Khalil: Bassil is Welcome to Visit South Lebanon

Finance Minister Ali Hassan Khalil of the AMAL Movement emphasized on Wednesday that Free Patriotic Movement chief and Foreign Minister Jebran Bassil is “most welcome in South Lebanon,” affirming that “AMAL is keen on the country’s stability.”

Khalil said in a televised interview on OTV: “Minister Bassil is most welcome in South Lebanon,” a region with a majority of Shiite inhabitants.

He said the FPM is one of the “strongest” Christian parties in Lebanon and has a large parliamentary bloc which calls for “building strong relations with all political forces on the basis of rules of openness and reconsideration.”

The Minister’s comments came after reports that Bassil has cancelled a planned visit to the Sunni majority northern city of Tripoli after Sunday’s Qabrshmoun incident.

On Sunday, supporters of the Progressive Socialist Party, led by Druze leader ex-MP Walid Jumblat, closed roads in Qabrshmoun to prevent Bassil from touring the region. Moreover, an armed clash erupted between the convoy of Saleh al-Gharib, the minister of state handling refugee issues, and the people who were closing the road to prevent Bassil from passing.

Two of Gharib’s guards were killed and one person was critically injured.