Hezbollah: Stop the celebratory gunfire

Hassan Nasrallah joins Lebanese politicians in calling for an end to practice of shooting into the air

BEIRUT — The leader of the Lebanese group Hezbollah has appealed to his supporters not to celebrate with gunfire when he speaks this week.

Sheikh Hassan Nasrallah’s statement comes after a host of Lebanese politicians denounced the rash of celebratory gunfire during a speech by the Hezbollah leader last month.

It is common in Lebanon for supporters of political groups to celebrate by firing guns into the air whenever their leaders give speeches. Supporters of Hezbollah’s rival, Saad Hariri, unleashed a round of celebratory gunfire after Hariri started to speak on Saturday.

In his statement Sunday, Nasrallah called on supporters “to refrain categorically from shooting and for everyone to cooperate to keep that from happening and for officials to exert double efforts to keep this from happening.”