Salam Meets Tripoli MPs: We Seek to Adopt Comprehensive Security, Economic Plan for City

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Prime Minister Tammam Salam stressed on Tuesday that officials reject the concept of “consensual security” in Tripoli in light of the recent unrest in the northern city.

He said after meeting with lawmakers from Tripoli: “The gatherers requested that I propose before cabinet the adoption of a comprehensive security, economic, and development plan for the city and deprived northern regions.”

“I assure that the government, after it receives parliament's vote of confidence, will seriously follow up on this issue in order to restore Tripoli's stature,” he remarked after the meeting attended by former Premier Najib Miqati.

“We must end oppression and negligence in the city and support security there, as well as economic measures that will revitalize the city,” Salam stated from the Grand Serail.

Tripoli should not remain victim to lawlessness “as it has always acted as a beacon in its surroundings thanks to its residents, who seek to earn a living through peace and stability,” added the prime minister.

Fighting renewed in Tripoli on Tuesday morning, shattering a brief morning calm after a night of sniper attacks and intermittent gunfire between the warring parties, the state-run National News Agency reported.

NNA and local TV stations said several mortars landed near Lebanese army positions and the sound of machineguns reverberated across al-Omari, grocery market and al-Nasseri mosque areas.

It said Ali Hussein Abdullah was severely injured in the neck.

The agency had earlier reported that gunmen from the rival neighborhoods of Bab al-Tabbaneh and Jabal Mohsen clashed on Monday night using machineguns and resorted to sniper fire.

The Lebanese army responded to the sources of fire, it said.

Al-Liwaa daily quoted a cabinet minister as saying that Tuesday's meeting at the Grand Serail could be followed by a meeting of the Higher Defense Council at Baabda Palace.

The international highway that links Tripoli with the northern district of Akkar was on Tuesday open and witnessing limited traffic, NNA said.

Schools and shops that lie relatively far from the hotspots were also open, the agency added.

The latest fighting, which left scores of casualties, broke out on Thursday after a Jabal Mohsen man was killed by unknown gunmen on a motorbike in central Tripoli.

The clashes are linked to the civil war in neighboring Syria. Jabal Mohsen residents are Alawites from Syrian President Bashar Assad's sect, while Bab al-Tabbaneh is majority Sunni.

The rebels seeking to topple Assad in the three-year-old war are Sunnis.

Comments 19
Thumb -phoenix1 18 March 2014, 12:04

Tripoli has been bleeding for quite sometime now. Normally one would assume that the army would enter it, declare it a weapons free area, and to do so would search all the neighborhoods, irrespective of which side, confiscate all weapons, impose temporarily a curfew and arrest anyone suspected of breaking the law. This would have been the case in any normal country, but here in Lebanon, I am truly afraid that in all possibilities, red lines have been drawn for our army, thus it is once again not allowed to carry out its national duty. I am in no doubt at all, that if the army is left to do its work in peace, Tripoli would become permanently peaceful within 72 hours. Let the army be left to work, and without any impediment.

Thumb -phoenix1 18 March 2014, 15:48

BaniMaarouf, I believe that you should continue praying, until that summum of places where God will bless you with maturity, whereby you will come to understand that he who speaks opposite your views is not a mortal enemy, but a person who is given a God given right, protected by the law and the consitution, to voice his opinion. When prayers bring you to that beautiful summit called tolerance and respect, then I will debate you with the world's pleasure.

Thumb -phoenix1 18 March 2014, 12:19

(1). Caught your drift FT, but bro, truth is that this tendency does worry people like me, and for good reasons. Before our civil war started in 1975, our army was strong and capable, yet the constant meddling kept our army crippled in making decisions that were and remain decisions of life and death. In 1973, when our army was quickly gaining ground on the Palestinian factions, I could remember our warplanes going literally vertically up then down to precisely bomb Palestinian targets. Lebanon was inches away from victory and keeping the nation safe and secured, but the late president Suleiman Frangieh was bought, then he ordered the army to retreat. This is the killer decision that brought about the civil war in 1975.

Thumb -phoenix1 18 March 2014, 12:22

(2). had our army been left to finish the job, in most probability there would have been no civil war and Lebanon would have been today a leading nation, not only in the region but throughout the world. Today again, as the LAF is gradually building up, it is again facing the very same restrictions. The LAF is known to be one of the best armies in the region, despite its inherent lack of equipment, this army is truly a good army, a people's army. If we leave matters as they are, we could come to profoundly regret it, and this time I fear that things would be a lot worse than in 1975. Let's just leave the army free, and to do its work unimpeded, for us all.

Thumb cedre 18 March 2014, 14:59

to debate without going into the gutter?
u're here all day long with ur khomeynist boyfriends attacking sunnis by calling them salafists,takfiris, terrorists and u're complaining about politeness?
Get lost knacker, go back to ur falafel shop loser...
Lebanese complain about ozzies' racism towards Middle Eastern, but in truth, we're 100 times more racist and sectarian than them...

Thumb ice-man 18 March 2014, 15:11

any luck finding a job?

Thumb ice-man 18 March 2014, 15:21

@leb_roar:

"I know who I am & most comfortable with it."

I am happy you are happy and comfortable with your sexuality, but please bear in mind this is a public forum and there is no need to solicit on such venues.

Thumb ice-man 18 March 2014, 18:58

@flamethrower: have you ever been in love with someone other than yourself?

Thumb cedre 18 March 2014, 19:15

speaking about goats, check this ft

http://www.liveleak.com/view?i=98d_1268716355

Thumb cedre 18 March 2014, 19:50

stick to the videos ft, do we see Hizbos and army shooting together at a sunni mosque ? Is this ur neutral and professional army ?

Thumb -phoenix1 18 March 2014, 12:41

Thank you Roar, 100% correct.

Thumb amatoury114 18 March 2014, 16:15

@the boar....u want your falafel with bakkhhaaa aw bala bakkhhaa?

Thumb cedre 18 March 2014, 12:56

Rifi said many times that ADP thugs have cover.
LAF and its intelligence won't let Rifi do what he wants.
They prefer let the bombers of the Tawba mosque free than provoke another 7 ayyar.
Last official that went against the syro-iranians and their lebanese lackeys was Wissam AlHassan, Rabi irahmo. And we all know how he paid that act...

Thumb cedre 18 March 2014, 13:38

Rifi said many times speaking about Saida and Tripoli mosque bombing that his hands are tied. Sleiman cant even have the Baabda declaration and the lebanese sovereignty respected. The army intelligence is arresting every sunnis Hizb wants arrested. It is torturing, falsifying, manipulating. If LAF could do something they would have done on 7 ayyar.
Lebanon is non a sovereign state, it is a failed state, LAF is less powerful than Hizb coz its infiltrated.
Accept it or live in denial...

Default-user-icon Oh Yeah! (Guest) 18 March 2014, 14:25

Burn down the SSNP headquarters (regardless if anyone is inside). Problem solved.

Thumb cedre 18 March 2014, 15:10

samy thats bad... I'm the first here to argue with/attack phoenix when i dont agree with him, but thats very bad...

Thumb amatoury114 18 March 2014, 16:08

Throw up. ...tell your master to call off his dogs

Thumb amatoury114 18 March 2014, 16:15

Eih yamo....walla baddak jazz mazz?

Thumb cedre 18 March 2014, 19:50

i just love ur avatar...