Wahhab: Syrian Warplanes to Bomb Armed Groups if They Attack Jabal Mohsen
Arab Tawhid Party leader Wiam Wahhab on Friday warned that Syrian warplanes would strike the “armed groups” in Tripoli if they decided to “attack Jabal Mohsen.”
Wahhab, who is close to the Syrian regime, held the Lebanese state responsible for the unrest in Tripoli, noting that security incidents will not end anytime soon in the northern city.
“Tasking the army with containing the situation in Tripoli is just talk in the media if we pay attention to what's happening on the ground, as the armed groups want to attack Jabal Mohsen and they will be bombed by Syrian warplanes then, the same as what will happen in Arsal should the situation continue there as it is now,” Wahhab said in an interview on al-Manar television.
Wahhab hoped the Lebanese army will “shoulder the responsibility of containing the situations in Tripoli and Arsal to avoid the intervention of the Syrian army.”
“But at the same time we must not ask the army to do things beyond its capability,” he added.
Wahhab also stressed that “the choice of the Sunni community has always been the state, even during the civil war.”
Lashing out at President Michel Suleiman, Wahhab added: “The president of the republic must realize that his election was unconstitutional and anyone could have submitted a challenge and ousted him.”
The pro-Damascus politician also expressed confidence that “the presidential election will not take place and we will remain in a political vacuum.”
Following a meeting with President Michel Suleiman and Army chief General Jean Qahwaji in Baabda on Monday, caretaker Prime Minister Najib Miqati announced that the army will be entrusted with Tripoli's security for six months and that all security forces in the city will be put under its authority.
The army carried out raids in Tripoli and arrested gunmen and fugitives in the wake of the decision.
At least 11 people were killed and more than 100 others wounded in clashes that started Saturday between the rival Tripoli neighborhoods of Bab al-Tabbaneh and Jabal Mohsen. The army has managed to largely contain the situation after a forceful intervention.
The fighting in the city is linked to the war raging in neighboring Syria. Bab al-Tabbaneh district, which is majority Sunni, and Jabal Mohsen, whose residents are from Syrian President Bashar Assad's sect, have been engaged in severe gunbattles since the revolt against him in March 2011.
Tensions soared in the city in August when twin car bombings hit Sunni mosques and left hundreds of casualties.
Authorities arrested several members of the Arab Democratic Party, whose stronghold is in Jabal Mohsen, on suspicion they were involved and they summoned the group's leader, Ali Eid, for questioning.
Eid has refused to be questioned by police for not being “impartial." His son, Rifaat, said his father is ready to go to any security agency other than the Interal Security Forces Intelligence Bureau.
The latest round of violence erupted last week when Jabal Mohsen residents were shot in their feet in vengeful sectarian attacks.
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