Investigators question witnesses of all kinds in probe of riots

 

Investigators looking into Sunday”s riots in the Beirut suburb of Shiyyah, which left nine dead and dozens wounded, say they have taken statements from witnesses, victims, individuals detained by the army, and journalists who were in the area  as the event unfolded.

 

State Prosecutor Saeed Mirza met investigators Wednesday morning to review the progress of the inquiry into events around the Mar Mikhael intersection. The meeting included Advocate General Jocelyn Tabet, the government representative at the Military Tribunal, Judge Jean Fahd, and military police chief Brigadier Nabil Ghafry.

 

The Lebanese Broadcasting Corporation on Wednesday quoted unidentified sources as saying that after closer scrutiny, it was determined that the snipers seen on nearby rooftops by witnesses and in television footage were in fact army troops.

 

A security source told The Daily Star that the field commander of the Lebanese Army”s post in Mar Mikhael at the time of the riots was a Shiite from Jbeil, indicating that that the officer would therefore have no reason for sectarian bias against protesters from the neighborhood, which is mostly Shiite. The source, added, however, that the officer was likely to bear some of the responsibility for any misconduct that investigations might reveal on the part of his men.

 

The source said the constant presence of army troops in the streets, performing a vital security role, was not the correct role for the army, adding that the Internal Security Forces would be upgrading their capabilities to better deal with riots in future.

 

The source said news photographers and camera crews were questioned “informally” by investigators who would compare their accounts of events with those of other witnesses in the area, including individuals in custody, in order to get a clearer picture of what really happened. A judicial sources said that while the investigation into the riots has made “good progress,” it will still take from “days to weeks” to conclude.

 

Picture: Lebanese protestors burn a car during a demonstration over power cuts in the mainly-Shiite southern suburbs of Beirut, January 27. The Lebanese army is on high alert in the capital Beirut as funerals were held for some of the six people killed in weekend riots that have stoked fears of civil unrest. (AFP)