Syrians have registered with the U.N. refugee agency in Lebanon since the outbreak of the neighboring crisis in March 2011.

ISIS threatens to kill two Lebanon hostages: reports

BEIRUT: ISIS is threatening to kill two captives if demands they submitted to the Lebanese government are not met, media reported Monday.

The families of soldiers Saif Zebian and Khaled Moqbel received phone calls from alleged ISIS militants informing them the troops may soon be executed, according to the unconfirmed reports carried by several media outlets.

MTV said that ISIS issued the threat because of the Lebanese Army's siege on the militants, holed up on the outskirts of the northeast border town of Arsal.

The Army has been blocking all roads to Arsal's outskirts to shut supply lines to the militants.

Last week, Health Minister Wael Abu Faour said he had received a list of demands issued by the jihadists holding 27 Lebanese servicemen hostage.

ISIS and Nusra Front militants are reportedly demanding the release of Islamists detained in Roumieh Prison.

The Nusra Front announced earlier Monday, that it delayed the execution of Ali Bazzal who was set to be killed at dawn. The militant group threatened Sunday to "begin ending the kidnapped soldiers file" in the coming days, unless the Lebanese Army ended an offensive against militants in north Lebanon

So far ISIS has executed two soldiers while the Nusra Front has killed one.

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Navajo Nation Changes Language Law

Supporters of Navajo presidential candidate Chris Deschene gather outside an administrative court in Window Rock, Ariz. Questions about his fluency in the Navajo language have dogged his campaign. Felicia Fonseca/AP hide caption

itoggle caption Felicia Fonseca/AP

In the space of a few months, the quest for one candidate to become the next Navajo Nation president has become intertwined with the changing culture of Indian Country. It has turned into what could be described as a political thriller with a distinctly Navajo hue.

Here's the set up: Navajo law states that Navajo presidents must speak the language to hold office. Forty-three year-old Chris Deschene received enough votes in the first round of presidential voting to make it to the final Nation's ballot. But later, a series of complaints and lawsuits accused him of not being fluent in Navajo.

Efforts to have Deschene disqualified culminated on Thursday in the Navajo Nation Supreme Court. By a 2 to 1 vote, it ordered that Deschene be removed from contention, and that the election be postponed in order to reprint the ballots with the name of another candidate.

However, just after midnight Thursday, the Navajo Nation Council voted to adjust the language requirement for presidential candidates. "The bill keeps the current Navajo language fluency requirements intact," reports the Farmington Daily Times. "But adds that the language proficiency 'shall be' determined by the people voting in favor of the candidate."

In other words, the bill acknowledges the importance of the Navajo language for presidential candidates, but also recognizes the right of voters to decide who best represents them. It wasn't an easy sell, though. The bill narrowly passed by a vote of 11 to 10.

The close decisions in both the judicial and legislative branches underscore the divide in the Navajo Nation over how important language and identity are to tribal members. Many citizens have been concerned that electing a leader without language fluency would undermine Navajo identity, while others —especially a growing number who are not fluent in Navajo themselves — say that they finally feel represented in the Nation's political sphere. In 2007, researchers estimated that around 30 percent of Navajo first graders spoke the language fluently, compared to around 90-percent in 1968.

Deschene says he's prepared to represent the Navajo Nation. "As an element of our culture, things like our land, things like our traditions and customs, including our language, are priority," he says. "I've conveyed to our people that those unique characteristics, identifiers, elements of our culture, make us separate, unique and special to the rest of the world. They are the foundation of sovereignty."

There are over 300,000 Navajo citizens spread across the Navajo Nation – an area just slightly smaller than the country of Panama – as well as across the United States and the world. Navajo efforts to stop language loss have ranged from partnerships with companies like Rosetta Stone to translating films like Star Wars into Navajo.

Provided that current Navajo president Ben Shelly signs off on the new language policy, Deschene will face Dr. Joe Shirley Jr. – a former two-time Navajo president – for the Nation's top post on November 4^th.

"I'm Navajo and because of that I have the right to participate in my government, especially when I see that my government is in trouble," said Deschene. "So if that message carries throughout Indian Country, and if people are qualified and willing and able, they should be afforded the same opportunities to help their own people."

Higher Islamic Council lends support to Lebanon Army

BEIRUT: The deputy head of Lebanon's top Sunni authority condemned attacks on the Army Monday, but called for the military to treat residents of all communities equally and free the country of "illegitimate" weapons.

“The council refuses all attempts to ... drag [Muslims] toward a confrontation with the Lebanese Army,” the Higher Islamic Council’s deputy head Omar Miskawi said at a news conference.

The council “stresses on the commitment to a strong, just state without discriminating between various areas or citizens,” he added.

Miskawi made the comments after a meeting called by Grand Mufti Abdul-Latif Derian to discuss the situation in Tripoli and north Lebanon in light of the fierce weekend clashes between the Army and militants.

“The council stresses on imposing the state’s authority and establishing its prestige, and enforcing the law ... on everybody in all Lebanese areas without exception,” the statement said.

The council, which is responsible for carrying out the affairs of Dar al-Fatwa, condemned the calls for defection from the Army by extremists.

Miskawi also spoke on the need to protect Tripoli’s heritage, its civilians and their property, and to quickly compensate them for losses during the deadly battle.

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.

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 headquarters by militants.