Higher Islamic Council: Abdul Wahed’s Assassination Must Be Referred to Judicial Council
The Higher Islamic Council deemed on Monday the murder of Sheikh Ahmed Abdul Wahed and his companion Sheikh Mohammed Merheb on Sunday as an assassination.
It said in a statement after a meeting at Dar al-Fatwa: “We demand that the case be referred to the judicial council.”
The meeting was attended by Grand Mufti Sheikh Mohammed Rashid Qobbani, Prime Minister Najib Miqati, and other officials.
The council accused a group from the army of executing the assassination, which took place at a checkpoint in al-Kweikhat in northern Lebanon as Abdul Wahed was headed to a demonstration in the town of Halba.
“The assassination was aimed at creating strife in Lebanon and officials should be held accountable for its consequences,” said the statement read by Mount Lebanon Mufti Mohammed Ali Jouzou.
“The political authority should assume its complete responsibilities towards the developments in Lebanon and the security forces should work under its authority to protect the country’s stability and rectify the flaws in the system that culminated in yesterday’s crime,” he remarked.
Furthermore, the Dar al-Fatwa meeting declared that Lebanon “is suffering from the consequences of the regional developments, especially those in Syria.”
This was demonstrated by the letter sent to the U.N. by its ambassador Bashar al-Jaafari on Friday in which he accused charitable organizations managed by Salafist groups and the Mustaqbal Movement of harboring terrorists from al-Qaida and the Muslim Brotherhood, it said.
The Dar al-Fatwa gatherers urged the Lebanese people to exercise restraint during these tense times.
Former Premier Salim al-Hoss also attended the emergency talks on Monday but left early for health reason.
However, former Prime Minister Fouad Saniora boycotted the meeting, which is traditionally attended by ex-premiers, after three conditions he had sought to impose on the conferees were rejected.
Saniora had called for issuing a clear statement that holds the authorities responsible for the security agencies after the mishaps in the northern port city of Tripoli and Akkar.
He also wanted the conferees to issue a decisive stance from Jaafari’s letter.
Saniora’s third condition lied in having a clear position against “attempts by internal parties to incite strife and internal conflict.”
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