Qassem Condemns Attack on Sunni Clerics, Calls for Penalizing Perpetrators

Hizbullah deputy leader Sheikh Naim Qassem condemned on Monday Sunday's attack on Dar al-Fatwa clerics, saying the incident is part of a “plan to inflame sedition between Muslims and Lebanese”.

“Hizbullah condemns the attack and we call for legally penalizing perpetrators and for lifting any political cover they might have,” Qassem said in a phone conversation with Grand Mufti Sheikh Mohammed Rashid Qabbani.

"(Hizbullah leader) Sayyed Hasan Nasrallah stresses on the unity between Muslims and between the Lebanese, and he calls for confronting strife and those encouraging it,” Qassem told Qabbani.

He praised the Mufti's statement that “called for avoiding sectarian sedition”: “We salute him for not blaming an entire sect for this incident and all religious communities have condemned Sunday's attacks”.

Dar al-Fatwa clerics Sheikh Mazen Hariri and Sheikh Ahmed Fakhran were beaten up on Sunday while passing through the Beirut area of Khandaq al-Ghamiq, state-run National News Agency reported.

As the news broke out, angry protesters blocked roads in the Beirut areas of Tariq al-Jedideh, Qasqas and Corniche al-Mazraa, as well as Sidon's entrance in the South and al-Masnaa's road in the Bekaa.

Mufti Qabbani urged calm and restraint after the attack, stressing that the perpetrators “will not go unpunished".

“We urge calm and restraint to enable security forces to investigate the incident,” Qabbani said in a televised address.

“We have full confidence in security agencies and the state, but we will not let things go unpunished,” the mufti said.

“We will not allow these elements to achieve their goals,” Qabbani stressed, declining to accuse any specific party.