Rifi Says ISIL, Qaida Don't Exist in Lebanon

Justice Minister Ashraf Rifi stressed on Thursday that the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant and al-Qaida don't exist in Lebanon, ruling out that jihadists established an Islamic "emirate" in northern Lebanon.

“Daesh and al-Qaida don't exist in Lebanon,” Rifi said in an interview published in the Saudi newspaper Okaz, holding Hizbullah responsible for the negative impact of the Syrian crisis on Lebanon after its involvement in the war raging in the neighboring country.

He pointed out that “Hizbullah cracked the barrier that separated Lebanon from Syria, allowing some groups, which are not a serious threat, to enter the country.”

In October, eighteen suspected members of the Islamic State jihadist group were indicted on charges of aiming to set up an "emirate" in northern Lebanon.

Fifteen of the accused are on the run.

Rifi, who is affiliated to al-Mustaqbal Movement, denied that Tripoli is a solid ground to be turned into an “Islamic emirate,” stressing that the people of the North are exerting efforts to avert incidents that tarnish their image.

“Everyone knows that there is an Iranian project that includes the regime of (Syrian President) Bashar Assad and Hizbullah to distort the image of Tripoli,” the minister told his interviewer.

Tripoli was rocked by three days of devastating fighting between troops and gunmen last month that left several soldiers and civilians dead.

The gunmen in the clashes are suspected of links to al-Nusra Front, the Syrian branch of al-Qaida, which opposes IS inside Syria although they have an ambivalent relationship in Lebanon.

H.K.

M.T.