Sunni cleric Sheikh Ahmad al-Assir held Hezbollah and its Secretary General Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah accountable for the twin bombing attacks which ripped through the northern city of Tripoli Friday.

In an audio message purportedly recorded by the fugitive Sheikh and posted on YouTube, Assir accused the Iranian-Syrian coalition, “along with its regional proxies”, of perpetrating Tripoli’s twin attacks, deeming them as a “criminal act”.

“At least, they are the first to be accused of standing behind this blatant and heinous crime, regardless of the side that perpetrated it … whether it was Hezbollah, the Syrian Social Nationalist Party, the Baath party, Intelligence powers or others like Michel Samaha”.

“The truth should not be mislaid or concealed as some are attempting to do as they think they are hereby casting the specter of sedition away from Lebanon,” al-Assir noted.

Therefore, the Sunni cleric urged those seeking to steer the country clear of strife to “say things as they are” and to address the core issues leading to sedition.

He also wondered whether it was possible to uproot Tripoli residents’ deep-seated conviction that the twin blasts are linked to the recent speech delivered by Hezbollah Secretary General Hassan Nasrallah who “has desperately defended the criminal Bachar al-Assad”.

Al-Assir branded Tripoli’s attacks as a “major crime”, warning that it will only generate further, unlimited offensives if Hezbollah evades punishment.

Al-Assir concluded his message by warning Christians against similar attacks that could target them, as Hezbollah “will seek to prove that no city or sect will be spared and that all the Lebanese must rise against the Takfiris”.