FSA Strongly Condemns Dahiyeh Rocket Attack, Disavows Its Secretary's Threats
The rebel Free Syrian Army on Sunday condemned “in the strongest terms” the morning rocket attack on Beirut's southern suburbs, distancing itself from a threat by an FSA official that the “fire raging in Syria will spread into Lebanon.”
“We condemn in the strongest terms the act of sabotage and terrorism that targeted Dahiyeh and reiterate our commitment to Lebanon's security, sovereignty and stability,” Fahd al-Masri, head of FSA's Central Media Department, said in an interview with MTV.
In another interview with Voice of Lebanon radio (100.5), Masri strongly denied any role for the FSA in the rocket attack, describing remarks voiced by FSA secretary Ammar al-Wawi as “irresponsible.”
“I will telephone Captain Wawi and rebuke him for his remarks and I will ask him to withdraw his statement, because we have nothing to do at all with the launching of the rockets,” Masri added.
He described the incident as “deeply worrisome,” noting that “it confirms what we had revealed about an Iranian plot to make bombings in Shiite areas to cover up for Hizbullah's failure in (the Syrian town of) Qusayr.”
Earlier on Sunday, FSA secretary Wawi called on President Michel Suleiman and the Lebanese government to “put an end to what Hizbullah is committing in Syria or else the fire raging in Syria will spread into Lebanon.”
“The Syrian people will not stand idly by regarding what Hizbullah is doing in Syria,” Wawi said in an interview with LBCI television.
“Should the Lebanese government fail to stop Hizbullah, there will be repercussions against Beirut, Tripoli and the Rafik Hariri International Airport,” Wawi said, claiming that the airport “has become a corridor for Iranian planes that are shipping weapons to Syria.”
He added: “Our honorable people in Lebanon from all sects will not stand idly by regarding what Hizbullah is doing in Syria, and therefore there will be repercussions, such as what happened today in the rocket attack on the southern suburbs.”
He warned that “in the coming days, we will do more than that, and this is a warning for Hizbullah and the Lebanese government.”
Four people were wounded on Sunday morning in a rocket attack on Beirut's southern suburbs. The Lebanese army said in a statement that a rocket was fired at a car dealership near the Mar Mikhael church and another landed in the Maroun Misk neighborhood.
The incident comes just hours after Hizbullah chief Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah vowed "victory" in Syria, where Hizbullah fighters are engaged in fierce battles against Syrian rebels in Qusayr.
| Copyright © 2012 Naharnet.com. All Rights Reserved. | https://naharnet.com/stories/en/84497 |