Sheikh Hammoud: They want to turn Sidon to "a new Tripoli"

Imam of Sidon's al-Quds Mosque, Sheikh Maher Hammoud said on Thursday that the security incidents in Sidon are not "a simple reaction" to the attack carried out against the brother of the Imam of Bilal bin Rabah mosque Sheikh Ahmad al-Assir.

Sheikh Hammoud's statement came during a press conference in which he asserted that the deployment of armed men in Sidon was "previously prepared", revealing that the majority of those gunmen are Syrian nationals.

He also noted that Abra's apartments are "just a pretext" to foment strife in the city in order to turn Sidon to "a new Tripoli".

He called on the sub security council and President Michel Sleiman to lift the cover off all gunmen in the city.

Sheikh Hammoud asserted that the Lebanese citizen who fell victim to the violence, Mahmoud Hashisho was killed by Sheikh al-Assir's supporters, calling on him "to stop his criminal acts in the city."

Heavy clashes erupted Tuesday [18 June] between unknown gunmen and followers of a radical Sunni cleric Sheikh Ahmad al-Assir in south Lebanon, security officials said, killing one person in the latest apparent outbreak of violence between Lebanese factions supporting opposing sides in the civil war in neighboring Syria.