Aoun Condemns War of Words, Says Won't Allow Return to Strife

President Michel Aoun on Tuesday condemned the latest verbal attacks and security incidents in the country, stressing that the state will not allow a return to strife.

“The remarks we heard over the past few days and the reactions they drew did not insult a person, a group or a community but rather the country and its sons without discrimination. It almost turned the clock back and this is what we will never allow,” Aoun said in a speech at the opening of the new national library building in Sanayeh.

“No one, no matter the political or partisan side they belong to, will manage to target the stability that Lebanon is enjoying, especially that the judicial and security institutions are capable of putting an end to the violations, whether they take the form of statements or reactions” on the ground, the president reassured.

“The capable and just state that we are all seeking to consolidate cannot be under the mercy of a word from here or a reaction from there, especially that what has been said jeopardizes civil peace and insults dignities,” Aoun went on to say.

In an apparent reference to the Israeli operation that started in the morning to destroy alleged Hizbullah tunnels on Lebanon’s border, Aoun called on all Lebanese leaders to “understand the severity of the situation that the country is going through amid the hostile practices and increasing threats, in addition to the financial and economic damage we are facing.”

“It has become the duty of us all to unite efforts to overcome this situation,” the president urged.