SIDON, Lebanon: There are no winners or losers in Sidon. So says former MP Osama Saad, a prominent political leader in the southern city, who expresses frustration at the tense and sectarian rhetoric in the aftermath of the violence that engulfed the city two weeks ago. “It is strife that was defeated, and Sidon defeated strife,” Saad told The Daily Star in an interview.
He regretted the attempts by the city’s two March 14 MPs, Bahia Hariri and Fouad Siniora – two important leaders of the March 14 movement – to portray the city as one that was “broken, defeated, violated and lost its dignity,” saying that language is misleading and promotes tensions.
Saad also stressed that promoting incitement and sectarianism in Sidon would not yield any benefits, adding that local political powers should conduct a thorough re-examination of their position.
The Army launched an operation against firebrand preacher Ahmad Assir in Abra, east of Sidon, after his gunmen ambushed soldiers at a checkpoint near the complex he commanded. Eighteen soldiers and at least 28 gunmen were killed in the 25-hour operation. Assir’s current whereabouts remain unknown.
In the aftermath of the fighting, Saad emerged as a leading voice on the rehabilitation of Sidon.
He heads the Popular Nasserite Organization, and has told his aides there that they should “talk little and do much.”
His office is filled with the families of Assir supporters coming to him for help with their legal troubles or asking him to intervene to free their sons who are being held by the authorities.
Saad knew dealing with the consequences of the events in Sidon will not be easy, partly because blood has been shed because of internal strife rather than in a faceoff with the city’s usual enemy, Israel.
He often warned of the danger of inciting further strife in the city, saying it would bring tragedies that would go beyond the loss of life and economic hardship and create deep social and emotional wounds that would need a long time to heal.
“They are trying to portray the city as defeated,” Saad said in a meeting with members of the PNO. “What is the point of using terms that inflame sectarianism like ‘the violation of Sidon and the dignity of its people’ as if what happened was a war on Sidon and not on a terrorist phenomenon within it?”
Saad argued the Lebanese Army was the target of a “real massacre” by an “alien phenomenon that the city suffered from,” whereas limited transgressions by the authorities are being inflated. He said the rhetoric against the Army’s actions is “exclusionary” and aims to exploit religion to promote its cause.
Saad appeared to be referring to criticism of the military following the release of a video on social media websites showing soldiers abusing a detainee and alleged Assir supporter.
Pointing to the explosives and C4 found in Assir’s compound, Saad questioned – with more than a hint of sarcasm – whether they were intended for defensive purposes.
“We warned for two years against the tragic consequences that [Assir] will bring upon Sidon with his rhetoric and actions that threaten national unity and civil peace – and the response was that I was exaggerating and politically bankrupt,” he said. “What happened happened, and the cost was huge loss of life and money.”
Those close to Saad are drawing up a road map to quietly treat the wounds left by the clashes in Sidon. They described the city as one known for its coexistence and openness, saying it would not be held hostage in the future to racist and sectarian rhetoric that damages it or its geopolitical significance and political and religious diversity.
They said the first step in the road map was reconciliation within Sidon, and that preparations were being made for meetings to include civil society, religious authorities, and representatives of the city’s economic, trade, educational, legal and cultural sectors.
Saad and his PNO supporters, however, said this process does not necessarily entail reconciliation with the faction’s rivals in the Future Movement, which Saad accuses of increasing tension, spreading lies and encouraging sectarian hatred.
Sources close to Saad said he would not meet with MP Saad Hariri or with the Future Movement. Nor would he meet with representatives of the Al-Jamaa al-Islamiya, the Lebanese offshoot of the Muslim Brotherhood, which sought to inherit the supporters of the discredited Assir, the sources said.
The sources said Al-Jamaa sought to exploit anger against the Army over the abuse video despite the Army’s transparency in dealing with any transgressions by its soldiers, while the Islamist group ignored Assir’s actions for two years.
Sources close to Saad said local Palestinian factions played a crucial role in keeping the refugee camps away from the struggle over Sidon, and that the PNO’s road map included stronger cooperation with such groups.