Raad Says Hizbullah Pushing for Conciliation in Qabrshmoun Incident

Hizbullah MP Mohammed Raad said on Saturday that his party was drumming up support for a legal conciliation to resolve the deadly Qabrshmoun incident that ignited sectarian tension between the Progressive Socialist Party and the Lebanese Democratic Party and the latter’s ally the Free Patriotic Movement.

“We are pushing for a legal reconciliation process, the Lebanese way, in the Qabrshmoun incident,” said Raad.

Raad said the incident has “disrupted civil peace in a region of Lebanon dear to our hearts.”

Two bodyguards of State Minister for Refugee Affairs Saleh al-Gharib were killed and a third was wounded in a clash with Progressive Socialist Party supporters in the Aley district town of Qabrshmoun. The minister escaped unharmed as a PSP supporter was injured.

The two parties have traded blame over the incident, with Gharib and his Lebanese Democratic Party describing it as an ambush and an assassination attempt and the PSP accusing the minister's bodyguards of forcing their way and opening fire on protesters.

The LDP has insisted that the case should be referred to the Judicial Council, a top Lebanese court that looks into national security crimes, a demand opposed by the PSP and other forces.