Charbel Rules Out New Wave of Assassinations after Tripoli Crime

Caretaker Interior Minister Marwan Charbel ruled out on Wednesday that the murder of a pro-Hizbullah Sunni Sheikh in the northern city of Tripoli would lead to a new round of assassinations in Lebanon.

In remarks to Voice of Lebanon (100.5) radio, Charbel said: “The Tripoli crime is unacceptable.”

But “he ruled that it would pave way for a new wave of killings on a large scale.”

“We have some leads on the assassins,” he said. But he did not elaborate.

On Tuesday, two masked men on a motorcycle shot Islamic Action Front official Saadeddine Ghiyyeh in the head in Tripoli's al-Bahsa area, severely injuring him.

Ghiyyeh was in his car when the assailants shot him. He later died in hospital.

Hizbullah chief Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah considered the killing “an attack against the resistance and its supporters.”

Ghiyyeh was close to Sheikh Hashem Minkara, the head of the Islamic Tawhid Movement, who is an ally of the regime of Syrian President Bashar Assad.

Charbel told VDL that a security plan for Tripoli was ready but logistics reasons were delaying its implementation.

“Logistics issues are being prepared so that we begin implementing the plan,” he said.