BEIRUT: Lebanon’s grand mufti met Sunday a Kurdish delegation which urged him to assist in resolving the case of  “expulsions” of Kurds from a number of areas in the country. Qabbani urged the Interior Ministry to handle the matter on a case by case basis.

“The Interior Ministry, with its administrative and security means, needs to handle what is happening in Burj Hammoud, Nabaa and Dora on a case by case basis,” Grand Mufti Mohammad Rashid Qabbani said after meeting a delegation from the Kurdish Lebanese Charitable Association.

“Otherwise, it would be permitting unauthorized sides to take decisions under any excuse and this would also give a sectarian and racist impression of events,” he added.

In late October Future Movement MP Khaled Daher said the Tashnag Party, which enjoys support in some of Burj Hammoud’s Armenian community, had urged apartment owners to rent only to families, a move that would exclude migrant workers including Kurds, many of whom participated in protests against Syrian President Bashar Assad and some others in support of Damascus.

Security sources have told The Daily Star that the tensions between many Lebanese Armenians and Kurdish laborers in Burj Hammoud are the result of recent crime on the streets of the Beirut district, rather than developments in Syria.

The National News Agency said Sunday the Kurdish delegation, headed by Bahaaeddine Hassan, had spoken to Qabbani about what the delegation described as the truth behind the decision by the Tashnag Party in Burj Hammoud, Nabaa and Dora: that was to evict Kurds by the end of the month -- by force, if necessary.

The delegation said it had been in contact with a number of officials but to no avail, the agency added.

Qabbani said he would follow up on the matter with all relevant officials so that all the “residents of Burj Hammoud, Nabaa and Dora are safe and feel reassured, particularly the Kurds who are afraid for their [own] presence in these area."

The NNA said Qabbani had contacted Interior Minister Marwan Charbel and suggested a mini committee with Kurds and Lebanese Armenians be established to look into the issue on a case by case basis.