Berri Lauds Jabal Mohsen Residents after Deadly Suicide Bombing

Speaker Nabih Berri praised the residents of Jabal Mohsen in the northern city of Tripoli after the suicide attack that targeted a packed cafe on Saturday and stressed that talks between Hizbullah and al-Mustaqbal began showing their fruits.

Local dailies published on Monday quoted Berri as telling his visitors that “we won nine martyrs and the terrorists lost two” men.

Nine people were killed and more than 37 were injured when two Tripoli residents blew themselves up at the cafe in Jabal Mohsen, which is a Alawite district that is largely loyal to Syrian President Bashar Assad.

Tripoli has in the past witnessed dozens of rounds of fighting and bombings because of the rivalry between the Sunni neighborhood of Bab al-Tabbaneh and Jabal Mohsen.

The stance of the district's residents is worth a praise, Berri said after the locals did not make any vengeful acts.

He lauded this “huge patriotic position and the reaction of al-Mustaqbal movement chief Saad Hariri,” who has announced that the Hariri foundation will reconstruct all the damage.

The speaker stressed that such a stance was the result of the dialogue that is underway between Hizbullah and al-Mustaqbal movement.

The rival parties' representatives have so far held two rounds of talks aimed at lowering Sunni-Shiite tension and discussing the presidential deadlock.

“The bombers sought to sow strife in Tripoli … But the awareness of Jabal Mohsen and Tripoli residents thwarted such a plot,” Berri said.

G.K.

H.K.