Beirut-Sana
Lebanese President General Michel Aoun affirmed that the military and security forces will fulfill their duties in protecting security, stability and civil peace and will not allow anyone to take Lebanon hostage for its own interests or accounts, vowing not to allow what happened in the Tayouneh area to be repeated today under any circumstances.
In a speech to the Lebanese about the security developments that took place today in the Tayouneh area, Aoun said: “What happened will be the subject of a security and judicial follow-up, leading to the accountability of those responsible and instigators of it, just like any other judicial investigation, including the investigation into the Beirut port crime.”
Aoun added: “I assure the Lebanese that the clock will not turn back and we are going towards a solution and not towards a crisis, and we will not tolerate and will not surrender to any fait accompli whose goal could be sedition, which all Lebanese reject.”
Aoun considered that what happened in Tayouneh was a painful and unacceptable scene that brought the Lebanese back to the days of their past and they do not want it to be repeated, stressing that the state that guarantees freedoms, especially freedom of expression, must be the only valid and only reference for dealing with any problem, dispute or objection.
Aoun pointed out that erecting barricades and escalating positions do not carry a solution that can only be within the institutions and the constitution, indicating that Lebanon does not tolerate disputes on the street and needs calm solutions whose natural place is institutions, foremost of which is the Council of Ministers, which must convene quickly.
Aoun stressed that it is not acceptable for weapons to return as a language of communication between the Lebanese parties, because everyone agreed to turn this dark page of Lebanese history.
Aoun was briefed by the Army Commander, General Joseph Aoun, about the details of what happened in the Tayouneh area and the measures taken by the army to control the situation and prosecute those involved.
In turn, the Council of Ministers announced tomorrow, Friday, “a general closing day in mourning for the souls of the fallen martyrs, as all departments, public institutions, municipalities, and public and private schools are closed.”
Six Lebanese were killed and about 60 others were wounded in an ambush carried out by the Lebanese Forces party militants against unarmed demonstrators who set out from Tayouneh roundabout towards the Palace of Justice to demand justice in the Beirut port explosion case.