Asir Does Not Rule out Military Option if Hizbullah Apartments in Sidon are Not Vacated
Imam of Sidon's Bilal bin Rabah Mosque Sheikh Ahmed al-Asir accused on Wednesday the army of “defending” alleged apartments owned by Hizbullah gunmen in the southern city.
He demanded during a press conference that these apartments be vacated before Monday, saying: “The military option is one of several available to us should our demand fail to be met.”
He hoped that the residents of the city would follow reason “in order to thwart greater dangers that are looming in the future.”
“I am not issuing threats as we are all bound to coexist in Lebanon,” he stressed.
“Do not support the oppressor against the oppressed,” demanded Asir.
He then recounted how he had demanded that the Hizbullah apartments be vacated seven months ago.
His demand was met with a vow by caretaker Interior Minister Marwan Charbel to fulfill the request within 15 days, but he failed to do so.
On Tuesday's clashes between Asir's supporters and members of the Hizbullah-affiliated Resistance Brigades in the Sidon neighborhood of Abra, he said that the unrest started when Mahmoud al-Sous opened fire at a number of shops and attacked youths in the area.
He accused him of carrying out his actions in collaboration with the army intelligence, rejecting the army statement on the clash and revealing that photographs of Sous and the members of the branch had been taken.
The unrest on Tuesday left at least one person dead and four others wounded.
Voice of Lebanon radio (93.3) said the fighting broke out between Asir supporters and “Mahmoud al-Sous' group, which belongs to the Resistance Brigades.”
The Lebanese army deployed in Sidon as the violence comes amid soaring sectarian tensions in Lebanon that have escalated because of the raging war in neighboring Syria.
The army said several people were wounded by the gunfire.
He has alleged several times that the group uses several apartments in Abra to stockpile weapons and house fighters.
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