Hariri-Wahhab stand-off spirals
Tension in Lebanon as video shows Druze politician making personal insults
Astand-off between Lebanon’s Prime Minister Sa’ad Hariri and a proSyrian politician escalated on Saturday when shots were fired while police sought to bring the politician in for questioning over accusations of stirring strife. His bodyguard was killed during the altercation.
The past few days have seen a sharp rise in tension in Lebanon, after video emerged of Druze politician Wiam Wahhab filmed at a gathering making obscene personal insults.
Although Wahhab did not name the target of his insults in the video, he was widely perceived as referring to Prime Minister Sa’ad Hariri and his father Rafik, a statesman who was killed in 2005. ■
Hariri’s allies filed a legal complaint, accusing Wahhab, an ally of the powerful Shiite group Hezbollah, of “stirring strife and risking civil peace” in the video.
The police, in a statement, said officers had gone to Wahhab’s residence in the village of Al Jahiliya on Saturday “with the aim of bringing him” for questioning, but he had fled before their arrival.
It said police had not opened fire but unidentified gunmen had shot from neighbouring buildings, and Wahhab supporters had fired “randomly”, wounding one of the politician’s aides, presumably the bodyguard who died later.
“I was subjected today to an attempted assassination and the person who was wounded was metres from me. Let Hariri bear the responsibility of this blood,” he told LBC International in comments reported on its Twitter feed.
‘Civil war’
Wahhab, referring to the video that sparked the legal complaint, said his remarks were “general” and not directed at Hariri’s family. He criticised the security forces for arriving in large numbers, adding: “What happened today means civil war.”
The Lebanese police said a travel ban had been imposed on him.