Report: AMAL Supporter who Shared Sectarian Video to be Questioned
The Central Criminal Investigations Bureau will interrogate AMAL Movement supporter Abbas al-Shami, who has received and shared a video deemed insulting to Shiites following a Facebook feud with a Lebanese man who lives in Europe.
LBCI television said the interrogation will take place under the supervision of the public prosecution.
Earlier in the day, five Lebanese lawyers filed a lawsuit against the man who appears in the video, Samer al-Sidawi, accusing him of “jeopardizing civil peace” and demanding his arrest and interrogation.
The video sparked riots by AMAL and Hizbullah supporters in central Beirut and attacks on protest sites in Sidon, Nabatieh and Hermel. The assailants demolished tents and burned down three cars as anger boiled over the video.
In the video, Sidawi, said to be living somewhere in Europe but otherwise from Lebanon's majority Sunni city of Tripoli, rails against Shiite politicians, religious figures and others. It was unclear what the link was between the video and the attacks on the protest camps but Shami is suspected of having played a role in incitement.
Sidawi later released another video apologizing for his words, stating that he "takes medicine and is sick," and that his insults were the result of a personal feud with Shami and that he did not intend to distribute the video to the public.
Screenshots published online, apparently of the Facebook chat between Sidawi and Shami, show that the online feud took place on Sunday night, during fierce confrontations between anti-corruption protesters and security forces in downtown Beirut. Supporters of AMAL and Hizbullah intervened in the clashes and attempted to storm the protest site.
Shami himself had appeared in a live Facebook video filmed at the protest, in which he said that the protesters would soon be assaulted.
Ali Merhi, an electrician from Khandaq al-Ghamiq, the Beirut neighborhood where the Monday night assailants appear to hail from, said in response to the violence: "The people of this area are all against what happened yesterday, and things have calmed down ... but some are still holding a grudge."
Shiite cleric Sheikh Mohammed Qassem Ayyad from Khandaq al-Ghamiq told LBCI TV Monday night: "If the attackers really loved (revered Shiite imam) Hussein, let them evacuate the streets. These are not the ethics of the Shiites."
Another protester from the northeastern region of Baalbek, Abbas Huwada, 34, said in Beirut that he is opposed to the violence, adding: "It doesn't matter if I am Shiite or Sunni. We are all Lebanese living under one flag. We need to be wiser. Someone comes out, makes a statement, and turns the country upside down."
The anti-government protests, which erupted in mid-October, have spared no Lebanese politician, accusing the ruling elite of corruption and mismanagement, and calling for a government of independents. They have largely been peaceful, sparked by an intensifying economic crisis
Speaker Nabih Berri and outgoing Prime Minister Saad Hariri met on Tuesday and urged the Lebanese to be aware from being "drawn toward strife" saying that some sides that they did not name are working to incite violence in the country. Both leaders called on the army and police to protect public and private property.
Source: Naharnet, Associated Press
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