Report: Army Officer 4 Soldiers, 30 Civilians Arrested in Black Sunday Incidents

Source: Al-Manar TV, 31-1-2008
Investigations continued into last Sunday's incidents which saw seven people killed by gunshots and more than 50 other people injured, some critically during protests against blackout in Mar Mekhayel region in Beirut's southern suburb. Well informed sources told Al-Akhbar daily that several hypotheses have been determined, particularly those pertaining to the people spotted on rooftops during the incident. According to the daily, military investigators heard the testimonies of army officers and soldiers who had been deployed in that area last Sunday. It added that the number of arrested people has reached 30 suspects including a custom officer. In the meantime, investigators reviewed the footage broadcast by television stations for people on the rooftops of buildings and concluded that most of those people were army soldiers and the civilians were unarmed. The Al-Akhbar daily also said that the military magistrate received forensic reports by the medical panel that examined the bodies of the martyrs. The panel concluded that two types of bullets were taken out of the bodies of martyrs Mustapha Amhaz, Yusuf Chokeir and Ahmad Hamza; two bullets fired from M16 rifles taken from Chokeir and Ahmaz's bodies and one bullet fired from a Kalashnikov rifle taken out from Hamza's body. Investigator found a Kalashnikov rifle equipped with a sniper binocular abandoned somewhere near the scene of Sunday's incidents, with one bullet left in its magazine. The rifle was sent for lab examination to determine whether the bullet taken out of martyr Hamza's body was fire from it. The daily added that the panel's reports showed that the martyrs were hit from a long distance. A medical expert said that the term "long-distance" means that the distance starts from double the length of the barrel of the used weapon. Al-Akhbar quoted well informed sources as saying that the investigation would end on Saturday and that the findings would be announced on that same day. The sources added that the two investigative panels working on the case have ordered the arrest of a Lebanese army officer and four other soldiers.