Kurd Activist Accuses Syrian Embassy Guards of Assaulting him

A Syrian Kurd opposition member was injured in a clash between protestors and the Syrian embassy’s security guards in the Beirut district of Hamra on Sunday, An Nahar daily reported.

Kurd activist Kadar Saleh Beeri told the newspaper that he was beaten by members of the embassy guards after he was returning from a demonstration held by around 50 Kurds outside the premises of the mission.

Four men holding sticks and guns “assaulted us” as protestors were dispersed and were returning from the protest, he said.

Syrian Kurds held two protests outside the embassy on Sunday. The first was in support of Syrian President Bashar Assad and the second was aimed at condemning the brutal crackdown on protestors seeking to topple the Assad regime.

An Nahar quoted a Lebanese security source as saying that the “attackers are not identified yet.”

“The assault took place away from the scene of the protest … that’s why we can’t confirm if they were employees at the Syrian embassy or not,” the source said, adding that an investigation is underway to identify them.

Meanwhile, March 14 MPs stressed that they would call for another meeting of the parliamentary human rights committee to hear the judiciary’s explanations on the kidnapping of four Syrian opposition members.

Last week, Internal Security Forces chief Maj. Gen. Ashraf Rifi informed MPs during a meeting of the committee about two abduction cases carried out by personnel from the Syrian Embassy in Beirut.

But Syrian Ambassador Abdul Karim Ali denied saying Rifi should provide evidence to his claims.

An Nahar said that a meeting of the parliamentary defense committee could be held under the request of opposition lawmaker Butros Harb to discuss the issue.