BEIRUT: Leading Lebanese politician Saad Al Hariri has vowed to tackle sectarian radicalism in his Sunni sect but said Shia Hezbollah must end its involvement in Syria if Lebanon is to avoid being drawn into a “sectarian holocaust”.
Citing the example set by his father Rafik Al Hariri on the ninth anniversary of his assassination, Hariri said moderation must win out as Lebanon faces violence fuelled by the Syria war and a political impasse that has left it without a government.
“We will confront incitement and dubious calls to drag Lebanese, particularly the Sunnis, into crazy wars with no use other than to pull Lebanon into a sectarian holocaust,” he said.
Hariri was speaking to his supporters from an undiscolsed location abroad via video link. He has in the past cited security reasons for staying outside Lebanon.
Hariri’s comments were a firm reassertion of his leadership over a Sunni population where the influence of radical groups has started to grow because of the Syria conflict. It also follows a move by Saudi Arabia, his main regional backer, to jail citizens who go overseas to fight.
The Syria conflict has worsened sectarian tensions in Lebanon. Syria’s rebels are mostly Sunnis, while President Bashar Al Assad belongs to the Alawite faith, an offshoot of Shia Islam.
In Lebanon, the conflict has also increased the pull of radical Sunni ideas espoused by groups such as the Islamic State in Syria and the Levant (ISIL) and the Nusra Front, some of the most powerful factions in the insurrection.
Hezbollah-controlled areas of Beirut have been hit by five car bomb attacks in recent months. One aide of Hariri, who heads the Future Movement party, former finance minister Mohamed Chatah, was also killed in a bomb attack in December.
REUTERS
