by middleeasteye.net — Samir Geagea, head of the Lebanese Forces (LF), a Christian party, has been summoned for questioning over deadly violence that erupted at a protest last week, a judicial official said on Thursday. Fadi Akiki, a representative of the military court, had “instructed the army intelligence to summon Geagea and take his statement based on information provided by arrested LF members”, the official said. Seven people were killed last week when a gun battle erupted as protesters from the Hezbollah and Amal groups were on their way to demonstrate against the lead investigator of the Beirut port blast, Tarek Bitar. The majority of those killed were members of Hezbollah and Amal, who accused the LF of being responsible for sniper fire against the protesters that ignited street clashes, charges Geagea rejects.
Twenty-six people were arrested after the violence in the heart of the Lebanese capital, most of them LF members, the official said on Thursday. Geagea has denied responsibility for the deaths, saying that residents of Beirut’s Christian neighbourhood of Ain al-Remmaneh had “defended” themselves against “Hezbollah militiamen who tried to enter their homes”. On Thursday, Geagea told Lebanon’s MTV channel that he was not informed of any request to hear his statement on last week’s violence and added that his group does not have any armed fighters. “I am ready to appear before the judge, on one condition: that Hassan Nasrallah does it before me,” he said. Hezbollah chief Hassan Nasrallah on Monday launched a scathing attack against the LF leader, saying that his movement had 100,000 armed fighters at its disposal, and warned it against sparking any “civil war”. He has been in hiding since the war between Hezbollah and Israel in 2006.
By Maha El Dahan and Laila Bassam BEIRUT (Reuters) -The leader of the Christian Lebanese Forces party denied on Thursday his group has fighters, dismissing accusations by Hezbollah that it has a militia and seeks civil war as the fallout of deadly violence in Beirut continues to roil Lebanon. Already suffering a devastating economic meltdown, Lebanon has been overshadowed by renewed tensions since seven Shi’ite Muslims were shot dead in Beirut last week during the worst street violence in the capital in more than a decade. The heavily armed, Iran-backed Shi’ite group Hezbollah has accused the Lebanese Forces party of perpetrating the killing. The Lebanese Forces a group with close Saudi ties which had a powerful militia in the 1975-90 civil war, has denied any involvement.
In an interview with Lebanese broadcaster MTV on Thursday, LF leader Samir Geagea said the confrontation with Hezbollah was purely political and must remain so. “We do not have fighters,” Geagea said. Nobody should think about confronting Hezbollah militarily, Geagea said, saying this would be a big mistake. Sources familiar with the matter told Reuters a military court would ask Geagea to give a statement about the Oct. 14 violence. The sources did not say when. Asked about the report, Geagea said he had not been informed of any request for a statement, but if the court wants to take one from him it should first listen to Hezbollah leader Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah. Thursday’s shooting started as supporters of Hezbollah and its Shi’ite ally Amal were gathering for a demonstration against the lead investigator in the Beirut port blast probe.
HOLDING GOVERNMENT “HOSTAGE”
The army is still investigating the violence. Hezbollah has accused the LF of an ambush. There was no immediate response from Hezbollah to Geagea’s comments. Geagea has said the trouble began when supporters of the Shi’ite parties entered the Christian neighbourhood of Ain al-Remmaneh where they vandalised cars and four residents were wounded before a shot was fired. On Thursday, Geagea said Ain al-Remmaneh had been subjected to “an invasion”. He has said he did not know who had opened fire. The army said on Saturday a soldier suspected of opening fire towards the protesters was under investigation. The day of the incident, the army initially said gunfire had targeted protesters as they passed through the Teyouneh traffic circle dividing Christian and Shi’ite Muslim neighbourhoods. It later said there had been an “altercation and exchange of fire” as protesters were on their way to the demonstration.
The violence including the use of rocket-propelled grenades lasted several hours. Geagea said Nasrallah aimed to halt the probe into the port blast. Geagea said that while he initially thought Hezbollah had nothing to do with the explosion, “with its recent actions it is telling us that perhaps it might be concerned with the port explosion”. Hezbollah has been leading demands for the lead investigator in the probe, Judge Tarek Bitar, to be removed, accusing him of bias. Bitar has not sought to question any Hezbollah members over the blast.
Bitar has sought to question several Hezbollah allies on suspicion of negligence that led to the blast, which killed more than 200 people and devastated swathes of Beirut. In its efforts to stop the probe, Hezbollah has taken the current government “hostage”, Geagea said, referring to how standoff over Bitar has paralysed the cabinet. (Reporting By Laila Bassam, writing by Maha El Dahan, Writing by Maha El Dahan and Tom Perry; editing by Mark Heinrich and Alistair Bell) Copyright 2021 Thomson Reuters
