Masnaa, Lebanon: Hundreds of Sunni protesters in Lebanon launched a sit-in on Saturday on the main road linking Beirut to Damascus, blocking the passage of fuel tankers to war-torn Syria, an AFP reporter said.
The demonstration, organised by the Association of Muslim Scholars, was staged in the eastern Bekaa Valley to stem fuel supplies intended for forces loyal to Syrian President Bashar Al Assad.
“We are here to obstruct the passage of fuel tankers, which we believe are transporting fuel to propel the killing machines in Syria,” said Shaikh Yehia Al Baridi, one of the protest organisers.
About 15 trucks were forced to turn back to the Lebanese capital by the estimated crowd of about 300 people, around 20 of whom were Sunni clergymen, said the reporter.
The protesters called on the Lebanese authorities to take a stronger position on the Syria crisis, and to stop allowing fuel supplies across the border.
“We are warning the Lebanese state... we as Sunni Muslims believe these tankers carry the fuse to ignite sectarian conflict” in Lebanon, said Baridi.
Though formally neutral on the war in Syria, Lebanon is deeply divided over the conflict, with the Sunni-led March 14 bloc opposed to Al Assad’s regime, and the powerful Shiite movement Hezbollah and its allies supporting it.
