Lebanon's Hizbullah movement said on Tuesday the army had mishandled a protest that turned deadly and demanded that those responsible for the death of six opposition followers be punished quickly. Sunday's street violence started after demonstrators burned tyres and blocked roads in a mainly Shi'ite suburb of Beirut to protest against power cuts.
Six supporters of Hizbullah and another Shi'ite group Amal were shot dead and more than 20 wounded. Witnesses said soldiers had fired to break up the protest. "Unfortunately, the army's handling was not up to the required standard," Hezbollah MP Hussein Haj Hassan told a local television show. "They were nervous and lost. I tell you clearly, the army was not up to the task of dealing with the issue with wisdom."
According to Reuters, Hassan hinted an army officer may have had a role in inflaming the violence. "There was an officer on the ground whom they should give a war medal... The protesters escaped after the army started shooting, there was no one on the ground and the army started shooting, anyone it saw," Hassan stated.
Meanwhile, a formal investigation into the incident has been launched and Suleiman met opposition leader Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri and Hizbullah chief Hassan Nasrallah. "This investigation and the subsequent punishment of those responsible for the crime, whomever they are, is the only way to bring justice to the martyrs... and to affirm the principles of security, stability and safety in the country," Nasrallah said in a statement after his Monday night meeting with Suleiman.
