Salam Urges Restraint and Calm over Arsal Ambush

Prime Minister-designate Tammam Salam slammed on Monday the murder of four Shiites in the northeastern Bekaa town of Arsal on Sunday, saying that it is aimed at creating strife in Lebanon.

He urged in a statement all sides to “exercise restraint and reason” in order to thwart strife.

“Those behind the crime do not seek the well-being of Lebanon or the Lebanese people and they should be dealt with firmly and according to the law,” he declared.

He called on the residents of the Bekaa regions of Baalbek, al-Hermel, Arsal and all other areas to exercise calm and avoid falling victims to the attempts to create strife in the country.

Salam demanded that the security and judicial agencies be allowed to perform their duties in investigating the incident and apprehending the assailants.

He hope that the residents of the region would distance themselves from the crisis in Syria and support the army that has long defended Lebanon and its people.

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.

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