Fadlallah says people demand justice in Shiyyah probe

Source: Daily Star, 09-02-2008
BEIRUT: Senior Shiite cleric Sayyed Mohammad Hussein Fadlallah said on Friday that the Lebanese people were still waiting for the outcome of the investigation into the January 27 Shiyyah clashes, demanding that the "criminals" be called to account. During his weekly Friday sermon from the Imam Hassanayn Mosque in Haret Hreik, Fadlallah said Lebanon is a country of popular and political freedoms, which, he said,"some [parties] want to exploit for their own interests."
The Shiyyah protests turned violent after army soldiers opened fire, reportedly in response to gunfire from unidentified assailants, killing seven civilians and wounding many others.
"We confirm that there is no problem with resorting to the street," Fadlallah said. "Demonstrations constitute a positive movement when peaceful."
According to Fadlallah, the refusal of some political and religious figures to allow demonstrations would deprive Lebanon of its characteristic as "the country of freedom."
"But the erroneous should be called to account and the criminal should be tried," the cleric said. "No one is sacred when it comes to a cause related to the entire population, whether that one is in a religious, governmental, political or security position."
Following "Israel's" recognition of failures in its 2006 war with Lebanon, as stated in the final report of the state-appointed Winograd Commission, Fadlallah said "Israel's" defeat was also a defeat for the US administration, "as the war was considered America's gateway to the new Middle East."
"The United States regards Arab regimes as tools that serve its projects to take control of the region or as banks that finance its wars against them or even as cards that distract the attention from America's internal crises," he said.
Meanwhile, the vice president of the Higher Shiite Council, Sheikh Abdel-Amir Qabalan, called on Lebanon's politicians to work in favor of their country's interests.
"We are afraid of losing our Lebanon," Qabalan said in his weekly Friday sermon. "We are not afraid of Lebanon's enemy ["Israel"] but rather the practices of its people and those who work in the political and social fields."
Qabalan urged all the Lebanese not to "yield to" sectarian and tense speeches.
"We urge the Lebanese to be patient, to put their problems aside and get rid of all that might harm their country because the latter is mired in instability and worry," he said.
Warning Lebanese against carrying weapons "for illegal purposes," Qabalan said: "I am against any weapons that threaten the country's stability, coexistence and national partnership."
"We have to preserve our country because we were born here and we only have the Lebanese identity," he added.
Addressing parties he described as "debauched," Qabalan said: "Stop harming Lebanon. If you want Lebanon [to become] a farm go away and find that farm somewhere else. If you want to have a country, preserve your country."
"Power is not measured by arms and sectarianism, power is acquired by wisdom," he added. "We should not allow anybody to surpass his limits and play with Lebanon's fate."