BEIRUT: Gunmen belonging to the brother of MP Nicolas Fattoush assaulted and briefly held an Al-Jadeed reporter Thursday in the eastern town of Zahle, the channel reported.
More than a dozen gunmen, some carrying assault rifles, abducted reporter Yumna Fawaz as she was interviewing residents complaining about the construction of an industrial factory owned by Pierre Fattoush, Fawaz, and her cameraman Saad Ayyad, said after their release.
The controversial project has been criticized by local residents over the environmental damage it is expected to cause.
Fawaz said that she had filmed from the area Wednesday without trouble, and that she was finishing her report Thursday with interviews from local residents who were opposed to the construction of the factory.
This is when, according to the reporter, unknown men arrived and took pictures of the crew and the license plate number of their car.
The men told Fawaz that they worked for Pierre Fattoush, the lawmaker's brother. She then called the factory owner to ask whether he had sent them. She said she was surprised since he had personally invited Fawaz to film near the project's site a day earlier.
The reporter said Fattoush was unresponsive during the phone call, but sent another man from his entourage to the scene.
Fawaz also called Samir Mello, a municipality board member, who also came to the site.
A short time later, as Fawaz and Ayyad filmed the last part of their report, around 20 men armed with military weapons arrived and attacked the crew.
Fawaz said the gunmen arrived in three vehicles, pushed her onto one of the cars, and physically assaulted both her and Ayyad.
Ayyad said that one of the gunmen told him, "I have orders to kill you," before beating him and taking the memory card out of his camera that contained the contents of the report.
The municipality board member, who also talked to Al-Jadeed after the incident, said that he was also attacked by the gunmen, who took him, Fawaz, and other people in the area to a nearby printing house.
Ayyad was left at the site after receiving a beating, but Fawaz was not released until the Army intervened about 30 minutes later.
The official delegate that Fattoush had sent, Fawaz said, stood by and watched the assault without reacting.
Information Minister Ramzi Joreige condemned the assault on the crew, saying that “it is unacceptable for journalists to always have to pay a price for carrying out their occupational duties.”
The information minister confirmed that he would work with judicial and security forces to follow up on the incident and take measures to deter any future attack on journalists.
Zahle’s mayor was not available for comment.
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