Charbel Urges Leaders to Make Official Pledge of Ending Political Cover for Gunmen

Interior Minister Marwan Charbel advised bickering Lebanese politicians on Saturday to sign a political document that would lift the cover off gunmen in Beirut and the northern city of Tripoli.

In remarks to Voice of Lebanon radio (93.3), Charbel said the national dialogue participants who are scheduled to meet at President Michel Suleiman’s summer residence in Beiteddine on Aug. 16 should sign the document pending the withdrawal of arms from the streets.

There needs to be a political consensus to help the armed forces implement such a security plan, he stressed.

Suleiman postponed the national dialogue session to Aug. 16 last month after the March 14 opposition alliance boycotted the all-party talks. It is not yet clear if the coalition’s representatives will attend the session.

Charbel revealed that he is exerting efforts to hold an “historic reconciliation” between the rival Tripoli neighborhoods of Bab al-Tabbaneh and Jabal Mohsen, which have been engaged in sectarian clashes that have left dozens of casualties.

On the electoral draft-law that the cabinet is currently deliberating, Charbel said: “The differences on the size of districts become minor when agreement is reached on proportionality.”

Charbel’s proposal calls for the adoption of a parliamentary elections law based on proportional representation that is facing the rejection of ministers loyal to Progressive Socialist Party leader Walid Jumblat.

The minister also expressed rejection to lowering the voting age to 18.

Charbel headed on Saturday a meeting of the Security Council of the South following the end of a 35-day sit-in held by Salafist cleric Sheikh Ahmed al-Asir against Hizbullah’s arsenal in the southern city of Sidon.

The sit-in led to increased tension after Popular Nasserite Movement supporters blocked roads with burning tires and engaged in a brawl with al-Asir’s sympathizers.

“Any security deterioration in Sidon will reflect negatively on Lebanon,” Charbel told the conferees.

The situation in Sidon is “very delicate,” he said, adding “we won’t allow a recurrence of the events.”