Hizb ut-Tahrir’s Anti-Syrian Regime Demonstration in Tripoli Ends without Incident
Hizb ut-Tahrir’s demonstration in support of the Syrian protests ended on Friday without any security incident being reported.
The demonstration, which defied a ban by Lebanese authorities, began after Friday Muslim prayers in front of al-Mansouri mosque in Tripoli and marched towards the Nijmeh square in the northern port city amid heavy security presence.
LBC television reported that a “very modest” number of demonstrators took part in the event, noting that a few members of the Salafist movement marched in the rally.
They demanded that the government adopt more openness towards such movements.
OTV said that the demonstrators did not exceed 1,000.
Agence France Presse reported that the demonstrators held banners demanding a halt to the “massacres against the Syrian people.”
Others tried to chant anti-Syrian regime slogans, but members of Hizb ut-Tahrir stopped them.
The party’s media official, Ahmed al-Qasas said before the crowds: “We belong to one Islamic ummah and aiding our Syrian brothers is a religious duty.”
“A day will come when the Islamic caliphate will be established throughout the Arab and Islamic world,” he stressed.
The founder of the Salafist movement in Lebanon, Dai al-Islam al-Shahhal, called for an end to the “massacres being committed against the Syrian people.”
On Thursday, caretaker Prime Minister Saad Hariri met with Internal Security Forces chief Maj. Gen. Ashraf Rifi, Army commander Gen. Jean Qahwaji, caretaker Interior Minister Ziad Baroud and ISF's head of the intelligence bureau, Col. Wissam al-Hassan, to discuss the rally and warned that security forces would crack down on anyone who breached the ban.
They highlighted the importance of the firm implementation of a decision taken by the North Lebanon Security Council to ban demonstrations in Tripoli.
However, a security official told Agence France Presse that the rally would be authorized at Nijmeh Square, just 30 meters from al-Mansouri mosque, the starting point of the demonstration.
The initial venue was Nour Square, located 500 meters from the mosque in the city.
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