Beirut: Lebanon fell into further turmoil yesterday when army troops shot dead a Sunni cleric when his convoy failed to stop at a checkpoint in north Lebanon. Shaikh Ahmad Abdul Wahid, a supporter of the anti-regime uprising in neighbouring Syria, and his companion, Shaikh Mohammad Hussain Murhib, were scheduled to participate in a rally which was cancelled.
Parliamentarians representing the area asserted that the killings were "murders." They insisted that the culprit(s) be brought to justice.
Lebanon which has largely remained out of the unrest in neighbouring Syria is starting to feel the pinch as the past week has seen escalated tensions in the northern Sunni stronghold of Tripoli with nearly daily clashes.
Prime Minister Najeeb Miqati appealed for calm in the wake of the cleric's killing, as the army said it "deplored ... the regrettable incident that took place near a checkpoint" and that it had begun investigating.
Local residents set fire to tyres to cut off several roads in northern Lebanon in protest, including a road leading to Syria. "We will not allow ourselves to be targeted like this," warned Khalid Al Daher, a Sunni MP and member of the anti-Al Assad opposition in Lebanon, accusing the army of "targeting" the cleric.
Al Daher also called on television for the fall of the Lebanese government, branding it "a collaborator government for Syria and Iran."
However, Lebanese opposition chief Sa'ad Al Hariri called on "residents of Akkar to remain calm, and not to fall into the trap of igniting sectarian tensions."
Al Hariri's March 14 movement will push to ensure that those who killed the cleric "and those who ordered the killing" are held accountable, he said in a statement.
Travel warning
The incident comes a day after the UAE, Qatar and Bahrain issued travel warnings to its citizens against visiting Lebanon. The decision to issue travel warnings was multi-faceted.
First, to alert citizens currently in Lebanon to take precautions, and persuade those contemplating vacations to reconsider, ostensibly to unburden themselves of future calamities.
Second, some governments were also signalling Prime Minister Miqati to reconsider his blatantly pro-Syrian positions,.
Considering nearly a million Lebanese expatriates work in the GCC countries, their government's professed attitudes towards Damascus created an acute dilemma, as host countries pursued opposite policies.
Notwithstanding these dilemmas, Beirut was caught between a rock and a hard place, although the times required clairvoyance. The army has been accused of tacitly supporting the Syrian regime, but yesterday's incident threw the Miqati government in a predicament with some suggesting he has "lost" the north of the country. Many believe a spillover of the conflict is inevitable since the Lebanese government has been essentially helping the Syrian regime stay afloat.
Allegations of arms smuggling, along with essential humanitarian assistance extended by the people of Akkar to their Syrian brethren, provoked Damascus to point fingers.
Bashar Al Assad's government added pressure on Beirut to deploy the army against Sunni Lebanese who, for the most part, stood with the Syrian opposition.
Likewise, and although too early to affirm with any certainty, it was difficult to see how Miqati could even secure his own re-election in the 2013 parliamentary elections when the vast majority of Sunnis oppose him.
While Miqati's declared policy was to distance Lebanon from the Syrian uprising, Beirut ultimately took "targeted" steps which helped ignite internal sedition.
While the majority of Lebanese have no appetite in sectarian fighting after a long and brutal civil war, what is apparent after the recent clashes in Lebanon's north is that the government cannot guarantee internal security.
— with inputs from agencies
