Qabbani Warns Lebanese against Slipping into Sedition after Bekaa Crime

Grand Mufti Sheikh Mohammed Rashid Qabbani denounced the killing of four people in eastern Lebanon on Sunday, considering that the incident aims at fueling a sectarian strife in the country.

“Murder is moving from town to another in a desperate attempt to create a sectarian strife in the country,” Qabbani said on Monday in a statement issued to condole the families of the four men.

He called on the Lebanese to be “aware and cautious from slipping into a plot that aims at igniting sedition.”

His remarks came after four people – two from the Jaafar family, one from the Amhaz clan and a Turk whose mother is Shiite - were killed on Sunday in an ambush in a barren terrain near the northeastern towns of al-Qaa and Arsal in the Bekaa valley.

The Jaafar and Amhaz clans are well-known Shiite families in the region of Baalbek and Hermel.

Qabbani urged security forces to reveal the culprits and put them on trial.

“Security forces should exert efforts to maintain the country's security,” the Mufti added.