Charbel Calls for ‘State of Political Emergency’

Interior Minister Marwan Charbel called on Tuesday for a state of political emergency to find an exit to the fighting between pro- and anti-Syrian regime supporters in Beirut and the northern city of Tripoli.

“Street battles will continue if politicians do not reach an agreement,” Charbel warned.

“We are in need for a state of political emergency to find an exit” to the current crisis, he told a press conference.

Charbel also expressed fears on plots to divide Lebanon.

“Let there be a political decision by all the parties to lift the cover off any gunman” before politicians ask the security forces to man the streets, he told reporters.

The interior minister also considered the decision to release Islamist Shadi al-Mawlawi on bail as righteous.

The judge decided to release al-Mawlawi because there were weak accusations against him, he said.

The man’s arrest triggered deadly clashes in the northern city of Tripoli last week.

The killing of Sunni cleric Sheikh Mohammed Abdul Wahed and his companion at an army checkpoint in the North on Sunday also led to deadly fighting in Beirut’s Tariq al-Jedideh neighborhood.