Akkar Ulemas Urge Judicial Council to Probe Abdul Wahed ‘Assassination’
Ulemas of the northern province of Akkar called on Monday for referring the killing of Sunni Sheikh Ahmed Abdul Wahed to the Judicial Council but rejected attempts to politicize the issue.
A statement read by Sheikh Khaldoun Oraymet described Abdul Wahed’s death as an “assassination by members of the Lebanese army which is respected by all the Lebanese.”
The Ulemas called on President Michel Suleiman, the government and the army command to speed up the investigation into the killing at an army checkpoint in the Akkar town of al-Kweikhat and take the “strongest punitive measures” against the soldiers who opened fire on the cleric.
They said the issue “should be referred to the Judicial Council because it carries the seeds of strife.”
The incident on Sunday also left Abdul Wahed’s aide Sheikh Mohammed Hussein Merheb dead and drove angry residents to the streets of several villages and towns where they blocked roads with burning tires.
The incident also spilled over to Beirut, where clashes between supporters of al-Mustaqbal movement and Arab Movement party near the Beirut Arab University in Tariq al-Jedideh, left two people dead.
Those who engaged in the Intifada in their quest for justice should withdraw from the streets and allow mourners to reach the town of al-Bireh for Abdul Wahed’s funeral, the statement of the conferees said.
Akkar’s Ulemas also urged the security forces to extend their authority over Lebanese territories. “There shouldn’t be any weapons except for the arms of the state.”
They also held onto “national unity and the institutions of the state, mainly the military institution.”
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