Allouki Back in Prison after Medical Tests amid Tripoli Protests

The commander of an armed group in the northern city of Tripoli was taken back to Roumieh prison after he underwent medical tests, drawing the ire of his relatives, the state-run National News Agency reported on Wednesday.

NNA denied that Ziad Allouki had a heart attack. It said his health deteriorated because he had gone on hunger strike in Roumieh, the country's largest prison.

Allouki has been charged with belonging to an armed group aimed at carrying out terrorist acts as well as killing and attempting to murder Lebanese soldiers.

He was the so-called leader of the Souq al-Qameh fighting frontier in Bab al-Tabbaneh neighborhood of the northern city of Tripoli.

But as an unprecedented security plan got underway in the city in April, he went into hiding, joining many top fugitives who disappeared with the beginning of the crackdown.

He surrendered to the army intelligence along with other suspects in May.

Ahmed al-Abboud, who was among those who surrendered to the army in Tripoli, was hospitalized on Wednesday because his health deteriorated over his hunger strike, NNA said.

The city has witnessed dozens of rounds of fighting between Bab al-Tabbaneh, whose residents are Sunni, and mainly Alawite Jabal Mohsen.

The clashes, which have left scores of people, including soldiers, dead, were the result of the spillover of the Syrian war, which is pitting troops loyal to Alawite President Bahsar Assad against Sunni rebels trying to oust him.

When news about his health deterioration broke out, many protesters blocked roads in Tripoli with burning tires on Wednesday demanding Allouki's release.

The relatives of Allouki and the rest of the Tripoli fighting detainees erected tents at Abou Ali roundabout and blocked the road with stones, garbage bins and some trucks.

NNA said that a fifth grenade was also tossed near al-Nasseri mosque. The army deployed heavily in the area near Abou Ali roundabout after the attack.

G.K.

H.K.