Twenty-two people were arrested in connection with a gunfight Monday in the town of Khalwat al-Kfeir in Hasbaya district, Interior Minister Ahmad Fatfat said on Tuesday. Three people, including the grandfather of current Druze MP Wael Abou Faour, were wounded in the fight.| "You bastards! You shot Grampaw!" |
Local witnesses also reported that Wahhab's convoy was attacked. Druze Sheikh Kamal Abou Ibrahim tried to stop the assailants "because the Druze tradition is against harming the guests," the witnesses said, but Abou Ibrahim was was hit by gunfire. At a press conference Monday Abou Faour accused Wahhab of "provoking strife" and said the shooting incident "shows that there is a Syrian political decision to blow up the situation in Lebanon."
The 22 arrestees included 12 of Wahhab's bodyguards, according to Lebanese satellite television station Future T.V. All the arrestees were reported to have been in possession of weapons. Abou Faour, who is from Khalwat al-Kfeir, confirmed that his 82-year-old grandfather was among the wounded. After the incident, military and security forces personnel moved into the village to restore order. Fatfat said that the Internal Security Forces and the Lebanese Army are working their best to ensure that calm prevails in the area.