Two Charged in Baqaata Clash between PSP, Tawhid Party Supporters

Two people were charged on Thursday for their involvement in the clash that broke out on Saturday between Progressive Socialist Party and Arab Tawhid Party supporters.

State commissioner to the military court Judge Saqr Saqr charged a PSP security official Ayman al-Fatayri and Marwan Ashqar with the attempted murder of Jad al-Beaini and the injury of his brother Bashar, a member of the Arab Tawhid Party.

They were also charged with the possession of unlicensed arms and the attempted murder of two others.

The case has been referred to First Military Investigation Judge Riyad Abu Ghida.

Jad al-Beaini was killed in the clash that broke out in the Chouf town of Baqaata.

Two other people were wounded in the incident, which according to a statement by the Arab Tawhid Party, started as an individual dispute between al-Ashqar and Kifah Hani, the owner of a restaurant in Baqaata.

Al-Fatayri, who has nothing to do with the dispute, soon intervened by shooting at Hani and the two brothers, explained the statement.

The party, headed by former MP Wiam Wahhab, urged on Sunday all sides involved to exercise restraint and avoid retaliating to the incident.

For its part, the PSP, headed by MP Walid Jumblat, stressed in a statement on Sunday: “The clash was an individual one and does not have any political or factional links.”