Army Detains Arab Democratic Party Spokesman for Few Hours
The Army Intelligence detained on Saturday Arab Democratic Party spokesman Abdul Latif Saleh, the state-run National News Agency reported.
Saleh was released few hours after questioning by the intelligence over his statements.
Earlier on Saturday, Saleh confirmed that the party's politburo chief Rifaat Eid is still in the northern city of Tripoli, pointing out that the arrest warrants issued against Eid and his father will be resolved through politics.
“Rifaat Eid is still at his neighborhood in Jabal Mohsen along with his 70 thousand supporters,” Saleh said in remarks published in the pan-Arab daily al-Sharq al-Awsat.
He noted that the arrest warrants issued against Eid and his father, Ali, “is a political matter that will be resolved through politics.”
On Tuesday, the military judiciary issued an arrest warrant in absentia against Eid, days after he was charged with belonging to an armed group, possession of arms and inciting sedition.
Saleh said that the Jabal Mohsen residents are angered by the arrest warrants against Ali Eid.
“Arrest warrants should have been issued against all Tripoli's politicians who funded and supported gunmen,” he added.
He stressed that the residents of Jabal Mohsen are fully cooperative with the security forces to guarantee the success of the security plan.
“We are the main benefactors from it,” Saleh told the newspaper.
Last week, State Commissioner to the Military Court Judge Saqr Saqr charged 12 Lebanese, including Eid, with seeking to carry out terrorist acts and involvement in gunbattles between the rival neighborhoods of Jabal Mohsen and Bab al-Tabbaneh in Tripoli.
Ten suspects, including Eid, are fugitives and only one Lebanese suspect was apprehended.
Rifaat's father, Ali Eid, is wanted for questioning over an August twin car bomb attack against two Sunni mosques in Tripoli that killed 45 people.
Security forces kicked off last week a security plan in Tripoli, seizing arms depots and detaining wanted suspects, who are involved in security chaos in the area.
Even in this deployment, top wanted men fled, including Rifaat and his father, after they were given a warning of the implementation of the plan.
Tripoli witnesses frequent gunbattles between two of the impoverished neighborhoods of Bab al-Tabbaneh, which is dominated by Sunnis who support Syrian rebels, and Jabal Mohsen, which is dominated by Alawites, who share the same sect as Syrian President Bashar Assad.
-H.K.
-D.A.
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