Hizbullah-Salafist MOU "Temporarily Frozen"!!
Source: Al-Manar TV, 20-8-2008
Twenty-four hours after its signing, the Hizbullah-Salafist Memorandum of Understanding has been "temporarily frozen" by the Salafist groups due to the intense pressure exerted on them.
"The agreement will be temporarily frozen pending appropriate circumstances that allow for its implementation," Sheikh Hassan al-Shahhal, who signed the memorandum with the head of Hizbullah political council Ibrahim Amin As-Sayyed told a news conference in Tripoli Tuesday evening.
Shahhal held a joint conference on Monday with his cousin, alleged founder of the Salafist movements in Lebanon Sheikh Dai al-Islam al-Shahhal, and said that the memorandum was "insignificant."
Shahhal noted that the Sunni community "needed more than ever to stand united and shun divisions." He said the memo "needs to be carefully studied."
Hizbullah Spokesman Hussein Rahhal said on Wednesday that Sheikh Hassan al-Shahhal must have been subjected to pressure to retract his signature or reconsider the contents of the document.
Rahhal said his party was ready to follow through with the MOU and was "open to all."
Indeed, the decision to temporarily freeze the MOU came after a campaign was launched against it since its announcement. The Future movement media didn't wait to read out the content of the memo before assailing it. It accused the Salafists of representing nothing at the Sunni field.
In this context, three Future Movement MPs from Akkar, Northern Lebanon- Mustafa Hashem, Azzam Dandachi and Mahmud al-Murad - met with the Mufti of the Lebanese Republic Sheikh Mohammad Rashid Qabbani on Tuesday and launched verbal assaults on the memo.
MP Dandachi said that the memorandum was "unacceptable-any agreement should be done here, with Mufti Qabbani and the leader of the Future bloc Saad Hariri. The religious and political leaders of the Sunni sect cannot be disregarded," he claimed.
MP Murad said he feared that the memorandum was "an introduction to a new conflict" and called on the citizens of Tripoli "to handle their responsibilities."
Worth mentioning that Future Movement MP Samir Jisr, who hailed the understanding before its ratification, turned against it afterwards, claiming that the memo could have negative effects.
The memo, that drew such cruel criticism, has banned internal strife between Muslims as well as all forms of sectarian incitement. It called on to stand in the face of the American-Zionist project, the most prominent tools of which being strife and division.
On Tuesday, Hizbullah Secretary General Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah said he was "surprised at hostility created following rapprochement between any two Lebanese groups."
His eminence deemed that "any rapprochement or understanding between two Lebanese groups should be met with a favorable reaction, rather than with tension, the exacerbation of sensitivities and the reopening of wounds."
Twenty-four hours after its signing, the Hizbullah-Salafist Memorandum of Understanding has been "temporarily frozen" by the Salafist groups due to the intense pressure exerted on them.
"The agreement will be temporarily frozen pending appropriate circumstances that allow for its implementation," Sheikh Hassan al-Shahhal, who signed the memorandum with the head of Hizbullah political council Ibrahim Amin As-Sayyed told a news conference in Tripoli Tuesday evening.
Shahhal held a joint conference on Monday with his cousin, alleged founder of the Salafist movements in Lebanon Sheikh Dai al-Islam al-Shahhal, and said that the memorandum was "insignificant."
Shahhal noted that the Sunni community "needed more than ever to stand united and shun divisions." He said the memo "needs to be carefully studied."
Hizbullah Spokesman Hussein Rahhal said on Wednesday that Sheikh Hassan al-Shahhal must have been subjected to pressure to retract his signature or reconsider the contents of the document.
Rahhal said his party was ready to follow through with the MOU and was "open to all."
Indeed, the decision to temporarily freeze the MOU came after a campaign was launched against it since its announcement. The Future movement media didn't wait to read out the content of the memo before assailing it. It accused the Salafists of representing nothing at the Sunni field.
In this context, three Future Movement MPs from Akkar, Northern Lebanon- Mustafa Hashem, Azzam Dandachi and Mahmud al-Murad - met with the Mufti of the Lebanese Republic Sheikh Mohammad Rashid Qabbani on Tuesday and launched verbal assaults on the memo.
MP Dandachi said that the memorandum was "unacceptable-any agreement should be done here, with Mufti Qabbani and the leader of the Future bloc Saad Hariri. The religious and political leaders of the Sunni sect cannot be disregarded," he claimed.
MP Murad said he feared that the memorandum was "an introduction to a new conflict" and called on the citizens of Tripoli "to handle their responsibilities."
Worth mentioning that Future Movement MP Samir Jisr, who hailed the understanding before its ratification, turned against it afterwards, claiming that the memo could have negative effects.
The memo, that drew such cruel criticism, has banned internal strife between Muslims as well as all forms of sectarian incitement. It called on to stand in the face of the American-Zionist project, the most prominent tools of which being strife and division.
On Tuesday, Hizbullah Secretary General Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah said he was "surprised at hostility created following rapprochement between any two Lebanese groups."
His eminence deemed that "any rapprochement or understanding between two Lebanese groups should be met with a favorable reaction, rather than with tension, the exacerbation of sensitivities and the reopening of wounds."
