Gunmen Fire Shots after Stopping Anti-Hizbullah Cleric Car

Anti-Hizbullah Shiite cleric Sheikh Abbas al-Jawhari said Monday that gunmen fired shots between his driver's legs after intercepting a car belonging to him in Baalbek.

“They forced him to get out of the car and fired between his legs. Once they knew that I was not present they fired in the air and fled towards Baalbek,” al-Jawhari, who has withdrawn from the electoral race in Baalbek, told al-Jadeed TV.

“The message I want to send to officials is that this intimidation will turn into suspicious acts and I hold (Hizbullah chief) Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah and his inciteful rhetoric responsible for what happened,” al-Jawhari added.

MTV said the shooting occurred “near the Imam Ali Mosque in Baalbek, where Hizbullah has a security zone.”

“Two bearded men stepped out of a Mercedes car and fired near his legs before cursing Sheikh al-Jawhar and fleeing towards Baalbek's market,” MTV added.

The cleric was detained for around 24 hours in March on an outstanding arrest warrant.

General Security said Jawhari was apprehended after arriving at its headquarters to carry out a transaction related to a domestic worker.

“It turned out that there is an outstanding arrest warrant against him... over a drug-related offense,” the security agency said at the time.

According to Jawhari's press office, the case dates back to around five years ago.

“Around five years ago, a brother of incumbent MP Hussein al-Moussawi rented an apartment in Baalbek for eighth months... Sheikh Abbas al-Jawhari had rented the same apartment before Mr. Moussawi,” the press office said in March.

“After Mr. Moussawi's departure from the rental apartment, a quantity of Captagon was seized in it and both Mr. Moussawi and Sheikh Abbas al-Jawhari were subjected to an investigation. It turned out later that it was a malicious ploy by Hizbullah to frame Sheikh Abbas al-Jawhari and target him over his opposition to Hizbullah's fighting in Syria,” the office added.

“Sheikh al-Jawhari issued later a statement confirming his innocence and the fabricated ploy,” the office said.

It added that the cleric was arrested on March 22 “under the alibi of the same file.”