Beirut MPs Demand Miqati’s Resignation: His Govt. is Facilitating Return of Civil War
Beirut MPs commended on Monday the clashes that erupted in the city on Sunday, accusing some powers and military agencies that are affiliated with the Syrian regime of seeking to create instability in Lebanon.
They said after an extraordinary meeting at the Center House: “We demand Prime Minister Najib Miqati’s resignation because his government is facilitating the return of the civil war.”
Former Premier Saad Hariri, who spoke to the MPs via Skype, accused the Syrian regime of creating unrest in various regions in Lebanon, stressing: “We all have a great duty to maintain the calm.”
“Beirut is dear to our heart … and it has paid hefty prices in the past, which requires us to maintain unity and defend its people against plans to create strife that is being led by the Syrian regime’s mercenaries,” he declared.
The lawmakers noted that Miqati “claimed that his government will achieve stability in Lebanon”, but it has so far failed in this task.
They held him “completely responsible for all of the unrest that has erupted in the capital, especially in the Tariq al-Jedideh neighborhood.”
The government has failed in its duties in confronting the attempts to create strife in Beirut, Tripoli, and Akkar, they noted.
Furthermore, the Beirut MPs added that it failed in responding to Syrian Ambassador to the U.N. Bashar al-Jaafari’s letter to U.N. chief Ban Ki-moon on Friday accusing charitable organizations managed by Salafist groups and the Mustaqbal Movement of harboring terrorists from al-Qaida and the Muslim Brotherhood.
They also accused the government of “covering up the militia activity of Syrian intelligence agencies that are aimed at fueling sectarian strife and serving the Syrian regime” by turning attention away from its country’s revolt.
The gatherers therefore urged the residents of Beirut and the whole of Lebanon to exercise restraint and vigilance to confront the conspiracies against their city and country, warning them against falling victim to provocations.
“Beirut has and will always be an example for coexistence among all the Lebanese,” they stressed.
They vowed to follow up on the case of those wounded in the Beirut clashes through all legal means and to pursue all who have violated them and their city’s dignity.
The meeting was attended by MPs Michel Pharaon, Tammam Salam, Mohammed Qabbani, Nohad al-Mashnouq, Nabil de Freij, Jean Oghassabian, Atef Majdalani, Ammar Houri, Serge Tor Sarkissian, Ghazi Youssef, Imad al-Hout, Nadim Gemayel, and Sebouh Kalbakian.
Armed clashes broke out on Sunday night between supporters of al-Mustaqbal Movement and the Arab Movement party near the Beirut Arab University in Tariq al-Jedideh in Beirut, leaving two dead.
The unrest was sparked by the death on Sunday morning of Sheikh Ahmed Abdul Wahed at an army checkpoint in the northern town of Kweikhat.
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