Thousands of Hizbullah supporters have taken to the streets in Beirut's southern suburbs late Thursday burning tires and blocking roads, including the airport highway, in protest against a TV comedy show that mocked the movement's leader Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah.
The protest started shortly after a LBCI TV show aired a sketch in which an actor spoofed Nasrallah.
The unrest spread to other Shiite neighborhoods of Beirut proper, where rioters blocked roads and burned car tires. Similar protests took place in Baalbek in eastern Lebanon and the cities of Sidon and Tyre and the town of Nabatiyeh in the south.
Hizbullah broadcast a statement on its Al-Manar TV station that said the TV show had "insulted the symbol of the resistance and its leader."
But as protests continued, Nasrallah made a direct appeal on Al-Manar by telephone early Friday, thanking his supporters and appealing to them "to end the gatherings and go home." "We are keen on the safety, security and stability of this country," he said.
The producer of the popular TV program, Charbel Khalil, issued an apology broadcast late Thursday. He said he deeply respects Nasrallah and depicting the leader "was not meant to offend him."
