Parliament meets for legislative session

Lebanon's Parliament met on Wednesday to discuss 22 items on the agenda as the legislative session is expected to witness heated debates between rival lawmakers. The session began with politicians from the March 8 and the March 14 coalitions debating the Human Rights Committee’s recent report accusing the Syrian Embassy in Lebanon of involvement in the kidnapping of Syrian dissents. They  also discussed Tuesday's incident at Lebanese American University where partisans of former Prime Minister Saad Hariri's Future Movement clashed with student supporters of Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri's Amal Movement. During the session, Future Movement MPs Ghazi Yousef and Mohammad Qabbani accused Energy and Water Minister Jibran Bassil of violating the law and the Constitution in the implementation of the $1.2 billion electricity bill that was passed in Parliament in late September. The items on the agenda include discussion of possible compensation or pensions for Lebanese who were freed from Syrian prisons and the situation of Lebanese fled to Israel. On the other hand, Classes resumed at the Lebanese American University Wednesday morning after clashes between supporters of rival political groups left seven students and the head of campus security injured. Students said a security force, which was dispatched to LAU Tuesday following the midday fight, had maintained its presence. “Lebanese Army soldiers are seen outside the university,” one student told The Daily Star by telephone Wednesday. A joint security force made up of Lebanese troops and members of the Internal Security Forces was called in shortly after the fight broke out Tuesday between partisans of former Prime Minister Saad Hariri’s Future Movement and supporters of Speaker Nabih Berri’s Amal Movement. LAU students said seven undergraduates were injured in the fight as they saw chairs, trash cans, big stones and other hard objects being hurled at the university’s upper gate. They said at least two students remained in hospital suffering from various injuries. LAU’s Dean of Students Raed Mohsen was not available for comment when contacted by The Daily Star. His office said Mohsen was engaged in daylong meetings. A statement issued by the Future Movement Youth Sector denounced "the repeated practices of March 8 students during every activity held at the Lebanese American University.” The statement accused students supporting the Hezbollah-led March 8 coalition of “launching an attack on Future [movement] students during celebrations commemorating the birthday of martyr Rafik Hariri.” It said the clash broke out upon arrival of the participants to the campus. “They were surprised by a crowd of March 8 students who greeted them with abusive words against martyr Rafik Hariri, the Future Movement and religious authorities,” the statement added. It said this led to a hullabaloo outside the university after “March 8 students tossed students off-campus with sharp tools."