The Sunni and Shiite spiritual authorities in Lebanon denounced yesterday a statement by an Islamist group threatening to assassinate nine Lebanese Shiite leaders. A joint statement by the Sunni and Shiite religious authorities in Lebanon warned that the alleged threat âis based on lies aimed at stirring confusionâ. A previously unknown Islamist group â Al-Qaeda in the Levant â threatened to murder nine prominent Shiite officials in Lebanon, calling them âenemies of Islam collaborating with the enemyâ.The statement signed by the grand Sunni mufti of Lebanon, Sheikh Mohammed Rashid Kabbani, and the acting president of the Shiite Higher Islamic Council, Sheikh Abdel Amir Kabalan, said the threat sought to âinstigate sectarian strife in Lebanon, and harm religious and national Islamic authoritiesâ. The Sunni-Shiite statement called on Lebanese in general and Muslims in particular to national and Islamic unity and to âshunâ calls to sectarian violence. The death threat faxed to the seat of the Shiite religious authority in Lebanon said targets would include Parliamentary Speaker Nabih Berri and a several leaders of the militant Hezbollah movement. Lebanese security sources said an investigation was underway to determine those behind the fax.