Tripoli Roads Blocked over Bekaa Dispute between Army, Shahhal Bodyguards
Several roads were blocked on Friday in the northern city of Tripoli in protest at a dispute that erupted between army troops and the bodyguards of Salafist cleric Dai al-Islam al-Shahhal in the Bekaa town of Majdal Anjar.
“An army patrol arrested one of al-Shahhal's bodyguards for carrying a visible weapon in Majdal Anjar,” OTV quoted a military source as saying.
Voice of Lebanon radio (93.3) said “army troops confiscated the machinegun of one of al-Shahhal's bodyguards who was trying to block Majdal Anjar's road and a verbal dispute ensued.”
“They later returned the machinegun,” the radio station added.
MTV said Shahhal was “insulted at a security checkpoint.”
Later on Friday, LBCI television reported that protesters blocked the Azmi and Mejdlayya roads in Tripoli, the Salafist cleric's hometown, to condemn the incident.
Protesters shouted slogans condemning “the harassment against clerics” and threatening further escalation “should this treatment continue.”
The situation was already tense across the country on Friday, after strict security measures in the Sidon suburb of Abra managed to prevent a sit-in held by Islamist cleric Sheikh Ahmed al-Asir from turning violent.
Also on Friday, Islamist inmates rioted at the Roumieh prison while four men confronted Sheikh Hisham Khalifeh during his Friday sermon at the Mohammed al-Amin Mosque in downtown Beirut.
On Friday morning, Shahhal said the military institution is “largely infiltrated.”
Gendarmery commander Brig. Gen. Joseph Doueihi noted that “a certain party coordinated and synchronized the Islamist protests in several regions at noon.”
| Copyright © 2012 Naharnet.com. All Rights Reserved. | https://www.naharnet.com/stories/en/73890 |