Naharnet

Phalange Slams Tripoli Unrest, Calls on Govt. to Enforce Military Plan to Control Whole of Lebanon

The Phalange Party voiced on Monday its solidarity with the residents of the northern city of Tripoli in light of the eruption of clashes between the rival neighborhoods of Bab al-Tabbaneh and Jabal Mohsen, calling on the city leaderships to take a unified stand on the violence.

It said in a statement after its weekly politburo meeting: “The government should enforce an emergency plan that allows the military forces to take control of security throughout Lebanon.”

“The government’s role is not restricted to cooling the fire after it erupts, but it must tackle the heart of the problem,” it stressed.

“It should introduce a radical solution that protects the residents of the city from the security instability that erupts without prior notice,” noted the statement.

The Tripoli leaderships must take a unified and firm stance from the violence and suggest “binding solutions to all sides, which would serve as a vow of honor that would act as a permanent reassurance to all of them,” the party added.

Addressing government affairs, the Phalange Party called on the cabinet to hold a “long closed-door session” in order to reach an agreement on all pending issues.

“Should it fail to do so, then it must resign after making the people suffer for so long,” it remarked.

Clashes erupted on Saturday between Bab al-Tabbaneh and Jabal Mohsen after the General Security Department’s arrest of an Islamist, Shadi al-Mawlawi, by luring him to an office of Finance Minister Mohammed Safadi’s welfare association under the pretext that he would receive health care.

Al-Mawlawi was seized for allegedly contacting a terrorist organization. Media reports said that the suspect is an avid supporter of the Syrian revolution against President Bashar Assad’s regime.

Six people have since been killed and 70 wounded in the unrest.


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