Report: March 14 General Secretariat to Hold Weekly Meeting in Sidon in Solidarity with Residents

The March 14 General Secretariat will hold its weekly meetings in different areas across Lebanon with the aim of decreasing the sectarian tension, al-Joumhouria newspaper reported on Tuesday.

According to the newspaper, the General Secretariat will kickstart this week meetings in the southern city of Sidon in solidarity with its residents.

The decision comes in light of the moving security incidents across Lebanon, to express the coalition's decision to hold onto the power of the state and its unity.

The General Secretariat, according to the daily, started contacting Sidon prominent figures to make their weekly meeting in the city a success.

Al-Joumhouria said that the March 14 leaders and their representatives will also hold a meeting on Monday night to discuss the latest local developments.

Last Sunday, Salafist cleric Sheikh Ahmed al-Asir's supporters opened fire on an army checkpoint in the town of Abra near the southern city of Sidon, sparking battles that left around 18 soldiers and more than 20 gunmen dead.

The gunbattles concentrated in the area of Bilal Bin Rabah Mosque and nearby buildings.

Al-Asir, a 45-year-old cleric who supports the overwhelmingly Sunni rebels fighting to topple Syrian President Bashar Assad, is no where to be found along with Fadel Shaker, a onetime prominent singer-turned Salafist.

Last Monday, the March 14 General Secretariat condemned the “security chaos” in the Bekaa region, warning that its residents are at risk of paying the price of sectarian strife.

It made its statement after an extraordinary meeting held in the Bekaa city of Zahle in light of the frequent clashes witnessed in the region and that are linked to the conflict in Syria.

The General Secretariat also held a meeting in the northern city of Tripoli in May, noting that the city is paying the price of the absence of the Lebanese state, demanding that no red lines be imposed against it and the army imposing their authority in preserving security in the city.

Tripoli has continuously witnessed clashed between the neighborhoods of Bab al-Tabbaneh and Jabal Mohsen linked to the conflict in Syria.