Mesqawi Calls for Extraordinary HIC Meeting as Qabbani Holds Meeting for Newly-Elected Council

The deputy head of the Higher Islamic Council Omar Mesqawi called on Saturday for an extraordinary HIC meeting to be held on Tuesday, May 7 after Grand Mufti Sheikh Mohammed Rashid Qabbani held a meeting for the newly elected council.

“If we were not allowed to enter the council's meetings hall, we will hold the meeting at the residence of head of the Administrative and Financial Committee Bassam Barghout to take the necessary decisions,” Mesqawi said.

He pointed out that the meeting will be held at 4:00 p.m. at Dar al-Fatwa as Qabbani rejected to call the old council for an ordinary meeting.

In April, Qabbani approved the results of the HIC elections in which candidates won uncontested but the polls were rejected by several officials.

A meeting of caretaker Prime Minister Najib Miqati, Premier-designate Tammam Salam, and former Premiers Fouad Saniora and Omar Karami deemed the elections as “illegal,” deciding that the results will not be published in Lebanese dailies.

Despite the controversy over the matter Qabbani presided on Saturday over a meeting for the newly-elected council.

The participants discussed several religion and social related matters.

The Council, which elects the mufti and organizes the affairs of Dar al-Fatwa, has been at the center of controversy after 21 of its members, who are close to ex-Premier Saad Hariri's al-Mustaqbal Movement, extended its term until the end of 2013 despite Qabbani's objection.

The mufti has refused to hold or join any meetings at Dar al-Fatwa, Lebanon’s top Sunni religious authority, and called for the elections of council members.

But last month the Shura Council allegedly deemed the call illegal and canceled the elections. Its decision followed a similar move it made last year when it canceled previous polls set by the Mufti for December 30.