Military Investigative Judge Nabil Wehbe questioned three
detainees on Monday afternoon on charges of being affiliated with an armed
terrorist organization; Shadi Mawlawi for whom an arrest warrant was issued,
Hamzeh Mahmoud Tarabay was put under house arrest and Qatari national Abdul
Aziz Atiyeh who was also put under house arrest. Judge Wehbe is expected to
question three others on Tuesday.
Military Court Judge Sakr Sakr had filed a lawsuit against six
arrested persons including Shadi al-Mawlawi on charges of belonging to an armed
terrorist organization, committing felonies and undermining the state’s
authority and prestige, according to articles 335 and 314, sanctions 5 and 6 of
the terrorist law enacted on 11/1/1958. Judge Sakr referred them to the Lebanese Military
magistrate Riad Abu Ghida.
The sit-in held in Al Nour Square in Tripoli right after
the afternoon prayers is still ongoing as protestors cut off the road in the
square calling for the release of Shadi al-Mawlawi.
Sheikh Ahmad al-Assir, the Imam of Bilal Bin Rabah Mosque who arrived in the evening is participating in the sit-in.
Sporadic clashes continued on Monday
in Tripoli, at all the intersection between Bab el Tebbaneh and Jabal Mohsen as
well as in Mallouleh, al-Mankoubin near Baddawi and Al-Bakkar locality in
al-Qibba. Machineguns and rocket propelled
grenades were used.
A fire broke out in one of the buildings overlooking the stricken
area while clashes and tension intensified in Rifa-Jabal Mohsen, and a number of
rocket propelled grenades were used. Also, mortar fire was seen for the first time in Tripoli
clashes today when two shells fell on Bab el Tebbaneh.
An LAF officer and an ISF member were killed in today’s
clashes.
Exclusive
sources told LBCI that clashes today killed 8 people and
injured around 76 people, most of which were civilians.
The
ISF intensified its presence in the region and sent two units, a force of 120,
in addition to two armored vehicles to support the LAF in Jabal Mohsen and Bab
el-Tebbaneh.
Preacher and Imam of al-Taqwa mosque Salim al- Rafei told LBCI that he
was surprised to see a state institution treat citizens in such a barbaric way,
refusing that any Lebanese body be affiliated with the Syrian regime.
After leaving the meeting held at the residence of MP
Mohammad Abdul Latif Kabbara, Future bloc MP Mouin Merhebi accused the LAF command
of failing to implement the decisions of the Higher Judicial Council. Merhebi
held the LAF responsible for the bloodshed and the deaths “since they did not
want to enter the regions rocked by clashes”.
Merhebi told LBCI that the LAF and the General Security want
to ignite a conflict in the country by arresting Shadi al-Mawlawi illegally. “It
is as if Syrian command ordered the LAF to keep the clashes ongoing in Tripoli”,
he added.
Merhebi added that the director general of the General
Security is adopting the Syrian policy in Lebanon without taking the laws in
force into account.
As for the brother of Shadi al-Mawlawi, he told LBCI that if
his brother is not released by Monday afternoon, residents will re-close Al
Nour Square.
“We will not hesitate to cut off Beirut’s road in addition to
Tripoli’s roads”, he said.
The French Ministry of Foreign Affairs condemned the bloody
violence that shook the city of Tripoli in the past few days, calling on the
Lebanese not to import the Syrian conflict.
The spokesperson for the French Foreign Ministry Bernard
Valero stressed that France calls on all the Lebanese to put Lebanon’s interest
above all considerations and give priority to dialogue, national unity and
civil peace in order to prevent the importation of a conflict they have nothing
to do with.