Army Contains Clash between Supporters and Opponents of Asir

The army on Sunday managed to contain a clash in the Beirut neighborhood of Zoqaq al-Blat between supporters of Sheikh Ahmed al-Asir and others loyal to AMAL Movement and Hizbullah, shortly after the anti-Syria Salafist cleric launched a scathing attack on the two Shiite parties during an anti-Assad sit-in in downtown Beirut, state-run National News Agency reported.

“As Sheikh Asir's convoy passed through the Zoqaq al-Blat area, a number of young men who support a local party started pelting it with stones. An army patrol arrived immediately and contained the clash which did not cause any casualties,” NNA said.

Meanwhile, LBCI television reported that “AMAL Movement supporters deployed at the entrances of the Zoqaq al-Blat district as Sheikh Ahmed al-Asir's sit-in ended, while the army diverted traffic to other streets following a severe traffic jam.”

Earlier on Sunday, Asir urged the “rational brothers in the Shiite sect to save the country from the Iranian scheme and from the creeping woes that are being drawn by (Hizbullah chief Sayyed Hassan) Nasrallah's involvement in Syria.”

Asir also blasted Hizbullah and accused it of aiding the Assad regime militarily.

“No to any arms other than the state's arms and no to the arms of the 'jihadist duty,'” Asir added.

“We cannot coexist with the arms of the 'party of Iran' (Hizbullah) which are targeting us daily,” he went on to say.

Asir's remarks come after media reports said a top Hizbullah commander and several fighters were killed while taking part in the raging conflict in Syria. Nasrallah has denied the reports and clarified that the Hizbullah fighters were killed while defending Lebanese-inhabited border towns inside Syria.

“During the first days of the Syrian crisis, some Arab satellite networks claimed that Hizbullah had sent 3,000 fighters to Syria and we said that the reports were false and they are still false,” said Nasrallah.

“In Lebanon, nothing can be kept under wraps and we do not hide anything. When a martyr falls, we tell the truth to his family about when, where and how the dear brother was martyred,” he noted.

“Until the moment, we have not fought alongside the Syrian regime. It has not asked us to do so and who said that we have an interest in that,” he noted.

Nasrallah explained that there are 23 Syrian border towns and 12 farms that are inhabited by Lebanese residents of various religious beliefs, adding that around 30,000 Lebanese residents live in these towns.

“A large number of Lebanese residents of these border towns belong to Hizbullah and they have been fighting in the party's ranks since 30 years. We did not tell them how to deal with the incidents. We told them make your own choice and they chose to stay in their homes. Armed groups attacked them and carried out killings, kidnappings and even rapes,” Nasrallah clarified.

“Some of them decided to flee the area, but most of them stayed in their towns and started to arm themselves. The residents of these towns took the decision to stay and defend themselves against the armed groups and did not engage in the battle between the regime and the opposition,” Hizbullah's leader added.

He stressed that the party has decided to open a new front.

“I cannot prevent anyone, whether they belong to Hizbullah or not, from staying in the border areas. We have not opened a new front and our front is well-known,” Nasrallah added.