1 Dead, 9 Hurt in Akkar, Tripoli Incidents Related to Mustaqbal Rally

A teenager died on Sunday in the northern region of Akkar following a row between pro- and anti-Syrian partisans, a security official said, as the Mustaqbal Movement held a mass rally in the nearby city of Tripoli to denounce the Syrian regime and its Lebanese ally Hizbullah.

Mohammad al-Mawla, 14, from the Sunni Muslim village of Sheikh Ayash, died in hospital of injuries sustained when he and another villager were run over by a car driven by a man from a nearby Alawite village, the official, who requested anonymity, told Agence France Presse.

He said the driver, who was accompanied by his brother, was also hospitalized in critical condition after being dragged out of the car and beaten by villagers.

The incident heightened tension in the region with residents of Sheikh Ayash blocking the main road through the village with burning tires and rubbish bins as news of the teenager's death spread.

Security forces immediately rushed to the area to prevent an escalation.

The Alawite community is an offshoot of Shiite Islam, and the majority of those living in Lebanon are loyal to the embattled regime of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, which is dominated by Alawites.

The security official said the row in Sheikh Ayash erupted after a vehicle with two passengers from a nearby Alawite village tried to drive through a crowd preparing to head to the northern city of Tripoli to participate in the rally organized by the Mustaqbal Movement.

Earlier on Sunday, three residents of the predominantly Alawite Tripoli neighborhood of Jabal Mohsen were injured by celebratory gunfire that accompanied Mustaqbal’s rally, state-run National News Agency reported.

NNA identified the three as Ibrahim Staiti, Mohammed Raad and Mohsen Ali al-Dabbashi.

For its part, the Arab Democratic Party, the dominant party in Jabal Mohsen, issued a statement saying Dabbashi was wounded by bullets fired at Jabal Mohsen during the Tripoli rally, during which “shells and grenades were fired at our areas, accompanied with insults and profanity.”

“This is their freedom, this is their sovereignty, this is their independence and this is their concept of reform,” the party said mockingly in its statement.

It condemned “such methods,” thanking the Army Command for “its insistence on preventing their sedition.” The party also lauded its members and Jabal Mohsen’s residents for “their self-restraint, despite the bullets fired at them.”

Meanwhile, AFP reported that celebratory gunfire during and after the Tripoli rally left three “Sunni” people wounded.

In another incident on Sunday evening, a grenade was thrown in the Tripoli neighborhood of Baal al-Darawish, which separates between Jabal Mohsen and Bab al-Tabbaneh.

The two neighborhoods have in the past been the scene of clashes between Sunnis and Alawites.

There were no reports of any injuries.