Asir's Supporters Block Sidon Roads to Prevent Burial of Hizbullah Fighter
Supporters of Salafist cleric Sheikh Ahmed al-Asir blocked several roads in Sidon on Wednesday to stop the burial of a Hizbullah fighter at a Sunni cemetery in the southern coastal city.
Media reports said several Sidon residents joined the protest.
Their move prompted the mourners to bury the fighter at the cemetery of the Shiite sect in Sidon.
Hizbullah has lately held funerals for members whom officials close to the group say died in the town of Qusayr in Syria's central province of Homs while fighting rebels seeking to topple the regime of President Bashar Assad.
Rami Abdul-Rahman, who heads the Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, said Wednesday that the government and Hizbullah bombarded Qusayr with rocket launchers.
Qusayr lies near the Lebanese border on land corridor linking the capital Damascus with the Mediterranean coast.
Last month, al-Asir urged Sunnis to join the rebels.
"There is a religious duty on every Muslim who is able to do so... to enter into Syria in order to defend its people, its mosques and religious shrines, especially in Qusayr and Homs," Asir said.
He said joining the fight in Homs was "especially a duty for the Lebanese because Lebanon provides the only gateway" into central Syria.
The cleric said his address mainly targeted "residents of the border areas," but added: "This fatwa (religious decree) affects us all, especially those who have military experience."
Asir has seen his following swell in the past year, in part due to his firebrand speeches and staunch opposition to Hizbullah.
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