Death at anti-Hezbollah rally spurs stability fears June 10, 2013 01:07 AMBy Stephen Dockery<http://www.dailystar.com.lb/Stephen-Dockery.ashx> , Mohammed Zaatari <http://www.dailystar.com.lb/Mohammed-Zaatari.ashx>The Daily Star[image: A+][image: A-]
BEIRUT/SIDON: Fears over the countrys stability grew Sunday after an anti- Hezbollah protester was killed and several others were injured outside the Iranian Embassy in Beirut in one of three rallies staged to protest the partys involvement in the Syria war. The victim, identified as Hashem Salman, 28, belonged to the Lebanese Option Party, a fierce Hezbollah critic. Later in the day, a large anti-Hezbollah rally in the city of Sidon drew about 10,000 people, including 2,500 Syrians, but took place without incident. Addressing the rally at Sidon stadium, and protected by police and 750 security personnel from Al-Jamaa al-Islamiya, which organized the event, speakers denounced Hezbollah for sending hundreds of its men to fight alongside regime forces against Syrian rebels. The protest outside the Iranian Embassy was organized by the Lebanese Option Party, which is headed by Ahmad al-Asaad, a Shiite politician from south Lebanon. The embassy is located in Bir Hassan, a predominantly pro-Hezbollah district south of Beirut. A number of Hezbollah supporters, wearing black shirts and yellow ribbons around their arms and wielding batons, shoved the protesters away from the site as they exited buses some 200 meters from the embassy complex. The protesters barely had time to raise their banners before they were beaten up, and several were injured with sticks. Several of the men in black shirts then fired over two dozen shots in the air to disperse the demonstrators. The Lebanese Army said a man was killed as a result of a clash. Upon the arrival of a convoy belonging to a political aide in Bir Hassan for a protest outside the Iranian Embassy over the ongoing events in Syria, a fight broke out between members of the convoy and some citizens during which one of the individuals opened fire using a pistol that led to the serious wounding of a citizen, who later died, the Army said in a statement. Local TV reports said Salman, who headed the Lebanese Option Partys student committee, was shot twice in the leg, once in the back, and was hit on the head with a baton. Hashem Salman is a Shiite and his father and great-grandfathers are Shiites. They killed him because he disagreed with their [Hezbollahs] opinion, a furious Asaad said. The embassy protest coincided with another small rally at Martyrs Square in Downtown Beirut that also condemned Hezbollahs military intervention in the 2-year-old civil war in Syria. Some 100 protesters, including Syrians waving the Syrian opposition flag, gathered under a large banner reading: Rejecting Hezbollahs fighting in Syria. One of those addressing the rally was Saleh Mashnouk, a son of Future Movement MP Nouhad Mashnouk, whose parliamentary bloc supports the uprising against Syrian President Bashar Assads regime.Those fighting in Syria are not Lebanese. Their culture, their flag, money and weapons are Iranian, said Mashnouk, an outspoken critic of Hezbollah. We are here to wipe out the shame that struck Lebanon because of them. The low turnout at the Martyrs Square rally was blamed on stringent security measures taken by the Lebanese Army following reports that Hezbollah and its March 8 allies were planning to hold a rival demonstration at the same location. Although no major political parties mobilized their supporters for the event, many protesters said they had come with political groups, albeit as local or youth chapters. Hezbollah wants to drag us into a war that doesnt concern us, said Ali Ahmad, 19, a Future Movement supporter from Beiruts Tariq al-Jadideh neighborhood. I came to tell [Hezbollah leader Sayyed Hasan] Nasrallah ... your battle is not in Syria, its not in Qusair, its not in Deraa. Your battle is in Palestine and south Lebanon, so dont bring a sectarian war to Syria, said Saad, a young Syrian from Aleppo, north Syria, who came with his family but declined to give his last name. Rabieh Dandeshli, an official with Al-Jamaa al-Islamiya, said he came to offer his personal support even though the party was not officially participating in the demonstration. There is a silent majority in Lebanon who are against any Lebanese party interfering [in Syria], he said, adding that Lebanese mobilization should be limited to assisting Syrian refugees in Lebanon. The National Liberal Partys student wing condemned the incident outside the Iranian Embassy and announced its solidarity with the Lebanese Option Partys free Shiites. The Free Shiite Movement, an anti-Hezbollah group, condemned Salmans killing at the hands of what it called Hezbollahs shabbiha, a term used by Syrian rebels to refer to Assads militiamen. It saddens us to see the resistance party turn into a killer militia that exercises brutality and sheds the blood of the oppressed and Muslims, the movement said in a statement. Hezbollah has confirmed its involvement in the Syrian fighting. Syrian government forces, backed by Hezbollah fighters, last week captured the rebel-held strategic town of Qusair near the Lebanese border after a three-week offensive against Syrian rebels. Elsewhere, a protest was held Sunday afternoon by the Salvation Movement outside the Saudi Embassy in Beirut against what protesters described as Saudi weakness in guarding the interests of Sunnis. Protesters also held banners condemning Hezbollahs interference in Syria and Irans political influence in the region. Additional reporting by Meris Lutz Read more: http://www.dailystar.com.lb/News/Politics/2013/Jun-10/219882-death-at-anti-hezbollah-rally-spurs-stability-fears.ashx#ixzz2VoHvn6Fu (The Daily Star :: Lebanon News :: http://www.dailystar.com.lb) Beirut downtown sit-in backs Syrian revolution [image: Demonstrators gather to protest against Hezbollah] A sit-in was held in the center of the Lebanese capital Beirut to protest the participation of the Shiite group Hezbollah in the fighting raging in Syria. According to the National News Agency, the sit-in that took place on Sunday was organized by the gathering of Lebanese for the freedom and dignity of the Syrian people, amid security measures taken by the Lebanese Armed Forces. The NNA report added that Future Movement MP Khaled Zahraman, as well as March 14 General Secretariat member Charles Jabbour and media figure Saleh Mashnouq attended the gathering. Jabbour addressed the demonstrators, saying that Hezbollahs intervention in Syria will stir up sectarian strife in the Middle East. In turn, Mashnouq said that the Shiite group will not prevail in Syria. We reject Hezbollahs fighting in Syria The Syrian revolution will prevail. The Shiite group is taking part in fighting alongside the Syrian regime in a violent uprising that has emphasized Lebanon sharp divide along sectarian lines. The Future Movement, along with its March 14 allies has been a staunch critic of Hezbollahs involvement in the Syrian crisis and has backed the rebels in their efforts to overthrow the regime of President Bashar al-Assad. 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