Jumblat Says Mukhtara 'Red Line' after Wahhab Supporters Bravado

W300

Progressive Socialist Party leader ex-MP Walid Jumblat warned Friday that his hometown Mukhtara is a “red line” after supporters of ex-minister Wiam Wahhab staged a show of force in the Chouf region a day earlier.

“Mukhtara is a red line whatever the regional balances might be,” Jumblat tweeted.

“The campaigns of defamation and falsification reached yesterday the extent of rioting and showing off on Mount Lebanon’s roads,” the Druze leader warned.

He also thanked the army for “reopening the roads and arresting the rioters,” noting that “the salaries of the army are also a red line.”

Wahhab supporters had on Thursday roamed Chouf in convoys before many of them were arrested for blocking roads and carrying weapons in their cars.

The bravado followed a war of words between Jumblat and Wahhab after the PSP leader defended Prime Minister-designate Saad Hariri against Wahhab’s blistering verbal attacks on him.

Wahhab has meanwhile filed a lawsuit against Hariri over street banners apparently hoisted by Mustaqbal Movement supporters that carried insults and death threats against the former minister.

State Prosecutor Samir Hammoud dismissed Wahhab’s lawsuit on Friday, citing Hariri’s position as premier and parliamentary immunity.