Gangsters in Lebanon

Al-Manar special report – Ali Hashem – Translated/

"In spite of the fact that black smoke was rising from burning tires during Tuesday's opposition general strike, however ashes only reached the faces of government supporters who did a great job of being mere gangsters, bringing back their old but new militia history. From the Dora to the Nahr el-Kalb regions, up to Mount Lebanon and down to the capital Beirut, Samir Geagea's Lebanese Forces, MP Walid Jumblatt's Progressive Socialist Party, MP Saad Hariri's Future Movement's supporters and their allies sought to strike the chord of sedition by attacking opposition supporters with stones, batons and even machine guns.

The Dora highway that links Beirut with the northern capital of Tripoli witnessed the aggression by the Lebanese Forces militias against the supporters of MP Michel Aoun's Free Patriotic Movement. There, the gangsters attacked the demonstrators, destroyed parked cars and also detained and interrogated whomever they lay their hands on. While the gangsters of the Lebanese Forces were undertaking the commands of their leadership to intercept the demonstrators, Future Movement supporters were showering other demonstrators with stones from rooftops. Another style to attack the demonstrators was this time innovated by Future Movement loyalist, Bilal el-Shbib. He ran his car into a group of demonstrators in the northern town of Adma injuring three people. The demonstrators managed to stop the car and hand e-Shbib to the Lebanese army and later on, it was found that he works for one of the state's services as a supervisor at the VIP Salon of Beirut's International Airport. And to Mount Lebanon, the place that has become a stronghold for Jumblatt's Progressive Socialist Party (PSP) armed members whose hands are still stained with the innocent blood of a man from Sawfar. The footage broadcast through Al-Manar TV station clearly show armed PSP members dismounting their car to confront opposition demonstrators."