2 men who attacked Sunni imam in Baalshmay arrested
The army on Friday announced the arrest of two men who assaulted the imam of the mosque of the Mt. Lebanon town of Chbaniyeh in an incident apparently related to the sectarian violence between Druze and Sunnis in neighboring Syria.
An army statement said the two Lebanese citizens had assaulted the Sunni Muslim cleric in the Baabda district town of Baalshmay. Media reports identified the cleric as Sheikh Hussein Hamza, adding that he was with his family members during the incident.
In the statement, the army urged citizens to “show responsibility and not be dragged into acts that might harm civil peace during the critical period that our country is going through.”
The religious council of Lebanon’s Druze community had earlier strongly condemned the incident, saying the perpetrators “insulted Mount Lebanon, its residents and its ethical, social and religious values before anything else.”
It also said that it does not cover any security violator regardless of their motives.
The council “reiterates what it had announced at the beginning of the incidents in Syria, that it rejects any outlawed practices, whether through the blocking of roads or through attacking any of the sons of the dear Sunni community, with whom we have tight relations and coexistence,” it added, while also refusing any harm against Syrian refugees.
Source: Naharnet
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