Troops Held For Investigation, Civilians arrested on Charges, Agitators Hunted Over Bloody Riots
Examining military magistrate Jean Fahed ordered the arrest of 17 people, including 11 military personnel, over last week”s riots in Beirut”s southern district of Mar Mikhail and ordered law enforcement agencies to identify and arrest three suspected agitators.
The servicemen arrested “pending completion of the investigation”, included three officers, two non-commissioned officers and six privates, according to Fahed”s statement that summed up measures adopted “in light of the current stage of investigations.”
The six civilians were arrested on charges of rioting and the illegal possession of weapons, the statement added.
The examining magistrate also ordered the identification and arrest of three suspected “civilian agitators,” the statement noted.
In light of the current stage of investigations, three civilians were released unconditionally, 21 civilians and five minors were conditionally released pending completion of the investigation, the statement added.
The statement termed the events of last Sunday “acts of violence” that resulted in the death of seven civilians, wounded other civilians and a number of military personnel in addition to inflicting property damage.
“Investigation persists with a large number of civilian witnesses and a large number of military personnel,” the statement noted.
The statement does not indict the arrested military personnel because they were held pending completion of the ongoing investigation.
The civilians, however, were clearly charged with rioting and illegal possession of weapons, a step that leads to indictment.
News reports said one of the military personnel arrested is a ranking officer.
The reports quoted unidentified informed sources as saying Ahmed Hamzi, an AMAL official who was the first victim of the Jan. 27 riots, was shot in the back with an AK-47 Kalashnikov rifle bullet, a weapon that is not used by the Lebanese Army force deployed in the area.
Other victims, according to the reports, fell due to M-16 bullet wounds. The U.S.-made assault rifle is the standard weapon used by the Lebanese Army.
The reports said victims, other than Hamzi, were hit after escalation of the protests into a confrontation with the Army, which included attacking soldiers and attempting to strip them of their weapons.
An AK-47 Kalashnikov assault rifle fitted with a telescope was found deserted near the Hayat Hospital, at a distance of 800-1.000 meters from the confrontation grounds. “Investigations are underway to determine why the rifle was deserted there and who deserted it and efforts are underway to determine if it was the weapon used against Hamzi,” the report said.
The report noted that the AK-47 is not a weapon designed for sniping. The rifle”s operational range is 500 meters.
The reports quoted sources as saying the investigation dropped the probability of targeting army troops and rioters with sniper fire by a third party, especially from the adjacent Christian district of Ein Rummaneh.
No snipers were positioned on rooftops during the confrontation, the reports said, noting that army troops had deployed on the roofs of two to three buildings overlooking the confrontation grounds.
“Investigators are trying to establish if such troops deployed on roof tops had opened fire on the rioters,” one report said.
The report added that two Lebanese Army vehicles were targeted by rifle fire.