Naharnet

Kanaan: We Reject Claims that Takfiri Assault on Lebanon is Aimed at Creating Strife

The Change and Reform bloc stressed on Tuesday that a new budget for Lebanon should focus on properly equipping the army given the terrorist challenges it is facing.

MP Ibrahim Kanaan said after the bloc's weekly meeting: “An armed takfiri group assaulted Lebanese territories and attacked the army.”

“We therefore reject any claims that such an attack was aimed at creating civil war in Lebanon,” he remarked in reference to August clashes between the army and Islamist militants in the northeastern town of Arsal.

“Claims of civil war can be interpreted as favors to those who assaulted the army,” he added.

“The government has granted the army the necessary cover to eliminate the takfiri groups,” continued Kanaan.

Interior Minister Nouhad al-Mashnouq had warned in remarks to As Safir newspaper on Tuesday that the Islamists were seeking to create Sunni-Shiite strife in Lebanon.

The Islamists abducted at the end of the August clashes a number of soldiers and policemen.

Efforts are underway to ensure their release despite the gunmen's execution of three of the captives.

Commenting on the possibility of resuming legislative sessions to tackle pending issues, Kanaan said that the Change and Reform bloc has never stood against these meetings.

He added however that it will remain committed to the stances it has made over the contentious affairs such as the state budget and new wage scale.

The Mustaqbal and Kataeb parliamentary blocs of the March 14 alliance have rejected holding legislative sessions in light of the ongoing presidential vacuum.

The Lebanese Forces bloc recently announced its readiness to return to the sessions.


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