Hezbollah slams street clash handling

Hezbollah has criticized Lebanese Premier Saad Hariri’s handling of last week’s street fight in Beirut, saying he behaved like a party leader rather than a statesman.

Three people were killed when the deadly clash broke out on Tuesday night between the supporters of Hezbollah and the al-Ahbash faction in the capital’s Bourj Abu Haidar neighborhood.

Hezbollah MP Mohammed Raad warned on Sunday that some people “are insisting on making statements with slogans and incitement that only serve to fuel the fire of division and strife,” the Naharnet news outlet reported.

“These voices are not keen to protect society, the people or the state, irrespective of (the call to) protect society and build the state,” Lebanon’s daily As-Safirquoted Raad as saying.

Referring to a move by Hariri and Grand Mufti Sheikh Mohammad Qabbani to visit the scene of the incident, the lawmaker warned that “tours of the areas…aim to deepen division.”

Hezbollah’s leadership regretted an organized campaign against the resistance movement through the speeches and statements of the March 14 officials, despite the movement’s efforts to contain the negative stances against it.

Hezbollah sources said that Hariri was dealing with the incidents not as a statesman but rather a leader of al-Mustaqbal movement and noted that Hariri’s recent speeches contradicted his calls for calm.