Mansour Describes Ruwais Blast as 'Massacre', Warns of Sectarian Division
Caretaker Foreign Minister Adnan Mansour described on Sunday the car bombing that ripped through the southern suburbs of Beirut as a “massacre,” considering it a “blow for Lebanon's stability and unity.”
“Those who carried out the bombing will not hesitate to do it again not only in Beirut's southern suburbs but in other areas too in an attempt to create shock, balance and chaos,” Mansour said in an interview with An Nahr newspaper.
He pointed out that the name of the group that claimed the bombing in a YouTube video was used in an attempt to create sectarian division.
A group calling itself the Brigades of Aisha Umm al-Moemeneen claimed in an online video, which surfaced shortly after the attack, the blast that targeted Beirut's southern suburbs neighborhood of Ruwais where 27 people were killed and 336 others wounded.
“Terrorism has no identity or pattern,” Mansour pointed out.
He noted that Lebanon became a center for “terrorist networks.”
Concerning the abduction of two Turkish pilots on August 9, Mansour told An Nahar that efforts are ongoing to resolve the case and release them, voicing hope that joint Lebanese-Turkish efforts would end the matter.
“It's about time resolve all the abduction cases including the case of the abducted Lebanese pilgrims in Syria's Aazaz,” Mansour said, noting that some are exploiting the matter for personal gains.
Gunmen ambushed last week a bus carrying Turkish Airlines crew from Beirut's Rafik Hariri international airport to a hotel in the city, and snatched the pilot and co-pilot.
A previously unknown group calling itself Zuwwar Imam al-Rida claimed the abduction, and demanded that Turkey use its influence with Syrian rebels it backs to secure the release of nine Lebanese pilgrims kidnapped in Syria in May 2012.
The pilots were seized just outside the airport, in an area controlled by Hizbullah.
Asked if Lebanon is abiding by the dissociation policy, the caretaker FM noted that it is being used on the official level.
However, he expressed fear that the turmoil in the neighboring country Syria is negatively impacting the situation in Lebanon.
In the Baabda Declaration, 16 political leaders from both the March 8 majority coalition and the March 14 opposition agreed to avoid rhetoric that fuels sectarian incitement.
They also pledged to consolidate stability to prevent the country from descending into strife.
Lebanon is deeply divided into supporters and opponents of the regime in neighboring Syria and the conflict now in its third year has stoked sectarian tensions and violence in the country.
Over Lebanon's rejection to receive arms and electricity from Iran, Mansour held “some parties” responsible for the matter.
“There are some sides that reject to cooperate with Iran and sign around 27 agreements,” he stated.
| Copyright © 2012 Naharnet.com. All Rights Reserved. | https://naharnet.com/stories/en/94479 |