Protests Ongoing in Tripoli against Mawlawi’s Arrest, Two Wounded
Two people sustained gunshot injuries on Saturday when unknown assailants opened fire at protesters in Abdel-Hamid Karami Square in Tripoli.
Prime Minister Najib Miqati warned against portraying the northern port city as being out of the state’s legitimacy.
The residents in Tripoli are demonstrating against the arrest of Shadi al-Mawlawi, who allegedly contacted a “terrorist group.”
“Only Justice will achieve the people’s rights and we will always support those who are oppressed,” Miqati said in a statement.
The premier discussed the situation in Tripoli with Army Commander General Jean Qahwaji and the head of the security services, demanding them to restore the calm in the city and to control the security situation.
The protesters held a sit-in in Abdel-Hamid Karami Square and blocked the international road, holding banners demanding the immediate release of al-Mawlawi.
They also warned of taking further escalatory measures.
The NNA reported that the angry protesters blocked several roads in Tripoli with burning tires.
The General Security said in a statement that al-Mawlawi is allegedly contacting a “terrorist group.”
“The directorate and under the supervision of the competent judiciary tracked down Shadi al-Mawlawi and managed to arrest him on Saturday at the entrance of (Finance) Minister Mohammed al-Safadi’s Social Services Center in Tripoli,” the statement said.
Al-Safadi said that “Mawlawi was lured to the Social Services Center in al-Nour square by security services on the pretext of granting him a health care benefit.”
He slammed the General Security for violating the law and norms by raiding the center and shocking employees and citizens.
The minister demanded the General Security to open a probe into the incident and to punish those who are responsible.
Al-Safadi demanded the “immediate release of al-Mawlawi.
Agence France Presse reported that black flags bearing the profession of Islam, "God is Great", were planted alongside the Syrian flag of independence, a symbol of revolt in the neighboring country.
"We will not leave until my brother is released," Nizar al-Mawlawi, the younger brother of al-Mawlawi, told AFP.
Al-Jamaa al-Islamiya condemned the arrest procedures.
It criticized the “deplorable methods in luring citizens, which violates regulations and laws,” calling for the immediately releasing al-Mawlawi.
For his part, head of the Salafists in Lebanon Dai al-Islam al-Chahal demanded the competent authorities to “immediately release” al-Mawlawi.
He considered that the arrest of al-Mawlawi is a “new chapter in oppression, injustice and deprivation that the city has suffered from for decades.”
Lebanon is divided between the March 14- led opposition, backed by Washington and hostile to the Syrian regime, and the March 8 Forces, which dominates the government and is supported by Damascus and Tehran.
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