Monday, 2 March 2015

Brother of Alawite leader assassinated


AKKAR, Lebanon: The brother of a fugitive Alawite leader died of his wounds Monday after suspected staunch opponents of the Syrian regime opened fire at his vehicle in north Lebanon. Bader Eid, brother of Arab Democratic Party leader Ali Eid, was ambushed by gunmen on the highway linking the Akkar towns of Haysa and Kouweikhat.


Eid was shot in the stomach while in his car, sustaining critical wounds. He lost control over his car and hit a pole. He was rushed to the Rahhal Hospital.


The attack was claimed by a group calling itself the “Kouweikhat group.”


In a statement released after the attack, the group called on the Eid family to leave the Akkar area by Monday at 10 p.m. Eid, who is wanted for allegedly aiding one of the main suspects into the bombing of two mosques in Tripoli in 2013, is believed to be currently residing in an Akkar area known as Khat al-Petrol right on the border between Syria and Lebanon.


The statement claimed the demand was made because members of the Eid family and residents of the predominantly Alawite Akkar village of Haysa “put up pictures of Syrian President Bashar Assad ... and assaulted the land.”


The group warned that if the Eids did not leave, then they would be met with “fire and metal.”


Some staunch opponents of the Syrian regime are suspicious of Akkar’s Alawites and believe that they are loyal to Assad.


The situation in Akkar became even more strained when the Military Tribunal summoned Alawite leader Ali Eid for questioning over his alleged involvement in helping Ahmad Merhi, a suspect in the twin Tripoli bombings, to flee the country.


The mayor of Kouweikhat, Omar Hayek, held an emergency meeting for local authorities at his residence Monday.


The mayor distanced himself and residents of the town from the statement issued by the Kouweikhat group, asserting that the people of the town were keen on preserving coexistence and civil peace.


Hayek also called on security forces to determine the identities of the individuals behind the statement, deeming it an attempt to stir up sectarian strife in the area.


Last week, Ali Eid’s son and the ADP’s politburo chief Rifaat Eid was found guilty by a military court of inciting sectarian tensions, fueling tensions between the Tripoli neighborhoods of Jabal Mohsen, which is predominantly Alawite and Sunni Bab al-Tabbaneh and the possession and distribution of weapons. Eid, who is also at large, was sentenced to life in absentia.



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