The Lebanese Minister of Justice, Adel Nassar, during a press conference. (Credit: NNA)
Justice Minister Adel Nassar is considering taking legal action against Hezbollah Secretary General Naim Qassem, L’Orient-Le Jour learned Saturday from a source close to the minister.
This move would come after the Lebanese government on Monday banned all “military and security actions” by Hezbollah, following the party’s rocket attack on Haifa in northern Israel, which triggered a largescale Israeli operation against Lebanon, against the backdrop of war with Iran. At the end of a Cabinet meeting, Prime Minister Nawaf Salam declared that the party must only keep its political wing, and that the government was now banning “all its military and security activities,” as well as attacks launched from Lebanese territory, including arrests and judicial measures.
Several anti-Hezbollah MPs and figures, including lawmaker Ashraf Rifi, had already filed a complaint last August against Hezbollah’s leader after a speech in which he threatened a “confrontation” if the government carried out its plan to disarm the militia. At the time, Naim Qassem raised the possibility of a fight reminiscent of the Battle of Karbala. That battle took place in 680 between the Prophet Mohammad’s grandson, Imam Hussein, supported by his family and a few followers (fewer than 100), and the army (4,000 soldiers) of the Umayyad caliph Yazid, to whom Hussein refused to pledge allegiance.
