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Fadlallah Urges Serious Probe into Shaaban Death, Bazzi Warns against 'Creating Another Enemy'

Hizbullah MP Hassan Fadlallah on Sunday urged a “serious and responsible probe” into the killing of al-Jadeed cameraman Ali Shaaban on Monday by gunfire from the Syrian side of the border with Lebanon’s Wadi Khaled, as AMAL Movement MP Ali Bazzi warned against “creating another enemy on our border with Syria.”

Speaking at a ceremony commemorating Shaaban one week after he and two of his al-Jadeed colleagues came under heavy gunfire from Syria while filming a report on Lebanon’s northern border with Syria, Fadlallah said: “Ali practiced the profession of problems, which led him to that troubled area where he was supposed to audio-visually transmit the facts and events from a border witnessing a lot of ambiguity.”

He described Shaaban as “the martyr of media,” calling for a “serious and responsible probe that unveils all circumstances and clears any ambiguities.”

“The responsibility is on the Lebanese government and all its agencies and on the judiciary” to investigate the deadly incident, said the Hizbullah lawmaker.

“The issue has become a national cause and has been condemned by all political forces and groups, away from some people’s attempts to politicize it, and it has been also condemned by the state and the people in Syria,” he added.

“We in Lebanon have an enemy that is lying in wait in order to seize the chances. We have a sole enemy on our southern border that is awaiting the chance to attack our country, our people and our state. This enemy -- that had been betting on chaos, civil wars and seditions from the Syrian gate and the other Arab gates -- has recently declared its disappointment over the fall of its bets, illusions and dreams to corner or isolate this resistance,” Fadlallah noted.

For his part, MP Bazzi said “many parties have tried to take advantage of this killing.”

He also called for a speedy investigation, warning against any attempt to “create another enemy on our border with Syria.”

Bazzi accused some parties of trying to portray Iran and Syria as “enemies” of “the Arab nation.”

“They have forgotten that the Israeli enemy is the sole enemy for the Arab and Islamic nation and for the blood of martyr Ali Shaaban and other martyrs,” Bazzi added.

He also called for closing ranks in Lebanon, warning of “attempts to fragment the region and incite strife between sects and religions.”


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