Hariri Urges Calm in Tripoli, Hints General Security is an ‘Outlaw’
Former Prime Minister Saad Hariri urged the residents of the northern port city of Tripoli on Sunday to end the fighting, accusing the General Security Department without naming it of becoming an “outlaw” in its arrest of Shadi al-Mawlawi for his alleged terror ties.
“I urge Tripoli residents to remain calm and not to be dragged behind provocation,” Hariri said on his twitter feed.
“Tripoli is the city of coexistence,” he said, adding “we totally reject chaos.”
Hariri also urged the Lebanese army to assume its responsibilities in ending the fighting and protecting the city and its residents and said the authorities should immediately resolve the situation.
“There is an attempt to picture Tripoli as an outlaw city but the truth is that the behavior of one of the apparatuses was (like that of an) outlaw,” he tweeted.
Hariri later said in a press release that “the agency, which carried out the arrest, should be held legally accountable.”
“The chaos on the streets no matter for which purpose is a crime against the city,” he added.
Al-Mawlawi was arrested on Saturday for allegedly contacting a terrorist organization after luring him to Finance Minister Mohammed al-Safadi’s Social Services Center in Tripoli under the pretext of granting him a health care benefit.
His seizure sparked an outrage by Islamists in the city who clashed with the army and closed several of Tripoli’s roads and set up camp at its southern entrance.
The arrest also led to gunbattles between the rival neighborhoods of Jabal Mohsen and Bab al-Tabbaneh, leaving several people dead and injured.
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