CAIRO: A Lebanese cleric was reported on Friday to be calling for a toy machine gun to be banned from the country, saying it “insults” the Prophet Mohamed's wife Aisha. Sidon Sheikh Ahmed Assir called on Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri to bar the toy from being sold in Lebanon. He also was reported by The Daily Star Lebanon to have warned Berri and Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah that he “will haunt their nights if they fail to deal immediately” with the gun. The recording on the gun when the trigger is pulled has angered Assir. Addressing both Sayyed Hasan Nasrallah and Berri during his Friday sermon, Assir said: “If you don't take heed of this issue I will not let you sleep at night so long as I live." He reportedly added that he would peacefully push for the toy's ban, but that he would continue until balance is restored in Lebanon the newspaper reported. Assir held up a plastic toy M16 machine gun and said that when the trigger is pulled, an audio recording says, “Hit Aisha," referring to Aisha Bint Abu Bakr, known in history as the favorite wife of the Muslim Prophet Mohammad. Aisha is considered by many Sunnis as the favorite wife of the Prophet, but is unpopular among Shiites, who make up the majority of Southern Lebanon's population. During his Friday sermon at Bilal Bin Rabah Mosque, Assir said that concerns over sectarian tensions Lebanon will not deter him from pursuing this case. “Sheikh Hasan Nasrallah and Mr. Nabih Berri, we want to live in peace with you … These acts by your supporters – and I exclude aware officials in the Amal Movement, the party of resistance, and the Shiite mass which is sometimes the biggest victim because the Iranian project is taking them to a dangerous place – to them I say that the issue has become very dangerous," Assir said.
