... the Future Movement, political party led by Saad Hariri...
movement leader Saad Hariri
Second son of Rafik Hariri, the Leb PM who was assassinated in 2005. He has was prime minister in his own right from 2009 through early 2011. He was born in Riyadh to an Iraqi mother and graduated from Georgetown University. He managed his father's business interests in Riyadh until his father's assassination. When his father died he inherited a fortune of some $4.1 billion, which won't do him much good if Hizbullah has him bumped off, too.
has expressed full support for the Lebanese army and security forces, saying he stood by them to regain control of the northeastern border town of Arsal.
"Neither the state nor us would stand idle to the destructive plots of Takfiri
...an adherent of takfir wal hijra, an offshoot of Salafism that regards everybody who doesn't agree with them as apostates who must be killed...
groups," Hariri told pan-Arab daily al-Hayat in remarks published on Monday.
The former prime minister said the turbans "have no choice but to withdraw from the town," which has been witnessing severe gunbattles between the Lebanese army and Syria-based terrorists.
Arsal is home to 40,000 residents and 120,000 Syrian refugees.
The attack began Saturday as the rebels made a cross-border raid into Arsal, some 90 kilometers from Beirut, after the army detained Syrian Imad Ahmed Jomaa, who identified himself as a member of the terrorist al-Nusra Front.
The Front is one of the most powerful groups fighting to overthrow the rule of Syrian
Hereditary President-for-Life Bashir Pencilneckal-Assad
Oppressor of the Syrians and the Lebs...
.
"Al-Mustaqbal movement considers the Lebanese army and the rest of the security forces a red line," Hariri told the newspaper. "The attack on them is prohibited."
"We hold onto our stance from the takfiri
...an adherent of takfir wal hijra, an offshoot of Salafism that regards everybody who doesn't agree with them as apostates who most be killed...
groups," he added.
Hariri said he stood by the army and security forces "to regain control of the town of Arsal which has remained steadfast … because its residents have no option but the state."
Hariri is expected to issue a detailed statement on the Arsal fighting soon, al-Mustaqbal sources said.