Hariri Slams 'Incitement against Arsal, Tripoli', Urges State to Protect Residents

إقرأ هذا الخبر بالعربية W460

Former Prime Minister Saad Hariri on Tuesday warned against “the dangers resulting from the incitement campaigns targeting the city of Tripoli and the town of Arsal,” stressing that “the State should be fully responsible of the safety of the citizens.”

He underlined that the residents of the two regions “will not surrender to the threats of those who are involved in killing the Syrian people and in causing sectarian discord in Lebanon and the region.”

Hariri expressed “the highest degree of solidarity with Arsal and its citizens, and with Tripoli,” saying they “will not stop saying the word of truth.”

The ex-PM issued his statement hours after demonstrators blocked several key roads throughout the country to protest the continued closure of the only route leading from and to the border town of Arsal by residents of neighboring al-Labweh.

“History will praise their support of the oppressed Syrian people and their hospitality towards the displaced people to whom they provided relief. History will also record that Hizbullah is responsible of bringing the Syrian fire into Lebanon and participating in a war in which it decided to support the regime of (Syrian President) Bashar Assad at the expense of the Syrian people and the safety of Lebanon,” Hariri added.

He announced that after consulting with head of al-Mustaqbal bloc ex-PM Fouad Saniora and the Mustaqbal Movement's general secretariat, it was decided to form two teams from the bloc and the movement to devise “an urgent plan aimed at alleviating the dire social and humanitarian situations in Tripoli and Arsal as well as providing elements of popular perseverance to the citizens of the two areas.”

“To this aim, Hariri contacted President Michel Suleiman, Prime Minister Tammam Salam and Army Commander General Jean Qahwaji, stressing that the state, with all its relevant authorities, should end the injustice targeting Arsal, and take on the required responsibility to face the suspicious campaigns and contain the incitement and the unacceptable blockade,” his office said.

On Saturday, al-Labweh residents had blocked the road leading to and from Arsal in the wake of a rocket attack on their town that left a young man dead. They said that the rockets were fired by gunmen operating in Arsal's outskirts.

The road was reopened on Sunday afternoon at the request of the family of the slain young man before it was blocked again late Sunday in the wake of a deadly suicide car blast that rocked the nearby town of al-Nabi Othman.

Arsal's deputy mayor Ahmed Fliti said Tuesday that Hizbullah gunmen and al-Labweh residents have tightened their chokehold on Arsal.

Lebanon has been on edge since the Syrian town of Yabrud near the border was taken by President Bashar Assad's troops and Hizbullah fighters on Sunday. Its rebel defenders started pouring into Arsal, which is surrounded by villages that are sympathetic to Hizbullah.

Lebanese aid organizations distributed a three-day emergency food supply to the neediest refugees in Arsal on Monday, a U.N. official said, but stressed that tens of thousands more had to rely on dwindling stocks within the town.

"Assistance will definitely be hindered without the reopening of the road. What is available in Arsal won't be enough," the official said.

Comments 3
Thumb popeye 18 March 2014, 22:04

talk is sweet, but you are in the same cabinet with the party you are accusing of "Hizbullah is responsible of bringing the Syrian fire into Lebanon and participating in a war in which it decided to support the regime of (Syrian President) Bashar Assad at the expense of the Syrian people and the safety of Lebanon,”

hmmmmmm.....

Thumb ex-fpm 18 March 2014, 22:17

popeye I like how you think, really. I mean how can he be in the same cabinet with a party that he accuses of jeopardizing the safety of Lebanon as he claims. New leadership in Future is a must in my opinion.

Thumb cedre 18 March 2014, 23:04

popeye, ex-fpm, i'm no big fan a saado, but what do u want him to do ? what do u want him to do if he is not in government ? One must understand fully the situation before judging : HA controls the country, key institutions and is threatening of open civil war if somebody try to disarm it.
In such case, the army will disintegrate, maybe even divide and fight itself...

Future dont need leadership, we need weapons or shut up and wait for Bashar to fall...