Jumblat Criticizes Hariri, Geagea over Tripoli Remarks, Urges Support for Army

Progressive Socialist Party leader MP Walid Jumblat on Monday criticized remarks voiced by former premier Saad Hariri and Lebanese Forces chief Samir Geagea over the deadly clashes in Tripoli, stressing that fighting between the rival districts of Bab al-Tabbaneh and Jabal Mohsen cannot “change the course of the bloody developments in Syria.”

“There are some strange self-contradictory stances, as some are urging the cabinet to convene to remove arms from Tripoli while refusing its convention over other matters or the convention of parliament under the excuse that it is a caretaker cabinet! And some are in some way or another holding the Lebanese army responsible for what's happening in Tripoli, while what's needed more than ever is support for the military institution,” Jumblat said in his weekly editorial in al-Anbaa newspaper, referring to Geagea and Hariri.

“Has the city of Tripoli been doomed to keep paying the bills of others and the prices of regional and domestic disputes? … Is it acceptable to drown the sons of the same city in sectarian bigotry instead of exerting serious efforts to reach a real reconciliation that can put an end to the recurrent tensions (in the city?)” Jumblat added.

The PSP leader said “some believe that the Bab al-Tabbaneh-Jabal Mohsen clashes can change the course of the bloody developments in Syria or the current equations in that conflict which has major international and regional aspects that surpass the capabilities of some gunmen in Tripoli and their supporters.”

Jumblat urged all political forces to “rise above some trivial issues in this critical moment in Lebanon's history” and to “form a new cabinet that can address the current chaos at the political, economic, social and security levels.”

He also called for addressing the upcoming presidential election in a “gradual and calm” manner, stressing that only the state can unite the Lebanese.

In remarks published Monday in An Nahar newspaper, Geagea called on the caretaker cabinet to hold an extraordinary session to declare Tripoli an arms-free city.

And on Saturday, Hariri issued a statement saying “is it acceptable to turn the Lebanese army, with its Airborne and other forces, into a false witness in the declared war against Tripoli?"