Safieddine: LF Sought to Stir Civil War at Request of Americans, Some Arabs

Hizbullah Executive Council head Sayyed Hashem Safieddine on Friday accused the rival Lebanese Forces party of carrying out “a deliberate and flagrant massacre” in a “calculated and premeditated ambush targeted against civilians.”

He was speaking at the funeral of several people killed in Thursday’s fierce clashes in the Tayyouneh area.

Hizbullah and Amal Movement have accused the LF of deploying snipers on rooftops and opening fire on protesters, while the Lebanese Forces has denied involvement in the clashes while noting that Ain el-Remmaneh’s residents defended themselves in the face of an “invasion” by the supporters of the two groups.

Safieddine said the alleged “ambush” points to “lowness and stupidity,” adding that “those who target civilians are not heroes but rather cowards.”

“The LF party sought to stir a new civil war in Lebanon… and perhaps its defeated masters in the region had rushed it to do this step,” the Hizbullah official added, noting that Lebanese security agencies possessed information that the LF had been planning to “stir civil war.”

He added: “Those who committed the crime know that we have prudence, and had the criminals known that we would engage in war with them, they would not have dared, seeing as they are too low to stand in the face of these men and woman who defeated the Zionist enemy and the American schemes in the region.”

Calling on security and judicial authorities to “bring the criminals to justice,” Safieddine warned that “any procrastination in this matter” will be considered “partnership in shedding this innocent blood.” He also vowed that Hizbullah will follow up on the issue.

“The scene that we witnessed yesterday was one of the episodes run by the United States and financed by some Arabs,” Safieddine charged, while noting that Hizbullah “will not be dragged into sectarian strife nor civil war” although it “will not let the blood of our aggrieved go in vain.”

Addressing the “international and regional sponsors of these attacks,” the Hizbullah official added: “We will not let you take the country to strife.”

“Everyone in Lebanon must know and act on the basis that there is a side and party in Lebanon that is working for the Americans and Arab sides and wants to take the country to strife and civil war,” Safieddine added, in reference to the Lebanese Forces.