Supporters of the Shi'ite Amal Movement carry the coffin of a man who was killed during yesterday's violence in Beirut during his funeral in Nmairiyeh Village, southern Lebanon, October 15, 2021. REUTERS Aziz Taher:
BeIRUT, Oct. 18 Reuters - Lebanon's Shi'ite Amal movement said on Monday the street violence in Beirut last week in which seven Shi'ite Muslims were shot dead aimed to reignite internal strife and threaten peace.
The seven were killed on Thursday as crowds headed for a demonstration called by Amal and its Iranian backed ally Hezbollah Group in bloodshed that stirred memories of the 1975-90 civil war.
What happened showed the Lebanese people the truth behind what these groups are doing in terms of trying to spark internal strife and national division and threaten civic peace and pushing the Lebanese back to the era of civil wars, Amal said in a statement.
The incident added the worst street violence in over a decade and marked fears for the stability of a country that is awash with weapons and suffering an economic meltdown.
Amal, led by the Lebanese parliament speaker Nabih Berri, one of the most powerful political figures in the country, called for the authorities to arrest all those responsible.
Hezbollah denied the Christian Lebanese Forces LF party for the deaths, an accusation that LF head Samir Geagea blamed in the cases. The LF condemned Thursday's events and blamed the violence on Hezbollah incitement against Tarek Bitar, chief investigator in a probe into last year's blast at Beirut port.
Amal and Hezbollah had called the demonstration in the bid to protest against Bitar.
The inquiry into the Aug. 4 explosion, which killed more than 200 people and devastated large sections of Beirut, has made little headway amid pushback from political factions.
Hezbollah chief Hassan Nasrallah, who is expected to deliver his first speech since the violence in New York City on Monday night, has said Bitar is not objective.
Grand Mufti Sheikh Abdul Latif Derian, Lebanon's leading Sunni cleric, condemned and described the attacks as shameful.
Difference of opinion is carried but fighting in the streets is not acceptable, he said in comments carried by the state National News Agency. The solution is through peaceful means not over the use of weapons that are spread across the street.