Hariri Slams Al-Nusra Front Threats, Calls on Lebanese Not to Take Part in Regional War
Former Prime Minister and head of al-Mustaqbal movement Saad Hariri warned on Saturday the Lebanese in general and the Sunni sect in particular from supporting fishy calls that urge them to involve the country in rejected and condemned wars.
“The Lebanese and the Sunni sect reject to be part of any war in Lebanon or the region between Hizbullah and al-Qaida,” Hariri said in a statement issued by his press office.
He stressed that “they also reject threats to target civilians in any region in Lebanon amid a demented war (in the region) and its dangerous repercussions on the the national and Islamic unity.”
Hariri's statement comes a day after a group suspected of links to al-Qaida warned that all areas of Lebanon where Hizbullah operates are "legitimate targets" for attack, telling Sunnis to avoid them.
"We, al-Nusra Front in Lebanon, announce that Iran's party (Hizbullah) and all its bases and... bastions are legitimate targets for us, wherever they are," the group said in a statement posted on the Internet.
Al-Mustaqbal chief said that “suspicious calls issued by extremist groups that are proven to be directly linked to the murderous regime in Damascus only aim at making the conflict in the neighboring country slip over into Lebanon.”
He accused the extremist groups of “serving the regime similarly to Hizbullah that is defending it in Syria.”
The official noted that “every reasonable and patriot from any sect would reject falling into these calls as much as Hizbullah's involvement in Syria is rejected.”
A-Nusra Front's statement comes three days after the group -- which is believed to be a franchise of the Syrian al-Nusra Front, an al-Qaida linked rebel movement -- claimed responsibility for a car bomb attack in Beirut's southern suburbs neighborhood of Haret Hreik that killed four people.
Tuesday's was the sixth in a string if attacks targeting Lebanese areas dominated by Hizbullah since it acknowledged sending fighters into neighboring Syria to support President Bashar Assad.
Al-Nusra Front in Lebanon warned Sunnis against "approaching or residing in or near (Hizbullah's) bases, and (to) avoid gathering around its meeting points."
The group had earlier claimed a deadly car bomb attack in the heart of Hermel town in eastern Lebanon, which killed three people.
While Hizbullah is said to the target of such attacks, they have regularly killed civilians.
The war in Syria has inflamed sectarian tensions in Lebanon, with Hizbullah backing Assad's regime and many Sunnis supporting the rebellion against him.
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