Mustaqbal: Tripoli Will Never be a Safe Haven for Terrorism

Al-Mustaqbal parliamentary bloc on Tuesday stressed that Tripoli will never be "a safe haven for terrorism and extremism," as it condemned alleged attempts to “demonize” the residents of the northern city and depict them as proponents of an extremist “Islamic emirate.”

In a statement issued after its weekly meeting, the bloc lauded “the national stance of the residents of the city of Tripoli and the North, who showed their decisive commitment to the choice of the state and their support for the government and army.”

The bloc's remarks come in the wake of deadly weekend battles between the army and Islamist gunmen in several districts of Tripoli and the nearby region of Minieh, which resulted in the death of 11 troops, 5 civilians and several militants.

“Tripoli has proved that it was not -- and will never be -- a safe haven for any terrorism or extremism, which are alien to its residents' characteristics, ethics and culture,” the bloc added.

It urged authorities to continue the implementation of the security plan “in a firm manner, ahead of extending the state's authority across all Lebanese regions, where only the weapons of the Lebanese state must be present.”

The latest events verified that “the terrorist gunmen are detached from the residents of Tripoli and the North, as it was clear that they lacked the alleged safe haven that the media outlets of Hizbullah and the Syrian regime had claimed existed,” Mustaqbal said in its statement.

“In the presence of a political cover and the appropriate decision, the Lebanese army is capable of protecting and defending the Lebanese, without needing the assistance of any militia,” the bloc added.

It also rejected “attempts by some parties to demonize a group of the Lebanese,” noting that “reports of alleged attempts to turn some areas into (Islamic) emirates are implausible.”

Moreover, Mustaqbal warned against “excessive force or arbitrary arrests without differentiating between innocents and offenders,” noting that the North region urgently needs to be “embraced by the state.”

Separately, the bloc condemned the army's brief arrest of a bodyguard of MP Khaled al-Daher in Tripoli and the confiscation of rifles belonging to his guards, stressing that his house should enjoy “immunity.”

It also deplored remarks by Hizbullah chief Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah, who said Monday that “the prime responsibility in the Islamic world for stopping the proliferation of the ideology (of the Islamic State group) falls on Saudi Arabia.”

Y.R.