Charbel Denies Pelted with Stones during Inspection of Bomb Blast Scene
Caretaker Interior Minister Marwan Charbel denied on Wednesday that he was pelted with stones by residents of Beirut's southern suburbs, saying there was only a dispute between them and members of his security team.
His press office said in a statement that the reports about the assault were “exaggerated.”
In remarks to al-Joumhouria newspaper, Charbel said he was welcomed in the Bir al-Abed area when he inspected the scene of a car bomb blast.
“What happened is that there was a dispute between my bodyguards and some young men who wanted to breach the security provided by them … A few minutes later an argument erupted,” Charbel said.
“One of the security members opened fire in the air to disperse the crowds, which led some of them to shout incomprehensible slogans,” he told al-Joumhouria.
“The security team then took me away from the area,” the caretaker minister said.
Reports said Tuesday that Hizbullah members fired in the air to disperse the protesters, who pelted Charbel with stones after he inspected the scene of the blast.
Charbel was reportedly trapped for 45 minutes in a building before he was escorted through a backdoor.
In other remarks to An Nahar daily, the caretaker minister said he had received a good welcome. But at the end of the inspection of the blast site and after making a short statement, a young men, who neither belongs to Hizbullah nor to Amal movement, threw a bottle on one of the guards.
The guard then fired in the air, which forced his bodyguards to take him rapidly for cover to a building where he stayed there for a short time.
Charbel described the bottle thrower as not normal.
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