An Amal Movement supporter prepares to shoot during the clashes in Tayyouneh on Oct. 14. (Credit: Anwar Amro/AFP)
BEIRUT — Lebanese Forces leader Samir Geagea was notified Monday of his summons to give testimony on Wednesday as part of the investigation into the Oct. 14 Tayyouneh clashes, an LF source has confirmed to L’Orient Today.
Here’s what we know:
• The summons, sent by the army’s intelligence service, requires the Maronite leader to appear at the Defense Ministry on Wednesday at 9 a.m., the source said.
• The summons relates to the violence that erupted in the Beirut area of Tayyouneh earlier this month as protesters gathered for a demonstration organized by the Shiite political parties Hezbollah and the Amal Movement to voice their opposition to what they described as Judge Tarek Bitar’s “politicization” of the Beirut port explosion probe. The hourslong firefight, which Hezbollah and Amal allege broke out when LF members opened fire on those gathered, left seven people dead and more than 30 injured. Six of those killed were members of either Amal or Hezbollah; the seventh was a civilian. The LF denies the accusation, saying that protesters infiltrated a street in Ain al-Rummaneh, smashing cars and shooting, which led to the first casualties on the Christian side.
• Last week, Geagea indicated that he would only comply with such a summons if Hezbollah’s leader Hassan Nasrallah was summoned first. He then accused the interim Government Commissioner to the Military Court Fadi Akiki of being “the commissioner of Hezbollah.”
• According to information circulated last Thursday, Akiki had instructed the army’s intelligence service to summon Geagea on the basis of data allegedly provided by LF supporters arrested. Several local media outlets had subsequently relayed information that Public Prosecutor Ghassan Oueidat had frozen Akiki’s proceedings. Oueidat denied any intervention in the case.
• Meanwhile, Akiki on Monday launched proceedings against 68 people, 18 of whom are currently behind bars, for their alleged involvement in the clashes in Tayyouneh.
• According to the state-run National News Agency, prosecutions were initiated for murder, attempted murder, incitement to religious discord, possession of unauthorized heavy weapons and destruction of public and private property. The 18 people currently in detention were brought before military investigative judge Fadi Sawwan.
• According to information from the Arabic-language daily an-Nahar, the lawsuits launched in absentia concern in particular residents of the predominantly Christian neighborhood of Ain al-Rummaneh, two supporters of Amal, Syrian nationals and a security official from the LF.
• On Thursday, the LF chief had indicated in a televised interview that he had information from the Defense Ministry according to which supporters of the Shiite parties Hezbollah and Amal had been arrested as part of the investigation, and not only members of the LF.
• After hearing the summons had been delivered, Geagea’s wife, MP Sethrida Geagea (LF/Bsharri), described it as an attack on the Lebanese Forces. “They are trying to make us pay the price for standing with the truth and justice for our fellows in Beirut who have been exposed to the worst massacre in the history of Lebanon, which is the port explosion,” Sethrida Geagea said in a statement.
• Meanwhile, the office of Amal leader Nabih Berri denied press reports that Geagea called him to offer his condolences for the victims of the Oct. 14 unrest. Over the weekend, the Free Patriotic Movement accused the LF and Amal of “collusion,” which caused a virulent charge from the party of the head of the legislature against the party of Gebran Bassil.