Al-Shahhal Denies Calls for Jihad, Says Salafists Pose No Threat

Salafist cleric Dai al-Islam al-Shahhal denied on Friday that he threatened to issue a fatwa that calls for Jihad, stressing that the Salafists are not a source of concern.

“I didn't use the expression, I only said (I will issue) a fatwa, in my attempt to criticize those who are targeting us and the Sunni sect. I didn't specify the nature of the fatwa,” al-Shahhal said in comments published in al-Joumhouria newspaper.

The cleric refused to reveal the nature of the fatwa, saying “if I had to I will issue the fatwa later on in a statement... But it will be more dangerous than the call for jihad.”

Al-Shahhal slammed the factions targeting the Salafists in the country.

“We never harmed anyone, they have sieged us and shut down our institutions to prevent us from working... Those who are responsible for the damage done must be held accountable and not us,” he pointed out.

He told the newspaper that the Lebanese have no reason to fear the Salafists, saying: “Those claims are baseless... We are confronting a dangerous plot run by Iran.”

Al-Shahhal called on the army on Saturday to “correct its performance" a day after the closure of several roads in the northern city of Tripoli to protest a dispute that erupted between army troops and his bodyguards in the eastern Bekaa town of Majdal Anjar.

Asked about the endeavors of the controversial Salafist Imam of Bilal bin Rabah mosque in the southern city of Sidon, Sheikh Ahmed al-Asir, al-Shahhal noted that they have the same demands.

“Although we don't agree on the details of his actions... He is allowed to use his constitutional rights,” al-Shahhal said.

Al-Asir and his supporters held several sit-ins over the weekend to protest claims that Hizbullah rented apartments in the vicinity of his mosque in the town of Abra near the southern city of Sidon.

He threatened to escalate his measures if the demands weren't met.