'Consultative' Bab al-Tabbaneh, Jabal Mohsen Meeting Calls for Tripoli Reconciliation

A meeting was held on Thursday between residents of Tripoli's Bab al-Tabbaneh and Jabal Mohsen, in the first step of its kind between the two neighborhoods in the northern city.

The meeting, described as the first of a series of “consultative” talks, was held at the residence of late former Prime Minister Omar Karami about a year since the adoption of a state security plan in the city.

Former Minister Faisal Karami hoped during the gathering that a reconciliation that would include the whole of Tripoli would eventually be held.

Thursday's meeting was aimed at bolstering security, stability, and dialogue among the various Tripoli factions.

Karami added: “Today's discussions are not a political reconciliation because past attempts at reconciliations have failed.”

“True reconciliation should be followed up by the state and ministries,” he explained.

“Serious reconciliation should be held among the residents of Tripoli where the gatherers would agree to avoid political disputes creating divisions among them,” he continued.

“Politicians should free themselves from foreign pressure to achieve this goal,” said Karami.

A reconciliation between the rival Tripoli factions was held in 2008 under the sponsorship of Mufti of Tripoli and the North Sheikh Malek al-Shaar and attended by then Premier Fouad Saniora, MP Saad Hariri, and top Arab Democratic Party official Rifaat Eid.

The reconciliation failed however when clashes erupted about a year ago between gunmen from Bab al-Tabbaneh and Jabal Mohsen.

Over a hundred people were killed and around 1,400 were wounded in the unrest.

The state approved a security plan that was implemented in the city last year to crack down on the assailants.

Dozens of gunmen have since been arrested, but several others remain at large.

Karami described as “shameful” claims of a Sunni-Alawite dispute between the predominantly Sunni Bab al-Tabbaneh and Alawite Jabal Mohsen.

“Bab al-Tabbaneh is at the heart of Tripoli … and Jabal Mohsen is an inseparable part of it,” he declared.

M.T.

Y.R.