Caretaker Interior Minister Bassam Mawlawi asserted that “all necessary measures have been taken to prevent violence in Ain el-Helweh from spreading to other camps.”
Speaking at a press conference on Monday, he also stressed that Lebanon is “concerned about the safety of Arab nationals as much as about the safety of the Lebanese people.”
Armed clashes that broke out on Saturday, July 29 in the Palestinian refugee camp of Ain el-Helweh, near Saida, left 12 people dead and over 60 wounded. The violence was triggered by the assassination of a Fatah security official, Abu Ahmad al-Armouchi, and four of his bodyguards in an ambush blamed on Islamic militants in the densely-populated camp. A ceasefire agreement was reached between the rival factions after several days of fierce fighting.
Apparently alarmed by the security deterioration in the camps, Saudi Arabia, followed by the other Arab Gulf states, asked their citizens to leave Lebanese territory on Sunday.
At the press conference, following a meeting of the Central Security Council, Mawlawi stressed that “Lebanon is not a mailbox for sending messages by proxy,” and that it “will not accept any compromise on the application of the law.”
In an off-the-cuff discussion with journalists before chairing the meeting of the Central Security Council, Mawlawi insisted that “there must be no (non-state) armed elements on Lebanese territory.”
“We are not executing anyone’s agenda and we refuse security chaos, as well as support for armed groupuscules,” he said, adding, “We also reject illegal weapons and any attack on the security of the Lebanese and Arab nationals.”
Mawlawi also pointed out that dealing with the armed groups inside the camps is the responsibility of the Lebanese Army and its command which he praised for its “wisdom.”
He concluded by stating that “the Arab countries are friends of Lebanon and are concerned about its interests.”
