SSNP Assailants Wound Mustaqbal Reporter, Sit-In Protest Called
Assailants from the Syrian Social National Party (SSNP) attacked Future television reporter Omar Harqous with sticks in Beirut”s Hamra street on Thursday, wounding him in the head, neck and chest.
Harqous was admitted to the emergency ward of the American University Hospital for treatment as an army patrol moved in to the area and arrested at least five SSNP members involved in the attack on a news reporter on duty.
Harqous and a cameraman were covering attempts by Beirut Municipality employees to remove an SSNP poster in Hamra in line with an agreement reached more than a month ago to defuse tension in the capital after the May attacks by Hizbullah, SSNP and other allies on the capital”s western sector.
SSNP partisans were apparently trying to prevent Municipality employees from removing their poster when Harqous and his cameraman arrived.
Information Minister Tareq Mitri denounced the attack and called for "immediate measures to apprehend the culprits."
He said all political factions should put a "final end" to attacks on media personnel.
The March 14 forces said the attack on Harqous was carried out by "the pro-Syria mercenary squad of March 8." That was in reference to the SSNP.
The attack was another chapter of the "May 7 invasion of Beirut," the March 14 statement said.
It urged Interior Minister Ziad Baroud to "act immediately to clear the area from gunmen who are using Hamra street as a launching pad to resist freedoms of Beirut citizens."
It called for a sit-in protest scheduled for noontime Friday at Future Television offices to protest against attacks targeting the media and freedom of expression.
The SSNP media office, in a statement, expressed regret for the attack that targeted Harqous, and said it turned over to security forces the SSNP members involved in the incident.