Islamist at heart of violent clashes in Lebanon freed

An Islamist whose arrest sparked deadly clashes in Lebanon between pro- and anti-Syrian regime groups was released on bail Tuesday, a judicial official said. The official said military judge Nabil Wehbe ordered the release of Shadi al-Mawlawi on a bail of 500,000 Lebanese pounds ($333). Mawlawi’s arrest on May 12 on charges of belonging to a terrorist organization sparked violent clashes in the northern port city of Tripoli, killing at least eight people. His supporters say he was targeted because he was helping Syrian refugees fleeing the unrest in their country. The clashes further escalated during the weekend and reached the capital Beirut following the killing of Sheikh Ahmad Abdul Wahid, a prominent Sunni anti-Syrian regime cleric, and his bodyguard, when their convoy supposedly failed to stop at a checkpoint in north Lebanon on Sunday. Two people were killed and at least 18 others wounded in the clashes that erupted late Sunday and continued early on Monday, Al Arabiya reported. The unrest has sparked fears that the violence in neighboring Syria is spilling over into Lebanon. U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon expressed concern on Monday that violence in Syria could reach neighboring Lebanon and reiterated fears it could also develop into a full-blown civil war. In a statement released by his office, the U.N. chief said he was “extremely troubled about the risk of an all-out civil war (in Syria) and was concerned about the outbreak of related violence in Lebanon.” The fighting underscores how the bloodshed in Syria, where President Bashar el-Assad’s regime is cracking down on an uprising against his rule, can fuel violence across the border. Lebanon has a fragile political fault line precisely over the issue of Syria. Lebanon and Syria share a complex web of political ties and rivalries, which can easily turn violent. The Lebanese opposition has accused Assad of seeking to sow chaos in Lebanon in order to relieve the pressure on his embattled regime. Syria long held sway in Lebanon politics and had troops stationed in the country for 29 years until it was forced to withdraw them in 2005 following the assassination of ex-premier Rafiq Hariri. More than 12,000 people, the majority of them civilians, have died in Syria since an anti-regime revolt broke out in March last year, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.