BEIRUT: An influential Tripoli sheikh rejected Interior Minister Nouhad Machnouk’s reported proposal to replace the Islamist slogan in Tripoli’s main square with a more subtle Quranic verse.
Tripoli’s Nour Square currently contains a large ornament of the world “Allah” with the slogan “Tripoli, the fortress of Muslims” under it.
Salafist Sheikh Salem al-Rafei, who is a member of the Muslim Scholars Committee, urged authorities not to remove the ornament in comments Tuesday morning to Voice of Lebanon radio station (100.3-100.5).
In comments published by the pan-Arab daily Al-Hayat newspaper earlier Tuesday, Machnouk said he had contacted Tripoli’s mufti as well as Rafei to suggest replacing the Quranic verse: “Enter in peace, safe [and secure].”
The verse describes how righteous believers will be welcomed into heaven.
Machnouk also told Al-Hayat that the black Islamist flags in the city must be removed because they had been used by “terrorist groups that executed servicemen in Arsal’s outskirts.”
However, Machnouk released a statement later Tuesday accusing Al-Hayat’s report of being “inaccurate,” and saying the newspaper used an incomplete part of his comments.
The statement did not indicate which part of the report he was contesting.
Police last week began removing religious and political signage in Tripoli and across other parts of the country.
The removal of black flags with scripture “There is no god but Allah, Mohammad is the prophet of Allah” left Salafist-inspired MP Khaled Daher fuming.
At a protest at Nour Square Sunday, he told his followers that Christians should be the first to remove their religious emblems from public spaces, kicking off a firestorm of criticism.
Daher described the measures as a campaign against Sunnis.
He later apologized, saying he didn’t mean to offend Christians.
Harsh reactions came in from his political allies and rivals alike.
Deputy Kataeb Party leader and Labor Minister Sejaan Azzi called for the ousting of Daher from the March 14 bloc, saying the remarks were “sectarian and offensive against Christians.”
Justice Minister Ashraf Rifi, a member of the Future Movement, was not convinced by the MP’s apology, and said “such issues must not be addressed during this critical phase.”
Future Movement MP Ahmad Fatfat also tried to distance his party from the Daher, saying that the lawmaker “is a member of the March 14 coalition, but not a member of the Future Movement.”
Daher on Monday said he was not trying to be offensive, but believed there was a need for equality between religious groups.
However, criticisms continued to pile on.
On Tuesday, Free Patriotic Movement MP Alain Aoun called on him to resign.
FPM activist Fuad Chehab filed a complaint against Daher, accusing him of inciting sectarian tensions, harming national unity and offending religious beliefs.
The removal of religious banners and political posters in Tripoli are in line with an agreement reached during dialogue sessions between the Future Movement and Hezbollah to defuse sectarian tensions in the country.
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