Tensions High in Zahle after Hizbullah Attempts to Expand its Telecom Network
Tensions were high in the Bekaa city of Zahle on Sunday after members of Hizbullah attempted to expand the party's telecommunications network in the area, reported various media outlets on Monday.
On Sunday, armed members of the party deployed along the highway extending between the city's industrial zone to the Mar Charbel church in an attempt to expand the network.
Residents of the city protested against its actions and temporarily blocked the road in the area.
The army soon intervened and set up checkpoints in the industrial zone and security forces deployed patrols in the city, which led to Hizbullah's withdrawal from the area.
Soon after however, some 15 party gunmen in a white van returned to the vicinity of the Mar Charbel church.
The locals were aware of the actions and promptly staged a sit-in in front of the church.
They were joined by the head of the Zahle parliamentary bloc MP Tony Abou Khater and lawmakers Joseph al-Maalouf and Elie Marouni.
The residents then blocked a lane of the highway leading to the industrial zone in the city.
Voice of Lebanon radio (100.5) reported on Monday that four Hizbullah members were arrested for their actions in Zahle.
Marouni later told al-Joumhouria daily Monday that the situation in the city could have escalated had the security forces not intervened.
He revealed that six Hizbullah members were arrested over the incident.
“Along with the residents, we will not lay this matter to rest because the statelet of Hizbullah will not be allowed to pass through Zahle,” he remarked.
“The party will not be allowed to impose its ways and schemes on us,” he declared.
Moreover, he revealed: “We will develop the manner in which we will confront any suspicious action the party takes in Zahle.”
He credited the security forces for the decisive manner in which they contained the situation and prevented the party from carrying out its actions.
A security source later denied to al-Joumhouria that members of Hizbullah were arrested over the Zahle incident, explaining that a dispute broke out between them and security forces as the former were repairing a malfunction in the party's telecommunications network in the area.
Uproar was created in October 2011 when Hizbullah allegedly attempted to expand its telecommunications network in the Tarshish region on the outskirts of Zahle.
The residents thwarted the attempts and Telecommunications Ministry at the time denied any party actions in the region, adding: “No side, whether it is official or unofficial, has the right to use the ministry’s network for its personal use without first receiving legal permission from the ministry to do so.”
The party attempted to expand the network as internet fiber optic cables belonging to the Telecommunications Ministry were being installed in the town.
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