LEBANON: Anti-Assad protest in Tripoli

Record ID: 279290

  • Title: LEBANON: Anti-Assad protest in Tripoli
  • Date: 25th June 2011
  • Summary: PICTURE OF HAMZA AL-KHATIB, 13-YEAR-OLD KILLED BY SYRIAN FORCES
  • Embargoed: 10th July 2011 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Lebanon, Lebanon
  • Country: Lebanon
  • Topics: International Relations,Domestic Politics
  • Reuters ID: LVA27PYAN6LO7FOXTWYNYC6UXY4Z
  • Story Text: Dozens of Lebanese and Syrian protesters took to the streets of Tripoli after Friday prayers (June 24) to condemn violence used to snuff out anti-government demonstrations in Syria.
    "Listen to me, listen Bashar (Syrian President Bashar al-Assad): The Muslim blood will not be sold, the Syrian people will not forget the blood of martyrs. Your day is coming, God willing," said an unnamed protester.
    It is part of a weekly protest campaign in Tripoli. Protesters waved the flags of pan-islamic political group Hizbut ut-Tahrir, which believes in the creation of a Muslim caliphate state across borders.
    On Friday (June 17) four people were killed in the violence between Alawite and Sunni Muslims that followed the protest.
    Tripoli has a small Alawite minority living among a majority of Sunni Muslims.
    Syria, a mostly Sunni Muslim country of 20 million with Kurdish, Alawite and Christian minorities, is vulnerable to sectarian tensions.
    Syrian President Bashar al-Assad is a member of the Alawite sect, an offshoot of Shi'ite Islam, and his opponents say he has increasingly relied on loyalist Alawite troops and irregular forces known as 'shabbiha' to put down demonstrations.
    Many Sunnis resent the privileges gained by Alawites who have dominated the security apparatus during the 41 years of Assad family rule. Some dislike Assad's policy of aligning Syria further with Shi'ite Iran and Lebanon's Hezbollah guerrillas.
  • Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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