Arab West Report Egyptian press summaries and media research for dialogue

The author reports on throwing saws over the houses of Christians in southern Sidon. This was done as an alert to Christian people to evacuate their villages. While nobody declared responsibility for the incident, the United Islamic Stand relieved the fears of Christians, as Muslims stated that this incident did not represent the real feelings of Muslims towards their fellow Christians. The head of Sidon Municipality, Muhammad al-Sa‘id, accused those who threatened in this way of cooperating with the Zionist enemy to spread sectarian strife. For his part, Shaykh ‘Ammr, head of the political office of the Islamic Group, described the act as a “desperate operation” and Palestinian sources confirmed to Al-Sharq al-Awsat that there was no relation between Palestinians and such dangerous threats. The government of Lebanon, the Lebanese mufti and the High Council of Roman Catholicism all denounced the incident, and stated that it aimed to hamper stability and joint-living procession.