Mufti Accuses Protesters at Funeral of Seeking to 'Kill' him
Grand Mufri Sheikh Mohammed Rashid Qabbani considered on Monday that protesters at al-Khasheqji Mosque were seeking to “Kill him” upon his arrival to take part in the funeral of 16-year-old boy Mohammed al-Chaar.
“After I heard slogans saying Qabbani the enemy of God I thought that my blood was wasted,” Qabbani said in comments published in al-Akhbar newspaper.
The mufti explained that he decided to take part in the funeral after “he saw footage of the Chaar's father and his friends crying.”
“My bodyguards weren't there... I only wanted to pray and go back home,” Qabbani said.
Qabbani struggled on Sunday to leave the premises of the Mosque after mourners were angered by his arrival to attend the funeral of Chaar, prompting members of the Internal Security Forces Intelligence Bureau's Strike Force to escort him out.
Several youth, mainly supports of al-Mustaqbal movement, were outraged by the arrival of the Mufti, shouting angry slogans against him.
Qabbani's ties with al-Mustaqbal deteriorated last year when he met with a delegation from Hizbullah the same day the Special Tribunal for Lebanon indicted four party members in former PM Rafik Hariri's February 2005 assassination.
Relations between the two sides were also shaken when the mufti met with Syrian Ambassador Ali Abdul Karim Ali, whom al-Mustaqbal and the March 14 opposition alliance have on several occasions said should be expelled.
Chaar's funeral was attended by several Beirut figures, officials, popular delegations and the slain teenager's family and friends.
He succumbed to his injuries. A picture of him and three friends taken moments before downtown Beirut explosion has gone viral on social networking websites.
The bomb attack took place on Friday morning in Starco in Beirut, leaving ex-Finance Minister and ex-Prime Minister Saad Hariri's adviser Mohammed Shatah, his bodyguard and seven other people dead.
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