Suleiman Calls on Army to Strike with Iron Fist, Denounces Attacks against it
President Michel Suleiman warned on Saturday of the consequences of the continuous assaults against the army, calling on the military to strike with an iron fist.
“We should expressed our solidarity with the army and support it in its national missions inside the country and across the border,” Suleiman said after talks with General Security chief Maj. Gen. Abbas Ibrahim.
Suleiman stressed that the army is carrying out its role in protecting the nation and the Lebanese.
“Instructions were given to target any member who carries out an assault against the army,” the president said.
He pointed out that attacking the army is “an attack at a national symbol.”
Gunmen have targeted army posts in the northern city of Tripoli in clashes between the two neighborhoods of Bab al-Tabbaneh and Jabal Mohsen.
Tensions between the two districts go back decades, but have been exacerbated by the conflict in Syria, where President Bashar Assad, an Alawite, is battling a Sunni-led uprising.
The latest clashes began last Thursday after the death of a resident from Jabal Mohsen.
The clashes are linked to the civil war in neighboring Syria. Jabal Mohsen residents are Alawites from Syrian President Bashar Assad's sect, while Bab al-Tabbaneh is majority Sunni.
The rebels seeking to topple Assad in the three-year-old war are Sunnis.
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