24 June 2011
TRIPOLI, Lebanon: Tripoli Mufti Malek Shaar warned Thursday against holding protests in the city, amid tensions between rival groups over the popular uprising against Syrian President Bashar Assad.
“We contacted all groups, requesting that these demonstrations stop because there is no need for them, since it won’t have any influence or achieve any goals,” Shaar said. “These marches will not benefit Tripoli and will only cause losses, deepening divisions.”
Tripoli’s political factions and student bodies said that they will refrain from holding any protests Friday.
Fighting broke out last Friday night after several dozen anti-Syrian government protesters, who had gathered in the city’s Nour Square in support of the popular uprising, clashed with supporterss of the Syrian government.
The fighting left at least six people dead and 59 wounded, and damaged shops and business in the Bab al-Tabbaneh neighborhood.
During a meeting U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon’s representative William Burns, Shaar said that he would call for a gathering of Tripoli’s political factions at the city’s Dar al-Fatwa in a bid to bridge the widening gap between rival groups and preserve the city’s security and stability.
The meeting, which has yet to be scheduled, will follow up on the Future Movement’s call for an arms-free city and will be attended by Prime Minister Najib Mikati, Future Movement lawmakers, and representatives of the Alawite Arab Democratic Party, who clashed last week with residents of the mainly Sunni neighborhood of Bab al-Tabbaneh.
Shaar discussed the latest developments with Burns’ political aides, Emanuel Park and Diego Zomela.
The mufti also said he would propose an arms-free Tripoli during the gathering and demand social and economic aid to the neighborhoods of Bab al-Tabbaneh and Jabal Mohsen, the city’s poorest areas.
Shaar said he postponed the gathering, which Mikati had proposed to hold Friday, to allow time for contacts with all parties before the meeting.
Separately, a delegation from the Higher Relief Committee headed by Yehia Raad also visited Tripoli Thursday, to inspect the damage that resulted from last week’s clashes.
Tripoli Mayor Nader Ghazal, who received the delegation, said that the municipality would open an office to process requests for compensation by the city’s residents.
Copyright The Daily Star 2011.
