BEIRUT: The deputy head of the Higher Islamic Council, former minister Omar Miskawi, will chair a special council session Wednesday to study measures to prevent strife after an assault that targeted four Muslim sheikhs in Beirut took Sunday.
A statement issued by the council said that the body would meet at the house of council member Bassam Barghout in the neighborhood of Sanayeh in Beirut, because it is not possible to hold a meeting at Dar alFatwa.
The council has been mired by divisions since last year, when Miskawi and 20 members of the 32-member-council extended the body’s term till the end of 2013.
The move was contrary to the wish of the council’s head, Grand Mufti Mohammad Rashid Qabbani.
The grand mufti considers that the term of the council expired at the end of 2012, and has called for electing new council members on April 14. Qabbani has refused to allow Miskawi to chair a council session at Dar al-Fatwa.