Two people sustained gunshot injuries on Saturday when unknown
assailants opened fire at protesters in Abdel-Hamid Karami Square in Tripoli.
Prime Minister Najib Miqati warned against portraying the northern
port city as being out of the state’s legitimacy.
The residents in Tripoli are demonstrating against the arrest of
Shadi al-Mawlawi, who allegedly contacted a “terrorist group.”
“Only Justice will achieve the people’s rights and we will always
support those who are oppressed,” Miqati said in a statement.
The premier discussed the situation in Tripoli with Army Commander
General Jean Qahwaji and the head of the security services, demanding them to restore
the calm in the city and to control the security situation.
The protesters held a sit-in in Abdel-Hamid Karami Square and
blocked the international road, holding banners demanding the immediate release
of al-Mawlawi.
They also warned of taking further escalatory measures.
The NNA reported that the angry protesters blocked several roads
in Tripoli with burning tires.
The General Security said in a statement that al-Mawlawi is
allegedly contacting a “terrorist group.”
“The directorate and under the supervision of the competent
judiciary tracked down Shadi al-Mawlawi and managed to arrest him on Saturday
at the entrance of (Finance) Minister Mohammed al-Safadi’s Social Services
Center in Tripoli,” the statement said.
Al-Safadi said that “Mawlawi was lured to the Social Services
Center in al-Nour square by security services on the pretext of granting him a
health care benefit.”
He slammed the General Security for violating the law and norms by
raiding the center and shocking employees and citizens.
The minister demanded the General Security to open a probe into
the incident and to punish those who are responsible.
Al-Safadi demanded the “immediate release of al-Mawlawi.
Agence France Presse reported that black flags bearing the
profession of Islam, "God is Great", were planted alongside the
Syrian flag of independence, a symbol of revolt in the neighboring country.
"We will not leave until my brother is released," Nizar
al-Mawlawi, the younger brother of al-Mawlawi, told AFP.
Al-Jamaa al-Islamiya condemned the arrest procedures.
It criticized the “deplorable methods in luring citizens, which
violates regulations and laws,” calling for the immediately releasing
al-Mawlawi.
For his part, head of the Salafists in Lebanon Dai al-Islam
al-Chahal demanded the competent authorities to “immediately release”
al-Mawlawi.
He considered that the arrest of al-Mawlawi is a “new chapter in
oppression, injustice and deprivation that the city has suffered from for
decades.”
Lebanon is divided between the March 14- led opposition, backed by
Washington and hostile to the Syrian regime, and the March 8 Forces, which
dominates the government and is supported by Damascus and Tehran.
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http://www.naharnet.com/stories/en/39987
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