Shooting Victims Buried in Lassa amid Heavy Gunfire, Killer Handed Over to ISF
إقرأ هذا الخبر بالعربية
Ghassan and Hadi Seifeddine, the victims of the Wata al-Joz incident, were laid to rest on Sunday in their hometown Lassa, in the presence of General Security chief Abbas Ibrahim, who represented President Michel Suleiman, a Hizbullah delegation and MPs Simon Abi Ramia, Abbas Hashem and Walid Khoury.
Mourners fired their guns heavily in the air during the funeral procession as Abi Ramia thanked the residents for their "wisdom" and stressed that "no one is above the law."
Later on Sunday, Anthony Khalil, who is accused of killing the two men, was handed over to the Intelligence Bureau of the Internal Security Forces under the supervision of Interior Minister Marwan Charbel.
For his part, Hizbullah official Sheikh Hussein Zoaiter stressed "the need that the perpetrator turn himself in to authorities," emphasizing that "the region will maintain its religious coexistence.”
Earlier, reports said that an agreement has been reached between security forces and the family of the shooter, under which he would turn himself in within hours.
The residents of Lassa vowed on Saturday to take “escalatory measures” should the assailant remain at large.
They noted that Lassa lies in an area near various tourist destinations, warning that they may block the roads to areas such as the Kfardebian and Faraya ski resorts should the state fail to apprehend the criminal.
“We call on officials who are keen on Lebanon and mutual coexistence to hand the criminal over to the judiciary,” they demanded.
The residents blocked the Hrajel-Mayrouba road in order to protest the failure to apprehend the criminal.
“We are speaking from a position of power not weakness,” they declared.
“We do not want to take justice into our own hands,” they warned
“We hope that this issue would not be transformed into strife,” they added.
Ghassan Seifeddine and his son Hadi were killed during a personal dispute, which erupted over a traffic accident, in the Wata al-Joz region on Thursday.
On Saturday, Lassa cleric Sheikh Mohammed Itawi announced that the two men will be buried on Sunday afternoon. The announcement came after Hizbullah chief Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah interfered and requested that the families withdraw their pledge of sentencing the accused to death before they lay the bodies of Ghassan and Hadi to rest.
27 January 2013, 18:32
17
How many were there in the crowd of Shia who were after him? Looks like self defense to me. Where are the ones wanted by the Hariri court, the killed helicopter pilot and so many others? Yes the Hezz hide them. We all know what is going on.
27 January 2013, 19:32
17
A court of law will have to decide. Not the shooter fanily, thugs on the street or posters on naharnet. Howerver, the whole episode is tragic: for the victim family and above all for the lebanese people who had to watch their government as an arbitrator rather than enforcer of laws. What if the victims came from families with no military or political muscle and the shooter comes from one that has these muscles? I guess we know how this would end up.
27 January 2013, 20:44
01
@ Neon, if really a crowd was after him with machetes, i guess me , you or anybody would have shot anywhere to bring them down and be able to flee. i would have like seeing you in the same situation to see what you would do if you had a gun and people were coming at you to cut you to pieces.. But what surprises me the most is that you are against killing but you post a picture of one of the greatest arab dictators and killer of his people of history. Wow such objectivity
27 January 2013, 20:49
71
Terrorists shooting at terrorists. There's only one winner, the average Lebanese !
27 January 2013, 21:29
23
“We are speaking from a position of power not weakness,” they declared............... that is the problem and in the end (no one knows how long that would take) that will be the reason for their downfall.
27 January 2013, 22:32
22
Make Lassa an arm free city. Hell make the whole of lebanon an arms free country!
27 January 2013, 23:37
10
You did good Anthony , I would of done the same thing.It's time to cleanse Mt Lebanon of these machete wielding thugs.May they rot in Hell!
28 January 2013, 04:31
00
This incident confirms on sad fact: Lebanese people are armed to the teeth and the government is totally helpless ......
28 January 2013, 08:07
01
What is shocking is that the shooter was not arrested until the Lassa people demonstrated and threatened of escalation. Authorities are shockingly powerless.
28 January 2013, 09:32
01
And when hizbullah shot the helicopter pilot, did his family block and burn roads?
28 January 2013, 10:44
01
"Buried in Lassa amid Heavy Gunfire" Now how primitive is that?
28 January 2013, 13:07
00
whats with this intemidating behavier of going to the streets, weapons drawn, whenever people want the government to act?Jungle I tell you.
Animals indeed.Unedeucated peasant mentality for sure.
28 January 2013, 15:22
10
says a picture of a guy who has an avatar of bashar al assad!
28 January 2013, 16:25
00
to phoenix, do you have any idea how many incidents in shia areas of lebanon occur in which shias fight among each other and in many cases these fights happen in large part to traffic accidents or careless driving situations. Sometimes the fights lead to injuries and death. Do you think they, the combatants, care a less whether they have any political affiliation to hezbollah or any other party. Its not about imposing political strenth, its about dealing with every day headaches of lebanons roads. plain and simple. you are over over stretching things by miles.
29 January 2013, 10:06
00
Maybe they think we are scared to defend ourselves; here is the news: NOBODY SCARES US. Anthony is a young man who stood up for Pierre Nakhoul who was getting stabbed by the victims & for himself. YES, This is self defense. A crime is when u stabb people or kill them on the road or threaten to kill them bcuz they re not of the same religion or dont share ur opinions.Khalsouna ba2a
