Concerning the reactions triggered by the indictment demanding the death penalty for Arab Democratic Party official Refaat Eid, Jabal Mohsen residents said that such this decision is based on political motives, while Bab al-Tebbaneh residents hailed the indictment calling for its implementation. In turn, minister of Justice Ashraf Rifi urged on Saturday Tripoli residents to show self-restraint, adding that political sides were manipulating the protests in order "to throw the northern city into violence." He also called on protesters to open roads, adding that their message "has been delivered."
On Friday, Military Examining Magistrate Judge Riyad Abu Ghayda issued an indictment demanding the death penalty Refaat Eid and three leaders of axis in Tripoli's Jabal Mohsen neighborhood on charges of murder and terrorism.
The charges also include “initiating gun battles between Jabal Mohsen and Bab al-Tabbaneh.”
The port city of Tripoli has long been a stronghold of Sunni Islamists in northern Lebanon. But the city has become increasingly volatile in recent months due to the civil war in neighboring Syria, where the Sunni majority is leading a revolt against President Bashar al-Assad.
Disputes from neighboring Syria's civil war frequently inflame sectarian grievances in Tripoli. These clashes pit gunmen from both the mostly Sunni Bab al-Tabbaneh district and the Jabal Mohsen district which mostly comprises residents of Syrian President Bashar Assad's Alawite sect, a Shiite Islam offshoot. For more details, watch Edmond Sassine's full report in the video above