Qabbani Says Rival Officials Responsible for Deteriorating Security Situation

Grand Mufti Sheikh Mohammed Rashid Qabbani held officials from rival camps responsible for the recent developments in Lebanon, accusing them during a visit to the northern city of Tripoli of using the rhetoric of vengeance.

“What's happening today is caused by our politicians from March 14 and March 8,” Qabbani said at Tripoli's Dar al-Fatwa that he visited along with a delegation of Sunni clergymen to offer condolences over the coordinated explosions on Friday outside two mosques in the city.

“Their rhetoric are based on challenges and vengeance,” he said about the bickering politicians.

The twin Tripoli bombings that left hundreds of casualties are “a sign that the perpetrators don't have values,” he said.

Qabbani accused world powers of “insisting to shove Lebanon into the fighting in the Arab region because only Lebanon and Jordan have remained outside this system.”

“Israel knows that it won't have stability unless it divides Arabs and their countries,” he said, pointing his finger at the Jewish state. “It's clear that we area heading towards more fire on a dark road.”

The bombers thought that the faithful in the Tripoli mosques would rise up against Shiites following the bombings that came a week after a similar deadly blast in Beirut's southern suburbs, Qabbani said.

“Those who planted the explosives in Dahieh are responsible for the Tripoli bombings because there is a clear plan to create a clash among Islamic regions,” he said.

“Let's assume there was strife and massacres were committed between Sunnis and Shiites... what would have happened next?,” he wondered.

“We should resort to cooperation and understanding,” he said.

“The victims are paying the price of the sectarian strife in Lebanon,” the Mufti warned.

He urged Prime Minister-designate Tammam Salam to form without any delay a “national government.”

Qabbani later visited the southern suburbs of Beirut on Monday afternoon to inspect the neighborhood of Rweiss, where a deadly explosion took the lives of at least 22 people earlier in August.

The Mufti warned that Christians in the country will be targeted as well, if rift persisted between the Lebanese.

"A rift between Muslims will frighten Christians and those who targeted Dahieh and Tripoli will not hesitate to attack them,” he stated from the scene of the explosion. “Christians are also targeted and what happened in Iraq is an example.”

Qabbani added: “The West is not loyal to Christians and it will not benefit us to trust these nations and cooperate with them.”

He continued: “The only goal is to ignite chaos in the Arab world to dismantle the ties in the region. Those behind the conspiracy in the region are in confusion. They were not able to trigger the Lebanese to fight each others and create chaos in the country. They believed sedition is the easiest way to achieve this.”

The Grand Mufti urged politicians to adopt a positive attitude when communicating with each others.

"If you don't, Lebanon will be heading towards a stage which consequences we cannot imagine.”

He called for the formation of a “national cabinet with the participation of all factions.”

“Parties can have their disputes inside the cabinet instead of creating conflicts on the street,” he explained.

“We must draw an end to the arrogant speeches of politicians as they are transforming us into victims.”

The Sunni cleric reiterated “that the pain is one in all the country.”

“I came to Rweiss to tell you that we share the same pain and the same wounds with you,” Qabbani said.

He explained: “The explosions in Tripoli targeted mosques because the assailants know that the people of the northern city, just like the residents of Dahieh, are committed to their religious beliefs."

“The assailants aim at maintaining security in Israel. The focal cause is the Palestinian cause and the peace negotiations are nothing but narcotic pills that the West and Israel are offering to the Arab world.”