Al-Shaar Hints Threats Not Linked to Dar al-Fatwa Elections

Mufti of Tripoli and the North Sheikh Malek al-Shaar denied on Saturday that he was after a seat in Dar al-Fatwa but stressed willingness to serve Sunnis if there was consensus on him.

In remarks to An Nahar daily, al-Shaar, who traveled to Paris following information that he could be the target of an assassination plot, said that he hasn't announced his candidacy to any post in the Dar al-Fatwa elections.

His denial came after the newspaper's correspondent asked him whether he thought the death threat had anything to do with the elections.

But he said if there was consensus on him then he would be ready to serve Sunnis and the nation.

Al-Shaar reiterated that he wasn't been in conflict with anyone over any post.

The Mufti said he traveled to France after security forces informed him during his daughter's wedding in a Beirut hotel that he had to leave the country over death threats.

Interior Minister Marwan Charbel “announced that the threats are real and strong,” al-Shaar said, adding “I thought at first they were aimed at intimidating me because I have never had foes.”

The clergyman urged the Lebanese to have loyalty to their nation and said they should avoid dragging Lebanon to a sectarian strife.

His comments came as scores of people were killed and injured in several days of fighting between the residents of the Tripoli neighborhoods of Bab al-Tabbaneh and Jabal Mohsen.