Hizbullah Posters Spark Clash outside LAU's Beirut Campus

A clash erupted Wednesday outside the campus of the Lebanese American University (LAU) in Beirut’s Qureitem area.

Al-Jadeed TV said the clash pitted LAU students belonging to Hizbullah and the Amal Movement against supporters of al-Mustaqbal Movement who came from outside the university.

The clash broke out as Hizbullah’s students were marking their party’s so-called Martyr Leaders Day by displaying posters of Hizbullah’s slain leaders and blaring partisan anthems from loud speakers. The rally was organized in the street outside the university’s campus seeing as LAU’s administration bans political party activities inside the university.

Media reports said the army intervened and contained the clash, which involved the use of fists and batons.

LAU’s administration meanwhile issued a statement clarifying that the clash occurred outside and not inside the university and that all political events are banned at the university’s campuses in Beirut and Jbeil.

“The university urges the various media outlets to seek accuracy in this difficult period that Lebanon is going through, especially as to preserving the reputation of Lebanon’s university institutions and students,” the statement added.