Army Refuses to Settle in Shaker's Case, Urges him to Surrender
The army refuses to engage in a settlement regarding former singer turned Islamist militant Fadel Shaker, who is compelled to surrender to the military intelligence.
The army said in a communique issued on Thursday that “media reports circulating concerning a settlement with the military in the case of Fadel Shmandur, who is known as Fadel Shaker, are false.”
“We are not concerned with these kinds of settlements... the only way to resolve the case is by his initiative to hand himself over to the army or security forces in order to be referred to the judiciary for trial,” the military command said in a statement.
It added: “The army will not bargain on the blood of its martyrs of citizens under any condition and justice will not be wasted.”
On Wednesday, conflicting reports emerged to the surface on whether Shaker handed himself over to the army intelligence or not. The reports have yet to be confirmed.
A high-ranking military source said in comments published in al-Joumhouria newspaper earlier on Thursday that the “army didn't and will make settlements regarding the case of fugitive Shaker.”
The source stressed “that anyone who opened fire at soldiers will be arrested no matter what his social rank is or power... everyone is under surveillance.”
Shaker has been on the run for nearly two years. He is hiding in a home he recently bought in the southern Palestinian refugee camp of Ain el-Hilweh, his birthplace, according to witnesses who recently met him.
In an interview with LBCI released over the weekend, Shaker denied fighting alongside Salafist cleric Ahmed al-Asir's gunmen in the fierce 2013 clashes with the army in the Sidon suburb of Abra. At least 18 soldiers and dozens of gunmen were killed in the gunbattles.
Though he grew to become one of the Arab world's most famous singers, Shaker suffered through a miserable childhood of poverty, which a onetime musician friend says helped lead him down a dark path later in life.
Now in his mid-forties, Shaker was born to a Palestinian mother and Lebanese father.
Born Fadel Shmandur, he began his career as a popular wedding singer who performed from the rooftops of the camp, an over-crowded and hopeless place.
In his prime, Shaker sang love songs that were instant region-wide hits. He released his first album in the late nineties, and continued to perform until 2011.
H.K.
G.K.
| Copyright © 2012 Naharnet.com. All Rights Reserved. | https://www.naharnet.com/stories/en/171097 |