BEIRUT: Support for the Lebanese Army continued over the weekend, after Future bloc MP Khaled Daher recently accused the institution of operating under Syrian orders, with the head of the Loyalty to the Resistance bloc saying “Any attack against the resistance is an attack on the army, and vice versa.”

Speaking at the opening of a religious center in Iqlim Teffah, MP Mohammad Raad stressed the joint importance of both the army and the resistance in defending the country, and slammed attacks against the former.

“Those who call for the resistance to disarm are part of the mechanism that serves the American Zionist project in order to dominate Lebanon and bring back the Israeli occupation,” Raad said, adding that those “who did not suffer in the line of the resistance did not carry its burdens, and therefore do not know the value of the resistance.”

Raad also said that these critics, who “do not know the value of the blood that was spilt in order to liberate our land” are working against the state.

“They do not understand the meaning of sovereignty and freedom at all. The sovereignty that they do understand is the American sovereignty over our country in order to preserve their interests, and the interests of their companies,” he added.

Raad also promised to “cut the hands” of any foreign interferers in Lebanon’s internal affairs.

Also Sunday, two Future bloc Akkar MPs, Mouin Merabi and Nidal Tohme, met to issue a joint statement on the subject of the army, and called for an end to political bickering.

Speaking from his home, Tohme said that “Taking advantage of a specific position for a particular political circumstance and attempting to generalize it is simply fishing in murky waters.”

He added that any March 14 attacks on the army were aimed at specific members in the army, and not the institution as a whole.

Daher, an Akkar MP, recently accused the army of torturing and beating residents of north Lebanon, and of working under the orders of Hezbollah.

His statements quickly led to a political war of words, with Defense Minister Fayez Ghosn and members of the ruling March 8 coalition slamming his claims and accusing Daher of trying to destabilize the army.

Prime Minister Najib Mikati last week confirmed his faith in the army as “a guarantor of Lebanon’s stability” and said that “The military institution is above all political conflicts and we should all deal with it on that basis.”

Reiterating his faith in the army, Tohme said, “We’ve said it before and we will say it again: the army is the only guarantee for Lebanon’s stability so that the state can uphold its sovereignty across every inch of its soil.”

Merabi called on army commander, Gen. Jean Kahwagi, to quash any wrongdoings by Lebanese officers against the people.

He said he hoped that “the army commander is with the army, as we are with it,” adding, “we have always been, we are and we will continue to be supportive of the army.”

But, he added, “there are some actions by certain officers, who I will not mention now, that are unacceptable and the army command should put an end to this.”

Meanwhile, dozens attended a sit-in held in support of the army Saturday, outside the National Museum in Beirut. Carrying Lebanese and army flags, activists met at the statue for the anonymous soldier, under the slogan “the national campaign in solidarity with the army.”

Spokesperson Maher Khatib said that the army is “the only guarantee for stability and civil peace” and called for lifting immunity for any MPs who attack the army. He also urged “President Michel Sleiman to follow up on the case and reiterate his rejection of any attacks against the army.”