Billionaire businessman Najib Mikati has warned to take up arms if the Lebanese army won’t control the situation in Tripoli.
Hailing from the northern city of Tripoli, the former premier, who is also the leader of the Azm Movement, has several institutions there.
One of them, the AZM School, was a target by vandals who set fire to various buildings in the second capital on Thursday evening. Rioters were not able to breach the security at the school.
Speaking to Al-Jadeed on Friday, Mikati warned, “If the army is not able to control the situation in Tripoli in the coming hours, then we are heading for the worst and I may have to take up arms to protect myself and my institutions.”
In fact, he reportedly already deployed gunmen into the streets of Tripoli on Thursday night to protect his property.
The protestors torched the city’s historic municipality and set fire to a courthouse, Rafaat Hallab 1881 sweets shop, and more.
In light of the destruction, the main question from the Mayor of Tripoli, Riad Yamak was, “Where was the army?”
On Friday, Yamak announced that some rioters have been arrested adding that the municipality will hand over its security footage to security forces.
“Revolutionaries are not responsible for what happened yesterday,” he asserted to MTV.
Residents of Tripoli condemned the acts of rioters. In response to the chaos that ensued, the revolutionaries of Tripoli issued a clear warning to vandals who are destroying their city, warning them to stop what they are doing at once.
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