Muslim Clerics Protest Omar al-Atrash Arrest, Accuse Army of Acting as 'Gang'
إقرأ هذا الخبر بالعربية
A number of Muslim scholars and clerics who hail from the Bekaa on Sunday staged a protest to condemn the arrest of Sheikh Omar al-Atrash, who is reportedly involved in recent bomb attacks.
“We are protesting due to the injustice that is being practiced against scholars and young men in Sunni regions who are supportive of the Syrian revolution,” Sheikh Khaled al-Arefi said at a sit-in outside the defense ministry building in Yarze.
Arefi voiced surprise that “detention has become a tool to physically liquidate Muslim clerics,” wondering whether the army was “acting as an army or as a gang?”
“If aiding the (Syrian) refugees deserves liquidation, we say it loud and clear: the scholars committee will not allow authorities to use double standards,” the cleric warned.
The delegation called on the president, the prime minister, the army chief and the intelligence director to take a “serious” stance.
“If the situation continued in this manner, what kind of security would they be seeking? We can rein in our youths for a while, but should injustice aggravate, everyone will regret that,” the delegation warned.
Another cleric at the rally noted that the clerics have no faith in “the probe into the bombing that al-Atrash was said to be involved in.”
Prior to the sit-in, army troops had cordoned off all the entrances leading to the defense ministry.
Meanwhile, LBCI TV quoted sources following up on the investigations as saying that “Atrash's interrogation is being conducted under the supervision of the relevant judicial authorities and he has confessed to dealing with terrorist groups and facilitating the transportation of booby-trapped cars."
On Friday, al-Akhbar newspaper broke the news about Atrash's arrest, saying he is “suspected of offering refuge for individuals with alleged links to the Abdullah Azzam Brigades, al-Nusra Front and the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant.”
Atrash played a “logistic role in terms of providing cars and facilitating the movements of the group suspected of carrying out the Bir al-Abed and Rweiss bombings,” al-Akhbar added.
The cleric is registered with Dar al-Fatwa, the top Sunni authority in the country, al-Akhbar noted. He is also a cousin of Omar al-Atrash, who was accused of involvement in the Aug. 9 Bir al-Abed bombing and who was killed in an ambush on the Lebanese-Syrian border on September 11.
In January alone, three car bomb attacks have rocked areas that are considered Hizbullah strongholds in the country. Two bombings hit the Beirut southern suburb of Haret Hreik and another bomb attack targeted the Bekaa town of Hermel.
The three bombings were carried out by suicide attackers.
26 January 2014, 17:46
52
Well but cleric first reflex is to put their faith into the army and justice.
26 January 2014, 18:15
42
The process must be allowed to go forward without political interference and without the use of "Rab Rabu li Saqr Saqr" clause.
26 January 2014, 18:06
123
what do you know about the army's behaviour ,
Mr arrogant i-know-everything-about-everything?
26 January 2014, 19:08
38
Or, there are people who skim through the comments and can't be bothered replying to stupid comments like yours.
FT is right, why does the Sunni community victimise itself every time one of theirs is arrested? That's why his comment gets my thumbs up.
26 January 2014, 19:18
92
yep.... sometimes 40 people just skim through your comments and cannot be bothered replying. That is why @marhaba's comments gets my sure down vote.
26 January 2014, 19:23
92
if you want to see how, go check this thread and look at the votes and how many people just skimmed by and did not bother to reply or comment!!!:)))))
http://www.naharnet.com/stories/en/115777-bassil-rotation-of-power-in-cabinet-is-aimed-at-eliminating-the-other
26 January 2014, 21:02
35
@ice-man,
You seem to know a whole of a lot about voting as you posted, "but he gets all the votes? It means he is right!"
How did you manage as an M14-Saudi person to go to school in Syria Baath?
That is very impressive. Because to my knowledge, you guys in the M14 culture are all Saudi-bound. including your PM spiritual leader, your education in a land where vote and voting is prohibited.
26 January 2014, 18:13
124
Yes this reminds me of another sect that has been doing it for years, I guess they had a good teacher.
26 January 2014, 18:33
17
I honestly am sick of sects playing the victim card. The Sunnis this the Shias that the Christians and so on. The only victim is Lebanon and its people of all sects. Honestly what is up with this rubbish. Whoever victimises the innocents and harbours terrorism and I mean whoever should be brought to justice nothing more and nothing less. Why are we so divided? It is truly sad for a country with such potential to be so self destructive....
26 January 2014, 19:11
25
Cedars2: Here, FT said something which gets a thumbs down from me, as it's inaccurate to say that the Christians (as a whole community) are under the law.
Does that answer your question about thumbs up/down? I hope you can sleep better at night.
26 January 2014, 21:44
16
I'm not so sure about that FT. If you mean that Christians as a community have historically always supported and backed the LAF then I agree with you (obviously with minor exceptions). However I'm not so sure that all Christians are under the law, that's debatable.
The problem is not having laws, cause we do, but it's about implementing it properly which I think the state has always failed to doing so because of excessive political meddling or simple carelessness.
26 January 2014, 19:19
82
One is called the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, while the other is called the ISLAMIC Republic of Iran.
26 January 2014, 19:20
44
You may like to play the victim card against naharnet, but naharnet is probably one of the farthest websites from being pro-Muslim. The continued coverage and posting of extremists reminds me of fox news. As the commenter mentioned, naharnet is writing the article as if it all happened consecutively, which is why one must read multiple sources of news in the hopes of getting close to the real picture.
26 January 2014, 19:26
17
Untrue anonym. Remember ersal and mr al hujairy who tortured and killed lebanese army officers and soldiers? He was never arrested too, this goes also for the kadat ma7awir of bab el tebbeneh... As for mr Eid che3bit el ma3lumet claimed he has helped the bombers of Tripoli so why don't they go and arrest him? Why throw the hot potato to the LA?
26 January 2014, 19:27
18
Still awaiting mr geagea, gemayel and all those praising the nice, decent, moderate future gang and co.
26 January 2014, 19:31
33
These so called clerics, from both sides, can go and kiss themselves. This is the nest who give birth to radicalism and extremism. These are not religious men that exact respect and/or grace of God. These are the type of people who are trying to change the face of Lebanon.
26 January 2014, 19:32
32
Thank you TheObsever and Voiceofreason for pointing out this important information. It's extremely relevant that the cleric's confession came after the protests - I wonder if he was interrogated by HA sympathizes.
I too am concerned that Naharnet has become increasingly slanted towards articles that paint Sunnis in a poor light and have started to see this for some time. I am prefer to read a paper that presents facts and shows journalistic integrity.
26 January 2014, 19:58
23
Yes the sheikh will need to be arrested and questioned if he was involved and there are true evidence about links to destabilize the country, same goes to Eid in tripoli who still goes on TV and the moukhabarat did not throw his ass in jail yet.
26 January 2014, 20:33
15
separate religion from our politics plz.
arrest all of them, including eid plz.
The majority in lebanon is silent. we pray for better days, but we're tired of waiting. it's time public anger boils over, how long can they keep us on the edge like this???
26 January 2014, 20:44
38
Let the army do their job, and stop using the sect card in order to look innocent.
26 January 2014, 21:46
24
That is because they were innocent, there were no proofs against them. These guys say they are innocent even though all facts and proofs points in their direction
26 January 2014, 22:34
03
Suspect phase, i've heard that one before anony. Just like the four innocent generals were under suspect phase for years in Jail over the Hariri case.
26 January 2014, 23:44
30
Ya ma7la al mawlawi ya Ft
Nov 24, 2010 - Loyalty to the Resistance bloc MP Nawwar Sahili said on Wednesday that he is legally defending radical Islamic preacher Omar Bakri at Hezbollah Secretary General Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah’s request. He added that the Hezbollah chief made the request due to the defendant’s innocence.
The radical Muslim cleric, Omar Bakri Muhammad, who was sentenced to life in prison in Lebanon, has been released on bail pending a retrial. He was convicted in his absence earlier this month of forming a militant group to weaken Lebanon's government.
The 50-year-old Bakri, who lived in Britain for 20 years, was found guilty, along with more than 40 other Lebanese, Palestinians, Syrians and Saudis, of "incitement to murder, theft and the possession of arms and explosives.”
27 January 2014, 04:51
11
I am so sick of Islamic clerics, Islamists and religious nuts who are always inciting problems and violence--
