Security to be boosted ahead of Ashoura

NABATIEH/BEIRUT: Precautionary security measures will be boosted ahead of Ashoura next week, particularly in Shiites areas of Beirut and south Lebanon. South Lebanon Governor Judge Mahmoud al-Mawlawi headed a security meeting Thursday at his Nabatieh office, which included over 20 security and military figures, to discuss necessary security measures to be taken during Ashoura.

It was agreed that measures should be coordinated with the Lebanese Army, Internal Security Forces, General Security and the municipal police.

The measures in question will be implemented Thursday, with road closures, barriers and checkpoints erected, and cars forbidden from accessing certain areas.

It was also agreed on the need to ban motorcycles from moving into Nabatieh and Tyre from 5 p.m. until 6 a.m. for 13 days. Foreigners seeking entry into Nabatieh would also have to request an entry permit during that time.

The governor also called on the education minister to cancel classes in private and public schools as well as universities for the last three days of Ashoura. As for the movement of refugees, it was agreed to leave the matter to municipalities.

In Beirut’s southern suburbs, sisters Aya and Malak Sultan picked out flags to hang in front of their homes.

“We don’t wear headscarves, but we participate in Ashoura ceremonies in painful remembrance of the martyred Hussein,” Aya said, referring to the Prophet’s grandson, who was decapitated by the army of the caliph Yazid in A.D. 680 in Karbala, Iraq.

Shiites commemorate the death of the venerated imam every year by beating their chests and at times self-flagellating for 10 days, starting Oct. 25 this year.

Ghobeireh’s mukhtar, Hasan Sleem, told The Daily Star that due to security, most Ashoura events had been cancelled.

One large event would take place at an unidentified center in Beirut’s southern suburbs, he said, adding that the event would be subject to strict security measures, including surveillance and bomb detection devices. Attendees would also be thoroughly searched.

A security guard manning one of several posts at the entrance of the Iranian Embassy in Bir Hasan, said that security concerns would not disrupt this year’s commemoration ceremonies, but that the area would witness heightened security with several check points erected on key roads.

Both the Army and Hezbollah will reinforce their positions with extra recruits, he said. This year’s beefed up precautionary measures come as no surprise after two suicide bombings rocked Iran’s embassy last November.

In Burj al-Barajneh, which is routinely under tight security, security measures will be boosted only during commemoration events, security sources said, clarifying that such measures would be enacted around 8 p.m. Side streets near the Rassoul al-Aazam Hospital will blocked and the Hezbollah checkpoint facing the hospital will be reinforced with extra troops.

In south Lebanon Hezbollah and the Amal Movement decided to implement precautionary measures across towns and villages in the wake of threats posed by ISIS and the Nusra Front.

In the southern town of Nabatieh, renowned for holding ceremonies from the first day of Ashoura to the last, cars will be barred from accessing Nabatieh’s Husseiniya, a Shiite religious center that hosts Ashoura commemoration events. Attendees will also be scanned with explosive detection devices before being allowed to enter.

Media spokesperson for the Husseiniya, Mehdi Sadeq, said that he was not worried about terrorist attacks during Ashoura. “It is not unusual for this city to commemorate Ashoura in the midst of several threats,” he said. The spokesperson recalled the burning of Israeli tanks in 1983 during a ceremony in the town, saying Nabatieh was resilient in the face of threats.

The predominantly Sunni city of Sidon however, is not expected to witness the same ritualistic display. Hezbollah called on citizens in the southern capital to abstain from raising Ashoura-related flags and banners outside their homes and from blasting speeches and chants from their cars, especially in the areas of Abra, Ain al-Hilweh and Mieh Mieh, in order to prevent altercations.

Two years ago, Salafist Sheikh Ahmad al-Assir provoked clashes during an Ashoura event in Ain al-Hilweh which left three dead and several wounded.

Earlier Thursday, Hezbollah and Amal Movement representatives held a joint meeting in the former’s office in the southern town of Tyre, where the need for coordination during Ashoura was discussed.

A statement was issued after the meeting, in which both parties expressed their hopes that “the occasion [Ashoura] would be a chance to further cohesion and unity, in accordance with the noble values preached by Imam Hussein.”

In an attempt to avoid fueling sectarian tensions, Amal requested that all sermons focus on Islamic unity and nationalism as well as the memory of Hussein, while urging speakers to refrain from referencing internal political problems.