BEIRUT: Interior Minister Nouhad Machnouk vowed Tuesday not to allow a single black flag with Islamic scripture to be raised in Lebanon, after one banner was removed from Tripoli’s Al-Nour square, leaving the city’s religious figures fuming. “I will make sure there isn’t a single black banner in all of Lebanon because Lebanese soldiers were killed under its name,” the interior minister said during a televised interview with Al-Jadeed, referring to the captive Lebanese servicemen who were executed by ISIS and Nusra militants.
Black flags inscribed with the scripture “There is no God but Allah, Mohammad is the Prophet of Allah,” are commonly used both the extremist groups ISIS and Al-Qaeda, with which Nusra is linked.
When confronted with the fact that the black banner was raised during the time of Prophet Mohammad, Machnouk said it was only raised during periods of war. “But neither Sidon nor Tripoli are currently at war.”
Earlier Tuesday, Salafist Sheikh Salem al-Rafei, who is a member of the Muslim Scholars Committee, urged the authorities not to remove a banner in Tripoli that read, “Enter in peace, safe [and secure],” after Machnouk suggested it be replaced with a more subtle Quranic verse.
“I hope Sheikh Rafei will reconsider his position,” Machnouk told Al-Jadeed.
Tripoli’s Mufti Sheikh Malek al-Shaar said Tuesday that there was no discord between the interior minister’s decisions and the will of the city’s residents.
Shaar voiced his support for the decision to remove black flags since they were being used by ISIS. The Mufti also said that he supported replacing some Quranic verses and slogans with subtler alternatives.
Police last week began removing religious and political signage in Tripoli and across other parts of the country in line with an agreement reached during dialogue sessions between the Future Movement and Hezbollah to defuse sectarian tensions in the country.
In the early hours of Sunday morning, police removed black banners and Islamist slogans from Tripoli’s Al-Nour Square, prompting a wave of protests by the city’s officials, residents and spiritual leaders.
At 1 a.m. Sunday, Salafist-inspired MP Khaled Daher, the Muslim Scholars Committee and the city’s religious leaders flocked to Tripoli’s main square, where they claimed that the removal of Islamic banners served as an offense to Islamic symbols that have decorated the city since the 1980s.
At the protest, Daher told his followers that Christians should be the first to remove their religious emblems from public spaces, after black banners were removed from Tripoli’s main square.
“If they want to remove [religious banners] let them start with the Christ the King statue and posters of [Christian] saints,” Daher said from Tripoli’s Nour Square Sunday.
Daher also described the measures as a campaign against Sunnis.
The comments kicked off a firestorm of criticism, with harsh reactions coming in from his political allies and rivals alike.
Deputy Kataeb Party leader and Labor Minister Sejaan Azzi called for Daher to be ousted from the March 14 bloc. “How can a deputy who attends Future Movement meetings, and even March 14 meetings, make such sectarian and offensive remarks against Christians?” Azzi, who is also a part of the March 14 coalition, said in comments published by local newspaper Ad-Diyar.
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.”
“There is always a problem when Daher makes remarks,” Fatfat told a radio station Monday morning.
Monday the controversial MP apologized, saying he didn’t mean to offend Christians. “What I meant was that if religious symbols were to be taken down then that should apply to both Christian and Muslim symbols,” Daher said.
However, criticism against the MP continued to pile up.
Justice Minister Ashraf Rifi, a Future Movement member, was not convinced by the MP’s apology, and said, “such issues must not be addressed during this critical phase.”
Tuesday, Free Patriotic Movement MP Alain Aoun called on him to hand in his resignation.
FPM activist Fouad Chehab filed a complaint against Daher, accusing him of inciting sectarian tensions, harming national unity and offending religious beliefs.
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