Storming Jabal Mohsen: Salafi Genie Emerged out of Tripoli

Local Editor

Al-Akhbar Lebanese newspaper revealed Thursday details of the real aims behind the recent attacks on Jab Mohsen area in the Northern Lebanese capital, Tripoli.

According to the daily, the nights of 6th and 7th of last December resembled the "night that the Salafi genie emerged out of the bottle."
It further mentioned that the real events were deliberately blurred and kept out of political discussions, by an internal and regional decision that aimed at concentrating on the so-called "resistance weapon's dangers."

As it published details of that night's events, the daily mentioned that the clashes embedded two types of dangerous indicators:

- The first is resembled by the Salafi decision to storm Jabal Mohsen and kill the leader of Democratic Arab Party, Rifat Ali Eid, or arresting him.

- The second is the large and organized military presence of the Salafists in Tripoli, who exited from their undergrounds to accomplish the task of storming Jabal Mohsen. This appearance led to the recognition of the real size and military presence of Salafists in Tripoli.

It is worth mentioning that some Salafist commanders cautioned the idea of military confrontation with Jabal Mohsen.

Meanwhile, security sources informed the daily that "if the Salafi plan to storm Jabal Mohsen and eliminate Eid's party succeeded, the entire East will be threatened."
"The dangerous results will extend from Lebanon to Syria and Turkey and will result in a new phase of unprecedented escalated sectarian violence," the sources said.

They further mentioned that "the Lebanese state, was and is still, alarmed to prevent the scenario of storming Jabal Mohsen under any circumstances and with all the necessary means needed.""Lebanon will not be able to hold the responsibility of dragging the region into the neck of the crisis' bottle," sources told al-Akhbar.

They also unveiled that a Western official informed a Lebanese figure that "the international appreciation for the Lebanese Army's success in protecting Jabal Mohsen and preventing the slaughter of the Alawite minority is equal to that the LA gained after its 2008 achievements in deterring Fateh al-Islam in Nahr Bard."

Source: al-Akhbar Lebanese daily, Translated and Edited by moqawama.org