Remarks voiced Sunday by firebrand al-Mustaqbal bloc MP Khaled al-Daher about Christian statues and symbols have sparked a storm of religiously-charged controversy in the country.
The uproar started overnight Saturday, when the Internal Security Forces removed from the entrance of the northern city of Tripoli black-colored Islamic flags carrying the Muslim declaration of faith “There is No God but Allah and Mohammed is His Prophet”.
The flags had been raised there by the currently pro-Damascus Islamic Unification Movement, which fought fierce battles against Syrian forces in Tripoli in the eighties of the last century.
However, the removal decision also drew the ire of other Tripoli-based Islamist groups, most of which are vehemently opposed to the Damascus regime.
The ISF's step was part of a plan aimed at removing the flags and banners of political parties from all areas in the cities of Beirut, Sidon and Tripoli and along the coastal highway. The decision was taken during the fifth dialogue session between Hizbullah and al-Mutsaqbal movement last Monday.
The conferees said the move aims to “defuse Sunni-Shiite tensions” in the country.