Qahwaji Says Army Foiled Plot to Ignite Lebanon, Create Sectarian Strife

Army Commander General Jean Qahwaji stressed on Tuesday that the military foiled a plot by terrorist groups to divide Lebanon and change its features, thwarting a Sunni-Shiite strife that “could have burned the country.”

“The army achieved a huge accomplishment,” As Safir newspaper quoted Qahwaji as saying.

He pointed out that the situation in Lebanon has changed from the one that prevailed before the clashes that occurred in the northeastern border town of Arsal in August.

Jihadists from the Islamic State group and al-Qaida-linked al-Nusra Front briefly overran the town of Arsal in August. The Islamists withdrew from the town, abducting with them a number of troops and security forces.

Three hostages have already been killed by their captors, and the country has been on edge for months over the fate of the remaining soldiers and policemen.

Lebanon is deeply divided over the war in Syria.

Qahwaji revealed that the army has the full “political cover.”

“The army is united and fortified against any emergency,” the army commander pointed out, considering that the last round of clashes in the northern port city of Tripoli busted all the terrorist cells and “turned the scales.”

The high-ranking military official considered the arrest of terrorists Imad Jomaa and Ahmed Miqati a key issue in thwarting a plot to ignite a Sunni-Shiite strife in Lebanon.

Miqati was arrested in October in the northern town of Assoun during a deadly army raid on an apartment that he and several militants had been residing in.

He was later charged with belonging to an armed terrorist organization with the aim of occupying several northern villages.

His arrest set off the spark that led to a deadly fighting last month between extremists and the army in Tripoli and surrounding areas.

A battle between Lebanese troops and militants in northern Lebanon was widely expected after members of the Islamic State group and al-Qaida's branch in Syria, al-Nusra Front, launched several attacks in areas on the border with Syria.

H.K.

G.K.