Berri: Attacks on Army Threaten to Drown Country in Chaos, Turn it Into 'Jihad Arena'

Lawmakers on Wednesday quoted Speaker Nabih Berri as saying that recent attacks on the army “threaten to drown the country in chaos.”

“Targeting the army for being the unifying institution is the pinnacle of attacks on state institutions and it is a very dangerous development that jeopardizes stability and threatens to drown the country in chaos,” Berri was quoted as saying during his weekly meeting with MPs.

The speaker warned of “the menace of terrorist groups that are seeking to turn Lebanon into a jihad arena,” wondering “how can the Lebanese not close ranks and show solidarity to confront what is threatening their stability and unity.”

Berri cautioned against “the continuation of this grave security situation,” noting that “when the country is in danger, we must not remain silent over what's happening and we must say things as they are.”

In the afternoon, the parliament speaker met with U.S. Ambassador to Lebanon David Hale and discussed with him the latest developments, in the presence of his media adviser Ali Hamdan.

In earlier remarks, Berri painted a gloomy picture of the security situation in Lebanon, also saying the political deadlock had no solution looming in the horizon.

In interviews with several local dailies published on Wednesday, Berri expressed fears over the security conditions after several attacks on the Lebanese army.

Berri described the situation as “not encouraging and not comforting.”

“Those working on spreading chaos in Lebanon are now targeting the military because it is making huge sacrifices to prevent such a chaos” from taking place, he said.

They seek to destroy the military institution, which is Lebanon’s only united front, he said.

There were near-simultaneous attacks on the army in the southern city of Sidon on Sunday night.

The army identified on Monday the assailants of one of the attacks but said two suspects have escaped.

Army Sergeant Samer Rizk was killed and three soldiers were injured in the assaults.

Two soldiers were also lightly injured on Tuesday when six rockets fired from the Syrian side of the border landed in the northeastern town of Hermel, one of them inside an army barracks in al-Dawra neighborhood.

The speaker also lamented in his remarks to the newspapers that the political situation has also been deadlocked.

He blamed the paralysis on the rejection of the rival parties to return to the dialogue table and the failure to form a new government based on the 9-9-6 formula.

Berri also criticized the March 14 alliance for rejecting the latest initiative he made to resolve the country's political crisis.

His proposal lied in approving the formation of a cabinet in which the March 14 and March 8 camps would get nine ministers each and centrists six, or to return to the dialogue table at Baabda Palace.