Report: Hariri, Khalil Discuss Jahliyeh Incident in Phone Talks

Prime Minister-designate Saad Hariri and Hajj Hussein Khalil, political advisor of Hizbullah chief Hassan Nasrallah, reportedly held talks over Saturday’s Jahliyeh incident and the repercussions as a result, al-Akhbar daily said on Tuesday.

According to the daily, Hariri denounced ex-Minister Wiam Wahhab’s rhetoric against his family saying “no one can accept to have his family exposed to such language.”

For his part, Khalil said Wahhab’s “rhetoric is reprehensible and unacceptable,” assuring that Hizbullah “does not accept such behaviour.”

Referring to the “controversial” police raid carried out by the Internal Security Forces to arrest Wahhab, Khalil reportedly asked Hariri: “Did you really intend to arrest Wahhab in this way, were you to bear the consequences? What happened was wrong and no one can take responsibility for its repercussions.”

The PM stressed, according to the daily, that “Wahhab should have been brought to the investigation.”

Wahhab, Head of the Tawhid party, accuses the PM, the Internal Security Forces chief Imad Othman and State Prosecutor Samir Hammoud of attempting to assassinate him.

A clash erupted on Saturday during an attempt to arrest Wahhab at his home in Jahliyeh.

The security force headed to Jahliyeh to arrest Wahhab at the judiciary’s request after he had been “informed two times of the need to appear before the Intelligence Branch” in connection with a lawsuit filed against him.

The lawsuit was filed by a group of lawyers accusing Wahhab of insulting Saad Hariri and his slain father ex-PM Rafik Hariri.