A banned Sunni Muslim fundamentalist group has threatened to "eliminate" eight Christian MPs from northern Lebanon if its jailed supporters are not released within 10 days.
The threat by "the young people of al-Takfir wal-Hijra" came in a statement published in the Lebanese press Saturday.
"The police state is continuing its criminal actions by arresting our struggling brothers whom it tortures in the basements of its stinking prisons despite the repeated appeals of our families and brothers which have been ignored," the statement said.
"We demand the unconditional release within 10 days of all the brothers who have been arrested, and should our demands not be met by the deadline we have set, we shall eliminate the MPs Soleiman Frangieh, Jihad al-Samad, Fawzi Hobeiche, Karim Rassi, Istfan Douheihy, Cesar Moawad, Boutros Harb et Sayed Akl."
All those named are close allies of Syria. Frangieh is also agriculture minister.
The papers said the statement had been disseminated in a number of villages in the Akkar region in northern Lebanon.
Al-Takfir wal-Hijra leapt to prominence at the beginning of January when hundreds of its members were involved in several days of bloody fighting with the Lebanese army in the area of Denniyeh in the north of the country.
The clashes ended with several dozen-group members dead and a large number arrested. Thirty-two are still in prison, according to the security services.
Eleven members the Lebanese army were killed, including an officer – BEIRUT (AFP)
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