Army Arrests 21 Over Aisha Bakkar Clashes
The Lebanese army said on Thursday it has arrested 21 people over a street battle in the Beirut neighborhood of Aisha Bakkar that left a woman bystander dead.
"All 21 participants in the riots and shootings that led to a casualty, injuries and property damage in the district of Aisha Bakkar were arrested," the army said in a communiqué.
Supporters of Speaker Nabih Berri”s Amal movement and backers of prime minister-designate Saad Hariri”s al-Mustaqbal Movement fought with automatic weapons and rocket-propelled grenades.
A 30-year-old mother of five was killed in the clashes while she was standing in her apartment”s balcony. The fighting came only a day after Hariri was named prime minister and after Berri”s reelection as speaker last Thursday.
Berri told An Nahar newspaper in remarks published Thursday that he was ready to fully "cooperate with transparent investigations," stressing that the has informed Army Commander Gen. Jean Qahwaji about the issue.