Officer, Four Soldiers Detained over Abra Clashes

An arrest warrant was issued on Monday against an army officer and four soldiers for attacking an arrested man involved in last June's clashes with the military institution in the southern town of Abra, near the city of Sidon.

Military Examining Magistrate Judge Fadi Sawan questioned the five army personnel and charged them with violating military orders, abuse of power and accidentally killing a person in Abra clashes.

On Saturday, the Army Command announced detaining several soldiers over the matter.

Earlier, First Military Investigation Judge Riyad Abu Ghida interrogated 27 suspects over the deadly clashes with the Lebanese army in Abra.

State Commissioner to the Military Court Judge Saqr Saqr had charged on Thursday 27 people, 10 of them in absentia.

Salafist cleric Sheikh Ahmed al-Asir and the singer-turned Salafist Fadel Shaker were among the 27 people charged by Saqr.

The charges came after the army intelligence handed over the detained suspects to Saqr on Thursday.

If convinced, the suspects face the death penalty.

The fighting near the southern city of Sidon was sparked late last month when Asir's supporters opened fire on an army checkpoint, leaving around 18 soldiers and more than 20 gunmen dead.

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

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 Shaker.

Asir teamed up with Shaker, a onetime prominent singer-turned Salafist, when around two years ago he began agitating for Hizbullah to disarm.