Army Beat Police Colonel, Arrest his Son

Army troops beat up police Col. Hussein Saleh late Wednesday and arrested his son over traffic priority, media reports said.

They said a Lebanese army patrol that happened to be passing by when the colonel's son pulled his gun on a motorist over traffic priority arrested the young man.

The incident took place near al-Hayat hospital in Beirut's Gallery Semaan neighborhood.

The colonel arrived soon afterwards when he was informed of his son's arrest to solve the dispute.

But an army captain on the scene ordered the arrest of all those on ground, including the police colonel.

A quarrel developed into a fist fight that injured the colonel.

An-Nahar newspaper said the colonel was beaten up so badly that he had to be admitted to hospital.

Police chief Gen. Ashraf Rifi told An-Nahar that the army and police opened a joint investigation into the matter.