Lebanon: Daryan Says Latest Clashes Remind of Civil War Onset
Lebanon’s Grand Mufti Sheikh Abdul Latif Daryan described the latest deadly clashes in Beirut’s Tayyouneh area as “humiliating and shameful.”
The Mufti likened the incidents, which left six dead and several others wounded, to the flicker that ignited Lebanon’s civil war.
“The suicidal path, which everyone is enthusiastically approaching, is an atmosphere reminiscent of the beginnings of the civil war,” the National News Agency quoted Daryan as saying.
He categorically rejected all forms of violence and armed fighting, saying it was “legitimate to express differences in opinion in a peaceful manner away from street fighting and killing people.”
“Armed fighting only ignites strife and sectarianism, which we allow no one to awaken,” he said, according to the German news agency (dpa).
Warning against the repercussions of politicizing major national issues, he said the “Lebanese must stress adherence to the constitution and civil peace.”
Last week, clashes erupted in Tayyouneh between Hezbollah supporters and their allies in the Amal movement one one side, and LF supporters on the other during a protest against Judge Tarek Bitar.
Bitar, the lead investigator into Beirut’s 2020 port explosion, has sought to question a number of senior politicians and security officials, including Hezbollah allies, suspected of negligence that led to the port explosion, which was caused by a huge quantity of ammonium nitrate. All have denied wrongdoing.
