Lebanese forces hunt for cleric behind deadly clash

Soldiers secure the entrance of Bilal bin Rabah mosque yesterday following clashes between the Lebanese army and supporters of cleric Sheikh Ahmed al-Assir in the Abra district of Sidon.

AFP/Sidon, Lebanon

Lebanese security forces launched a manhunt for radical Sunni cleric Ahmed al-Assir yesterday, after clashes with his supporters in the southern city of Sidon killed 17 soldiers.

Troops consolidated their grip on the port city after overrunning the cleric’s headquarters late on Monday but Assir himself remained at large.

Soldiers evacuated civilians trapped in their homes since the fighting began on Sunday afternoon, and blew up explosives abandoned by Assir’s supporters as they fled.

A day of mourning was announced for the 17 soldiers killed in the fighting, and the government held a moment of silence.

Speculation was rife as to the whereabouts of Assir, the radical cleric known for his opposition to Lebanon’s powerful Shia Hezbollah movement, and his antagonism to the army.

A day earlier, the Lebanese judiciary issued warrants for the arrest of Assir and 123 of his followers, and yesterday, Lebanon’s military and security bodies were mobilised to search for him, a security source said.

“There are several hypotheses on his whereabouts,” the source said.

“Some say he is disguised as a woman and that he has travelled to Tripoli (in northern Lebanon). Others say he may have fled to Syria.”

“It is also possible he is hiding in Ain al-Helweh,” he added, referring to a Palestinian refugee camp in Sidon.

A military source said the army had arrested “dozens of people suspected of loyalty” to Assir as they captured his headquarters on Monday night.

Residents of the area expressed relief at the military operation that ousted the cleric from the district.

“I used to pray with him at the mosque when there was no distinction between us, but when his sermons started to get more inflammatory, I stopped,” said Naji Jaber, a Shia resident married to a Sunni woman.

“I thank God that we’re rid of him,” he added.

“Even in the (1975-90) civil war, the atmosphere in Sidon wasn’t as bad as what Assir created,” he said.

Sunnis too expressed support for the operation against the radical cleric.

“As Sunnis, we had to stay quiet,” 26-year-old Mohamed said.

“But we regret that there is something like that among us.”

Inside Assir’s headquarters complex, which includes a mosque, several office buildings and apartment blocks, weapons, including rocket launchers and machineguns, lay abandoned.

“It looks more like a security headquarters than a mosque,” Interior Minister Marwan Charbel told reporters, adding that several Assir supporters detained by security forces were non-Lebanese.