21 April 2012

TRIPOLI, Lebanon: Several hundred Lebanese and Syrians rallied against Syrian President Bashar Assad after Friday prayers in Tripoli, denouncing what they said was the ongoing shelling of Syrian cities by the Syrian army.

Holding pre-Baath era Syrian flags and religious banners, Tripoli residents and Syrian refugees from the unrest in Syria marched from the Hamza mosque in the city’s Qibbeh neighborhood, passing through the streets surrounding the mosque.

Meanwhile, dozens of people demonstrated against Assad’s regime in Beirut’s Tariq al-Jadideh neighborhood, in what has also become a weekly event. Participants included supporters of the Future Movement and Islamist movements.

Anti-Assad rallies in Tripoli have been drawing more and more people, as the uprising continues and the number of refugees increases. Despite the violence in Syria and the increasing death toll, one rally participant in Tripoli, a refugee from Homs, told The Daily Star that she no longer fears the regime’s brutality.

“This regime collapsed the moment it killed the first Syrian child ... we no longer fear this machine,” she said.

When protesters arrived at Ibn Sina Square, prayers were held for the victims of the violence in Syria, which has entered its 13th month in spite of international calls for a permanent cease-fire in the country.

In a speech at the square, Sheikh Zakaria Masri warned the Lebanese Army’s against sending Syrian refugees back to the Syrian army.

“Handing Syrian refugees over to the Baathist regime is not in line with the moral values of the Lebanese government,” Masri said.

Masri said Syrians who have fled to Lebanon are being subjected to “a second oppression” by local authorities who are working in the service of the Syrian regime.

“Such practices should be stopped by the Lebanese government, and the state should punish those officials for harming the country,” he said.

Some refugees have reported having been detained by the Lebanese Army on suspicionof smuggling arms into Syria.

Masri called on the Lebanese government stop the arrests and pressure on Syrian refugees. He said the government should no longer keep silent about Syria.

Prime Minister Najib Mikati has reiterated that his government’s disassociation policy from the ongoing violence and uprising in Syria is in the interest of the Lebanese and Lebanon’s stability.

“If the government fails to take any measures against such acts [of violence] and defend the oppressed, this means there are attempts to add Lebanon to the Persian project in the Arab world,” Masri said.

“The government should also take effective measures along the Lebanese-Syrian border to stop arms smuggling and the movement of fighters from Lebanon that is taking place under the pretext of resistance against Israel,” Masri added, in a thinly veiled reference to Hezbollah.

Meanwhile, four wounded Syrians entered Lebanon Friday from its northeastern border with Syria, among them an 11-year-old boy.

Copyright The Daily Star 2012.