Miqati: We Must Put End to Incitement Campaigns as We're Facing Very Grave Threats

Caretaker Prime Minister Najib Miqati on Friday called for an end to the “incitement” campaigns, warning that Lebanon is facing “very grave threats” that require an “extraordinary posture.”

“We must put an end to the campaigns of political and sectarian incitement, because we are facing very grave threats, and regret will not be useful if we provide an incubator for these threats,” Miqati said in a speech at a school ceremony in Tripoli.

“Lebanon is going through a difficult period and we can only count on God first, and on the Lebanese people's awareness of their interest in protecting civil peace and refraining from heeding some illusions that are being spread with the aim of creating a rift among us,” Miqati added.

“The country is in danger and we are all required to make an extraordinary posture that fends off the threats and provides a shield of protection for our country,” he urged.

Turning to the situation in Tripoli, his hometown, the premier said: “Tripoli is in dire need for the joint efforts of its residents, especially the intellectuals, in order to restore its image, passion for education and adherence to peace and coexistence, away from all forms of extremism, bigotry and violence.”

He urged everyone to “return to the national Lebanese principles” and to protect the northern city from the blazes of the region.

Despite an officially neutral stance on the fighting, Lebanon has been drawn into the Syrian conflict by Hizbullah's military involvement as well as the flow of rebel fighters and weapons across its borders.

The involvement has raised tensions in the country, where many Shiites back Syrian President Bashar Assad, a member of the Alawite offshoot of Shia Islam, and Sunnis are more likely to support the mostly Sunni opposition.

On Friday, Hizbullah chief Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah insisted his party was against increased sectarian tension in Lebanon and urged his supporters and others to keep the calm in the country, while noting that Hizbullah will stay involved in the Syrian conflict.