By Wassim Mroueh
BEIRUT: Divisions between the March 8 and March 14 coalitions reflect clearly on their positions on demonstrations and sit-ins in support of Damascus – or those sympathizing with Syrian protesters – as the Interior Ministry strives to preserve public order.
Joseph Nehme, who heads the Lebanese Forces’ foreign relations department, told The Daily Star Friday that the party “understands” any popular protest in support of Syrian people which takes place in Lebanon.

“The Lebanese Forces is not concerned with the Syrian regime … but with the will of the Syrian people and their aspiration to freedom,” he said.
“How can we not sympathize with the Syrian people after all this killing? We call for stopping what is becoming a genocide,” Nehme said.

The LF official voiced his surprise that some Lebanese groups “are against people [in Syria] who are taking to streets to protest oppression … at a time when dozens of innocent people are being killed,” he said.
Nehme stressed that the LF stance was not targeting the Syrian government, which he urged to make changes.
“We call upon [Syria’s] President Bashar Assad to stop acts of violence and open the way for freedoms before it is too late.”

Asked why the LF was not outspoken in the same magnitude in its support for the Bahraini people in their uprising this year, Nehme said that “the situation in Bahrain has stabilized and moved away from violence.”
Between 1,600 and 1,900 civilians have been killed since the start of Syria’s uprising in mid-March.
Lebanon has seen a number of pro-Syrian regime protests and others in support of the Syrian uprising since then, with members of the two camps, both Syrians and Lebanese, clashing more than once.

Around seven people were reported injured, some severely, when dozens of Lebanese pro-Syrian regime supporters attacked a group of 30 protesters demonstrating near the Syrian Embassy in Hamra Tuesday in support of Syria’s popular uprising.
In late July, clashes erupted between about 200 pro- and anti-Syrian protesters in the Beirut neighborhood of Bir Hassan, after 2,000 people rallied in Hamra in a peaceful demonstration in support of Assad.

A group of intellectuals are calling through Facebook for a gathering in Beirut’s Martyrs Square Monday evening in support of the Syrian people and their cause.
For Maan Hamieh, the Syrian Social Nationalist Party’s media official, the demonstrations in Lebanon against Assad’s rule violated the Taif agreement and the 1991 Treaty of Brotherhood, Cooperation and Coordination between Lebanon and Syria.

“In our opinion, Syria is confronting a world war and local elements in Syria are being used as tools in this war,” Hamieh said. “This was evident in the recent killings and crimes targeting people working in their working places.”
The Syrian authorities are accusing external powers and armed gangs of prompting the unrest.

“The [Lebanese] state should assume its responsibilities in this regard, is it [anti-Syrian regime demonstrations] a rightful or a non-rightful act?” Hamieh asked.
He stopped short of calling upon the state to prevent these demonstrations, saying his party supported “freedom of expression.”

But the SSNP official said that all Lebanese and Arabs have the right to demonstrate in support of the “path of reform,” stability and security in Syria.
Hamieh reiterated the party’s denial of any responsibility for attacking demonstrators in the Hamra gathering earlier in the week, stressing that it was the responsibility of the state to protect all demonstrators.

As for the state’s role, Interior Minister Marwan Charbel has given clear instructions for the Internal Security Forces to preserve order during these demonstrations and sit-ins, saying that everyone has the freedom to demonstrate but without prompting any security incident.
All demonstrations and sit-ins held so far have made notifications in advance rather than permits due to their small size.

For his part, Beirut MP Imad Hout, al-Jamaa al-Islamiya official, called upon the Lebanese state to protect Syrian protesters in Lebanon.
“It is not acceptable anymore … that Lebanon’s government stands idly by as it sees demonstrators being assaulted and does nothing to protect them,” Hout said while delivering a Friday sermon.
The lawmaker also criticized Lebanon’s decision to disassociate itself from a U.N. Security Council resolution that condemned violence in Syria Wednesday.

In his first comments on the four-month uprising in neighboring Syria, Future Movement leader and former Prime Minister Saad Hariri condemned last weekend the “massacre” in the Syrian city of Hama and urged other Arab leaders to end their silence on the “bloody” campaign in Syria.

Beirut MP Ammar Houri said that protests in support of the Syrian people did not constitute interference in Syria’s internal affairs.
“This is a democratic and refined way of expression,” Houri said, adding that Hariri’s recent stance on Syria reflects the Future Movement’s position.