Rifi Accuses Hizbullah of Arming 'Tripoli Gangs,' Says Groups Submissive to Damascus
Former Internal Security Forces chief Maj. Gen. Ashraf Rifi accused Hizbullah on Friday of supplying armed gangs in the northern city of Tripoli with arms and money.
"Hizbullah is supporting these armed gangs in Tripoli and providing them with weapons and money,” Rifi said at a press conference he held in Tripoli.
He noted: “Weapons possessed by the residents of (the Tripoli neighborhood of) Bab al-Tabbaneh is not equivalent to the arms of Hizbullah and those of the Resistance Brigades.”
“We have the Lebanese state and another state inside also in the country. Apparently Hizbullah's state dominates over the Lebanese state.”
Rifi also considered that a group in Tripoli is subjected to the Syrian regime.
"But the city does not fear the Syrian regime and its security should not be in the hands of Hizbullah. Tripoli is able to defend itself by referring to the state's powers,” he stressed.
“It is the state's duty to preserve the security of Tripoli,” he added. “Our choice is the state.”
The former ISF chief denied that what is happening in the northern city if a confrontation between Sunnis and Allawites.
“It is a confrontation between criminals and the city's residents,” he pointed out, calling for implementing the law in the city.
Rafi called on the residents of (Tripoli's neighborhood of) Jabal Mohsen to condemn the double blasts that targeted two mosques in the city, urging also security forces to prosecute and try those behind the bombings.
“I urge Tripoli's residents and leaders to communicate and look into a roadmap.”
The toll in the ongoing fighting in Tripoli rose to at least six dead and more than 70 injured on Friday.
The clashes broke out on Monday evening as celebratory gunfire erupted in Jabal Mohsen over Syrian President Bashar Assad’s appearance on al-Mayadeen television for an interview.
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