Lebanon protesters demand Islamist suspects be freed

0 Comments | AFP, August, 2008

BEIRUT (AFP) — Relatives of suspected members of an Islamist group that battled the Lebanese army last year staged protests on Friday demanding their release from jail.

Hundreds gathered inside Al-Omari mosque in central Beirut after weekly prayers in support of some 300 people arrested after more than three months of deadly clashes between the army and the Al-Qaeda-inspired Fatah al-Islam.

The protesters, among them bearded men and women wearing the niqab Islamic veil who answered a call from the radical Islamist Hizb al-Tahrir group, held up banners saying: "Free these innocents immediately."

Dozens more protesters gathered outside Rumieh prison in eastern Beirut where the prisoners are held, also calling for their release.

"If the prisoners are...