Mustaqbal Voices Support for Gaza, Iraq Christians, Warns of Bid to 'Blow Up Tripoli'

Al-Mustaqbal parliamentary bloc on Tuesday announced that it will organize a sit-in Wednesday to denounce the Israeli assault on Gaza which has killed more than 600 people until the moment, as it warned of “an attempt to blow up the situations in Tripoli.”

Condemning the Israeli “enemy's hostility, barbarism and brutal attacks, which were also committed in the past against Gaza, Lebanon and unarmed innocents in several Palestinian regions,” the bloc hailed “the endurance of the Palestinian people and the valor of the Palestinian resistance's heroic fighters.”

In a statement issued after its weekly meeting, the bloc also deplored “the world's silence and the aggravating Arab confusion towards this savage aggression,” describing them as “unacceptable and unjustified” and noting that they have allowed Israel to “press on with its hostility and brutality.”

Accordingly, al-Mustaqbal called for “a solidarity sit-in tomorrow (Wednesday) 11:00 am at the garden of (U.N.) ESCWA's building in downtown Beirut to express our rejection and condemnation of this brute aggression.”

More than 600 Palestinians have been killed and 3,640 wounded since Israel launched a fierce assault on Gaza 15 days ago.

Turning to the developments in Iraq, the bloc strongly condemned “the sectarian practices, especially the attacks against Christians families and places of worship in the city of Mosul.”

It called for a “social awakening in the face of all (Islamic State-like groups), wherever they may come from,” accusing extremists of “threatening coexistence, fragmenting societies and insulting people's creeds and dignity.”

Hundreds of Christians have fled Mosul following an ultimatum from the IS, which is spearheading a militant offensive in vast areas of northern and western Iraq.

Chaldean patriarch Louis Sako said there were still around 35,000 Christians in the city before the IS launched its sweeping offensive on June 9, proclaimed an Islamic “caliphate” straddling Iraqi and Syrian regions, and made Mosul their main Iraqi hub.

On al-Mustaqbal movement leader MP Saad Hariri's recent "initiative," the bloc said its chairman MP Fouad Saniora briefed the members in his talks with Kataeb Party leader Amin Gemayel and the scheduled consultations with the leaders of the March 14 forces, which are aimed at seeking possible solutions to end the ongoing presidential vacuum.

As for the financial and legislative crisis, the bloc underlined the "importance of approving the new wage scale to fulfill the demands of teachers and public employees in a fair manner," as it expressed keenness on "the reformative stipulations, which must accompany the approval of the wage scale.”

Al-Mustaqbal lauded “the stance voiced by the finance minister, in which he expressed his intent to pay the salaries of public employees on July 25, before Eid al-Fitr,” noting that “it indicates seriousness and realism in dealing with the issues in question.”

Earlier on Tuesday, Finance Minister Ali Hassan Khalil reiterated his call for issuing legislation aimed at paying the salaries of public employees, warning that civil servants will be deprived of their wages if no such law is passed. “Should there be no law, there won't be any salaries,” the minister cautioned.

Commenting on the developments in the restive northern city of Tripoli, the bloc stressed the need to continue the implementation of the government-devised security plan in all Lebanese regions, warning that “some parties are still seeking to incite some residents of Tripoli and the North in a bid to blow up the situations in Tripoli.”

Al-Mustaqbal cautioned against “any tampering with Tripoli's security.”

It noted, however, that the city's residents “are aware of the extent of malicious plots and intentions by some parties to undermine stability in the city.”

The bloc, which comprises four MPs representing Tripoli, called on residents not to heed “incitement, blackmail or overbidding.”

Y.R.