Bear the consequences

Berri: Leaflets won't disrupt coexistence

By Mohammed Zaatari

Daily Star staff
Monday, June 21, 2010

SIDON: Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri spoke out Sunday against anonymous leaflets being circulated in the Sidon area that warn Christian residents to leave.

"Residents of Sidon and eastern Sidon will prove that national unity and coexistence will not be affected by a statement that was written in the darkness of night," said Berri.

The speaker was referring to leaflets that appeared in Christian villages to the east of Sidon, urging residents to "spare their lives by evacuating the area within one week" or "bear the consequences."

The leaflets, distributed Friday night, were signed in the name of the wilaya (province) of Sidon and its surrounding areas, and included some Islamist slogans.

Berri made his comments at his southern residence in Msaileh during a luncheon he held in honor of elected mayors of east Sidon villages.

Most inhabitants of the string of Christian villages to the east of Muslim-majority Sidon fled their homes in the mid-1980s following clashes between the Lebanese Forces and Lebanese leftists allied with armed Palestinian groups. Many of the displaced have yet to return to their hometowns.

Well-informed sources told The Daily Star that Lebanese Army intelligence has arrested two suspects in the matter.

Meanwhile, the Islamic Gathering of Sidon and its Surrounding Areas issued a statement in which it condemned the distribution of fliers aimed at instigating religious tension between residents of Sidon and its surrounding, which it said served only "Zionist goals."

The statement urged security forces to reveal the identity of the perpetrators as soon as possible and subject them to the "harshest punishment."

Separately, Sidon's former mayor, Abdel-Rahman Bizri, commented on the event, saying it didn't reflect the �nature of relations� between residents of Sidon and those living to the east of the city.

Bizri said such attempts to instigate tension would prove fruitless, because they lacked the support of local residents.

For his part, the mufti of Sidon, Sheikh Salim Sousan, emphasized the absence of religious and sectarian tensions in the Sidon area.