Jumblat: Authority of State Must Be Restored in Sidon to Avert Strife

Progressive Socialist Party leader MP Walid Jumblat noted on Monday that the rich history of Sidon should not be erased by the recent incidents that have taken place in the southern city.

He said in his weekly editorial in the PSP-affiliated al-Anbaa website: “The authority of the state should be restored in Sidon in order to prevent the city from being dragged towards suspicious strife.”

Sidon has played a major role in resisting Israeli occupation and “it served as a natural extension of resistance that stretched from Mount Lebanon to Beirut and other regions,” he continued.

“Resistance cannot be monopolized and it will remain the product of national actions taken by various political parties,” stressed the MP.

These actions were later completed by the Islamic resistance, Hizbullah, he stated.

“The Lebanese people came together during the height of division in 2006 when they opened their houses to the residents of the South” during that year's July war with Israel, Jumblat noted.

“It is therefore necessary to return to President Michel Suleiman's proposal over a national defense strategy that would help end Lebanon's sectarian debate,” he explained.

“This strategy would be sufficient to redirect the resistance's arms towards Israel to defend Lebanon, and Lebanon alone, under the authority of the state,” he declared.

“All this requires us to preserve Sidon through handing over some suspects accused of murdering one of the companions of one of the residents of the city and through restoring the authority of the state, not by closing off the city,” he said.

“Turning over the suspects to the concerned judiciary will allow the latter to prove that it has enough courage to tackle this case, if the complete political cover is provided to it,” the MP added.

The same measures should be taken in the Bekaa town of Arsal, “whose history of resistance is being tarnished,” he continued.

Jumblat therefore urged the need to hand over the suspects involved in the February 1 attack against the Lebanese army, “which is the last resort to protecting civil peace in Lebanon.”

“Peace is necessary now more than ever in light of the Syrian regime's efforts to tarnish the image of this brave town,” he remarked.

Two officers were killed in Arsal on February 1 as the army was attempting to arrest a wanted suspect.

A clash ensued when the army was ambushed by gunmen.

The suspect was also killed in the unrest.

In November, a clash broke out between Hizbullah supporters and Salafist cleric Sheikh Ahmed al-Asir, the imam of Sidon's Bilal bin Rabah Mosque.

Two of Asir's companions and an Egyptian national died in the clash that was a product of sectarian tensions in the city.

The cleric and his supporters had been carrying out rallies in Sidon over the past few days to protest claims that Hizbullah rented apartments in the vicinity of the mosque.