TRIPOLI, Lebanon: Residents blocked several roads in Tripoli Wednesday after news emerged that a militia leader in detention had suffered a heart attack.
Family members, young men and supporters of Ziad Allouki, a former militia commander in the Tripoli neighborhood of Bab al-Tabbaneh, took to the streets early Wednesday, blocking the Abu Ali roundabout to demand his release.
Protests also broke out in Bab al-Tabbaneh, Qibbeh, Maaloula and the old vegetable market after Allouki's family received a phone call from a Roumieh prisoner informing them that their son had been rushed to the hospital after suffering a heart attack at dawn.
A source close to the family told The Daily Star that Allouki’s parents had been notified of their son’s sudden health deterioration through Saad Masri, another militia commander who had fought gunbattles in Tripoli and is held at Roumieh prison.
The protesters are demanding the release of all militia leaders who had turned themselves in to the Lebanese Army with promises they would be released before the holy month of Ramadan.
Tripoli has seen numerous protests over the security crackdown that the Army began in April, with many Sunnis claiming that the security forces are unfairly targeting their sect, while ignoring violations by other sects.
But the families say that when they raise their protests, they are told that judicial authorities have also sought Ali Eid, the leader of the pro-Assad Arab Democratic Party, in the Tripoli clashes.
Eid is charged with aiding a suspect in the twin bombings that targeted two mosques in Tripoli in August 2013. Eid has reportedly fled to Syria.
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