By
Antoine Amrieh
TRIPOLI,
Lebanon: Tripoli witnessed a relatively calm weekend as civil society groups
pushed for peace in the northern coastal city, where at least 14 were killed in
recent armed clashes between armed opponents and supporters of President Bashar
Assad.
Under
the slogan, “for the sake of one nation,” the Ward Association convened a
discussion at a hotel in the city Sunday after which attendees issued a
statement rejecting violence and sectarianism.
“We
encourage the language of dialogue and consensus between different groups and
regions to spread peace and stability and we call on the government to
implement balanced development, as stipulated by the Taif Accord, in deprived
neighborhoods like Bab al-Tabbaneh and Jabal Mohsen in particular,” the
statement said.
“The
majority of Lebanese are fed up with the ongoing conflicts between the two
rival groups and consider that the role of civil society is gaining importance
... in cementing civil peace,” it added.
Attendees
highlighted the importance of supporting state institutions and security
forces, saying that this was the only guarantee for stability.
Tripoli’s
Mayor Nader Ghazal, civil society representatives and local religious figures
attended the meeting.
The
relative calm came after one man was killed and his wife wounded when sniper
fire targeted their house in the Tripoli neighborhood of Jabal Mohsen Friday.
On the same day, a man from Bab al-Tabbaneh was beaten and his car set ablaze
while in Jabal Mohsen.
Fourteen
were killed and scores wounded on June 2 in armed clashes between fighters from
Jabal Moshen, where pro-Assad sentiment runs high, and gunmen from the
anti-Assad Bab al-Tabbaneh.
Separately,
former Tripoli MP Mesbah Ahdab held Prime Minister Najib Mikati responsible for
what he called a plot to keep the situation tense in Tripoli. “Yes, prime
minister, you are responsible for this conspiracy against Tripoli and its
people because you are not making any move to address [the problem],” Ahdab
told a news conference in the northern city.
Ahdab
accused Mikati of supporting armed groups in the city and wondered how he could
also order the Army to “hit them with an iron fist.”
“You
are turning the role of our sons in the Army into that of [U.N.-Arab League
Envoy] Kofi Annan’s observers [in Syria], by deploying them to the front line
rather than giving them a clear and frank political decision to enter deep into
all places in Tripoli,” he added.
“Prime
Minister Najib Mikati, your role and that of your Cabinet in protecting the
Syrian regime under the title of the dissociation [policy] has become
well-known,” he added. Lebanon has dissociated itself from all Arab League and
U.N. decisions on Syria.
Ahdab
said there was a plan to keep the situation tense in Tripoli by keeping mainly
Alawite Jabal Mohsen under the control of pro-Assad militias.
On
the other hand, Ahdab continued, the plan aims at fostering extremism in other
neighborhoods in Tripoli and putting the media’s spotlight on extremist groups
in a bid to depict Sunnis in Lebanon as “extremist and dangerous groups.”
Separately,
representatives of Palestinian factions in the Baddawi refugee camp discussed
with Refaat Ali Eid, the head of the Arab Democratic Party, during a visit to
his office in Jabal Mohsen Saturday measures and means to keep strife from
spilling over in their community.
Speaking
to reporters on behalf of the delegation, Imad Audi, from the Alliance of
Palestinian Forces, said that the visit is part of a series of visits which
Palestinian factions in the north will make to protect northern camps from the
repercussions of the current situation.
“It
is also to stress that they [Palestinian factions] stand at an equal distance
from all Lebanese groups and are keen for civil peace in Lebanon and in the
north in particular,” Audi told reporters.
In addition to Audi, who is
from the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, the Palestinian
delegation also included representatives of Fatah, Hamas, Islamic Jihad and the
Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine-General Command.
http://www.dailystar.com.lb/News/Politics/2012/Jun-11/176386-civil-society-pushes-for-peace-in-tripoli.ashx#axzz1xTxHA45d
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