Maronite bishop stopped at gunpoint in a country where anarchy reigns
Beirut (AsiaNews) – A spate of recent incidents that occurred yesterday in the northern Bekaa Valley underscore the precarious security situation in the region, as banditry grows rather than decline.
The first incident, the most serious, saw an outlaw, Mohammad "Dourra" Jaafar, intercept a convoy travelling from the Maronite Patriarchal See in Diman (northern Lebanon) to Deir el-Ahmar, near the Ainata Pass.
Maronite Bishop Hanna Alwan and Fr Elias Nasr were in one of the cars. They were carrying the papers required to ensure the transition between the new Maronite Bishop of Baalbek Deir el-Ahmar, Bishop Hanna Rahme, and his predecessor, Bishop Simon Atallah.
Three cars stopped the convoy, blocking the bishop’s path. Armed men led by Mohammad Dourra got out of the vehicles. Addressing the bishop, he politely asked him to ask the patriarch to intervene in order to obtain his wife’s release.
In a similar incident, the same group stopped a local Internal Security Forces (ISF) agent, who was given a similar message.
The Marc Hajjé Moussa affair*
According to the al-Markaziya agency, Mohammad Dourra’s wife, Sethrida, and his brother Hussein’s wife, Hagar, were stopped the night before at a roadblock manned by the Internal Security Forces (ISF) at Dahr el-Baidar, in connection with an investigation into the recent abduction of a young man, Marc Hajjé Moussa. Hussein Dourra’s wife was eventually released.
According to TV evening reports, Bishop Hanna Rahme said that Mohammad Dourra threatened to abduct Christians in the Bekaa if his wife was not released within two hours.
Anarchy
"Anarchy is at its peak,” said the bishop of Deir el-Ahmar. “The state has ceased to exist. This is the end of everything. Roads are safe no more and our lives are in danger.”
“If they want everyone to live alone, so be it. But if they want us to live together and move around on each other’s roads, they must respect the State represented by the army and all its security forces. Let them instil the necessary moral fortitude in the officers. People like Mohammad Dourra and others, like Hamza Jaafar, are free to go through roadblocks as they please. This is unacceptable.”
“Our regions are special and have their own dignity. Here I also speak on behalf of both Christians and Muslims. The northern Bekaa (Valley) has its dignity. It is unacceptable that 10, 20 or even 100 people run amok in the region and be the law onto themselves. Locals have the right to live in peace. Let these young outlaws who abandoned God come to their senses. Is this the right Islam? They are destroying Baalbek and life in this region."
Jaafar tribe’s assurances
In response to such disturbing statements, the Jaafar tribe yesterday denounced Mohammad Dourra’s "aggression and threats,” and tried to reassure Christians about the security of their movements in the region.
"We are known for our good relations with our neighbours and kinfolk," the statement said. "In view of the region’s difficult circumstances, what happened should be regarded as an isolated incident", it added. “Our kin everywhere, especially in Deir el-Ahmar, know that they can travel safely on our roads and that it is our duty to remain committed to coexistence.”
The press release goes on to call on the state “to strike with an iron fist against those who undermine security and coexistence, and come back to the area with all its institutions."
Finally, the aforementioned incident pushed the Maronite Academy to cancel a trip it had organised for young Maronite expats in Deir el-Ahmar and Bechouat.
* Marc al-Hajj Moussa, who was abducted on Thursday, was released on Saturday after his family paid captors a ransom of 350,000 dollars.
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