Rifaat Eid Accuses Lebanese State of Adopting 'Law of the Jungle'
Arab Democratic Party official Rifaat Eid accused the authorities of adopting the “law of the jungle” as caretaker Interior Minister Marwan Charbel refused to approve a request for the party to hold a march on Friday.
In remarks to As Safir daily published on Wednesday, Eid said: “Charbel's rejection to grant a license (for the demo) means there is no security in Tripoli and that the state cannot protect a march and cannot definitely protect a sect.”
“The state is now adopting the law of the jungle and inciting citizens to follow it,” he said.
Eid warned that he should not be blamed for failing to call for self-restraint on the residents of Jabal Mohsen, a neighborhood in the northern city of Tripoli that is an Arab Democratic Party stronghold.
State Commissioner to the Military Court Judge Saqr Saqr charged on Tuesday Arab Democratic Party chief Ali Eid and his driver Ahmed Mohammed Ali with helping a suspect in the Tripoli mosque bombings escape justice.
They were charged with hiding suspect Ahmed Merhi and smuggling him to Syria.
In remarks to An Nahar, Charbel said any march out of Jabal Mohsen would lead to unwanted repercussions.
“We won't allow it under such delicate circumstances,” he said.
But Eid told al-Joumhouria newspaper that his party had three options – “either to surrender to the Saudi plan, which will not happen, or head to civil war, which we rule out, or to extend our hands and say enough bloodshed.”
Jabal Mohsen, whose residents are from the Alawite sect of Syrian President Bashar Assad, has been for years at odds with the majority Sunni neighborhood of Bab al-Tabbaneh.
The rival districts have been involved in several rounds of deadly gunbattles, which intensified after the rebellion against Assad in March 2011.
Eid accused the state of inciting for civil war and stressed that his party was avoiding bloodshed.
| Copyright © 2012 Naharnet.com. All Rights Reserved. | https://naharnet.com/stories/en/104607 |