Families of Roumieh Islamists, Tall Kalakh Fighters Protest and Call for Sunday Sit-In

The parents of the fighters killed in Tall Kalakh ambush and those of the Islamist inmates in Roumieh prison held a sit-in on Friday in front of Prime Minister Najib Miqati's residence in Tripoli, demanding the freeing of the detained and unveiling the fate of the missing fighters in Syria.

"We will hold another sit-in this Sunday near the al-Arida crossing to press on these issues,” the spokesman of the families of the fighters Sheikh Mohammed Ibrahim announced on behalf of the protesters.

Ibrahim blamed the state for stalling in resolving this issue.

Sheikh Mahmoud Seif talked on behalf of the detained Islamists' families, calling on the cabinet to assign the trials and “draw an end to this unjust case”.

Several Islamists were arrested over alleged links to the Fatah al-Islam terrorist network that fought deadly gunbattles with the Lebanese army in 2007.

Meanwhile, the family and supporters of Mohammed Rifai, a Tall Kalakh fighter detained by the Syrian army, held another sit-in at the Abdul Hamid Karami roundabout in Tripoli, refusing to protest in front of Miqati's house as “he is not the person to blame for this delay in addressing this issue”, as they expressed.

While there is still discrepancy on the number of fighters who infiltrated Tall Kalakh to fight alongside the rebels, media reports have said that several of them sought refuge with the rebel Free Syrian Army while around three others were arrested by regime troops and will be tried in Damascus.

Syrian authorities handed over Lebanon on December 22 three bodies of Salafists killed in an ambush by regime troops in November in Tall Kalakh, in the third and last round of transfer of corpses from Syria.

Earlier in December the bodies of seven fighters, including a Palestinian, were transferred to Lebanon and delivered to their relatives over two batches.