{"id":24087,"date":"2018-12-03T02:22:48","date_gmt":"2018-12-03T02:22:48","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/qatar-news.org\/qatarnewsEn\/?p=24087"},"modified":"2018-12-03T02:22:48","modified_gmt":"2018-12-03T02:22:48","slug":"uae-marks-47th-anniversary-of-dream-that-became-reality","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/qatar-news.org\/qatarnewsEn\/?p=24087","title":{"rendered":"UAE marks 47th anniversary of \u2018dream that became reality\u2019"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

\nBEIRUT: Tension is rising in Lebanon following disparaging comments made by former minister Wiam Wahhab about Prime Minister Saad Hariri and his late father, former Premier Rafik Hariri.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\nWahhab, a Druze, is a member of the March 8 Alliance, which also includes Hezbollah and is aligned with the Syrian regime.<\/p>\n

\nA video emerged a few days ago of a gathering at which Wahhab could be heard making personal insults against certain individuals. Although he did not specify whom he was targeting in the video, it is widely assumed that he was referring to the Hariris.<\/p>\n

\nWahhab also targeted the president of the Progressive Socialist Party, Walid Jumblatt.<\/p>\n

\nSupporters of both sides have taken to the streets in recent days. Wahhab\u2019s supporters led motorcades to Moukhtara, the small town in which Jumblatt resides, on Thursday night. Jumblatt\u2019s response was that \u201cMoukhtara is a red line, whatever the regional balance.\u201d<\/p>\n

\nThe Lebanese Army stated it had \u201cseized 25 vehicles and arrested 57 of the people participating in the motorcades and confiscated their weapons and ammunition,\u201d adding that the detainees and the seized weapons and ammunition had been referred to the relevant judiciary, and an investigation had commenced.<\/p>\n

\nOfficials from the Future Movement and the Progressive Socialist Party (PSP) stated that Wahhab\u2019s rhetoric \u201cis way out of line and resembles the campaigns that targeted former PM Rafik Hariri and (president of the PSP and leader of Lebanon\u2019s Druze Walid) Jumblatt prior to the assassination of Rafik Hariri in 2005.\u201d<\/p>\n

\nJumblatt suggested that Wahhab was \u201csending out orders\u201d through his statements.<\/p>\n

\nAllies of Hariri filed a lawsuit against Wahhab, accusing him of \u201cstirring strife and risking civil peace,\u201d which was accepted on Friday by State Prosecutor Samir Hammoud.<\/p>\n

\nWahhab was referred to the Information Department of the Internal Security Forces (ISF) for investigation. Wahhab\u2019s lawyers refused to receive a summons for their client on Friday.<\/p>\n

\nOn Saturday afternoon, ISF officers went to Wahhab\u2019s residence in Jahlieh to bring him in for questioning. Wahhab was not there, but one of Wahhab\u2019s aides, Mohammad Abou Diab, was shot in what the ISF claim was unilateral fire from \u201cunidentified gunmen\u201d after Wahhab\u2019s supporters began firing \u201crandomly.\u201d The ISF claims its officers did not open fire. Abou Diab later died from his wounds.<\/p>\n

\nIn a televised statement, Wahhab accused Hariri, Hammoud and ISF director general Maj. Gen. Imad Osman, of \u201cplanning to assassinate him\u201d and spoke of \u201can insult to his dignity.\u201d He said: \u201cBlood has been shed \u2014 who will bear responsibility for it?\u201d Wahhab also warned Hariri that Lebanon is on the path to \u201cwar,\u201d and said the prime minister should negotiate with Hezbollah secretary general Hassan Nasrallah.<\/p>\n

\nJumblatt met with the prime minister on Saturday evening. Talking to the press afterwards, Jumblatt said that events had put \u201cthe dignity of Lebanese citizens\u201d at risk.<\/p>\n

\n\u201cThe state has done its duty and we support it. We cannot continue to tolerate this abnormal situation,\u201d he said. \u201cWe stand by PM Saad Hariri and reject any attack against him or his position, just as we reject the use of insults, especially at this stage, which requires discretion and not offensive discourse.<\/p>\n

\n\u201cI hope the government can be formed without (violence) slipping into the streets,\u201d he added, referring to Hariri\u2019s struggle \u2014 ongoing since May 24 \u2014 to form Lebanon\u2019s government.<\/p>\n

\nA senior PSP official said Jumblatt was convinced Wahhab\u2019s campaign against Hariri was part of a plot by the Syrian regime, adding that \u201can outside party\u201d is hindering the formation of Lebanon\u2019s government.<\/p>\n

\nMoustafa Allouch, a member of the Future Movement\u2019s political bureau, told Arab News: \u201cThe blood that was shed in Jahlieh is the responsibility of whoever caused it and used people as human shields.\u201d He called on the ISF to conduct a criminal investigation to find out who had shot Abou Diab.<\/p>\n

\n\u201cWhat Wahhab has done is an offense that stirs sectarian strife, and what happened in Jahlieh is that Wahhab sold the life of his supporter to cover the charge against himself,\u201d Allouch added. \u201cWahhab deserves to go to prison for a long time because he knew what the repercussions of his discourse would be.\u201d<\/p>\n

\nAnother Future Movement member, Rola Tabash Jaroudi, told Arab News: \u201cWhat happened reflects the low level of political discourse in Lebanon, and counts as an insult to the government, the prime minister and Lebanon as a whole,\u201d adding that \u201cthe perpetrator must be held accountable.\u201d<\/p>\n

\nShe also warned that the Lebanese people \u201ccan no longer tolerate this kind of pressure and provocation\u201d and stressed the need for the government to be formed as quickly as possible, urging all parties to \u201cwithdraw unfair demands.\u201d<\/p>\n

\nUAE Ambassador to Lebanon Hamad Saeed Al-Shamsi, said, \u201cWe must stand by PM Saad Hariri, and all the people of Lebanon must understand that it is in their country\u2019s interest to have the government formed, especially as (Lebanon hosts the Arab Economic and Social Development Summit in January). How can Lebanon participate effectively without a government?\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

BEIRUT: Tension is rising in Lebanon following disparaging comments made by former minister Wiam Wahhab about Prime Minister Saad Hariri and his late father, former Premier Rafik Hariri.\u00a0 Wahhab, a Druze, is a member of the March 8 Alliance, which also includes Hezbollah and is aligned with the Syrian regime. A video emerged a few…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":10,"featured_media":24088,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-24087","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-middle_east_news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/qatar-news.org\/qatarnewsEn\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/24087","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/qatar-news.org\/qatarnewsEn\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/qatar-news.org\/qatarnewsEn\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/qatar-news.org\/qatarnewsEn\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/10"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/qatar-news.org\/qatarnewsEn\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=24087"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/qatar-news.org\/qatarnewsEn\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/24087\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/qatar-news.org\/qatarnewsEn\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/24088"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/qatar-news.org\/qatarnewsEn\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=24087"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/qatar-news.org\/qatarnewsEn\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=24087"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/qatar-news.org\/qatarnewsEn\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=24087"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}