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Sit-in Held in Beirut in Solidarity with Anti-Hezbollah Shiite Cleric

Cleric Ali Al-Amin (NNA)
Cleric Ali Al-Amin (NNA)
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Sit-in Held in Beirut in Solidarity with Anti-Hezbollah Shiite Cleric

Cleric Ali Al-Amin (NNA)
Cleric Ali Al-Amin (NNA)

Religious and media figures held a sit-in on Tuesday in solidarity with anti-Hezbollah cleric Ali al-Amin, who has been taken to court for participating in late 2019 in a meeting in Bahrain that was allegedly attended by Israelis.

The lawsuit was filed in June 2020 by lawyer Ghassan al-Mawla on behalf of Nabih Awada, Khalil Nasrallah, Shawqi Awada and Hussein al-Dirani against al-Amin for “meeting with Israeli officials in Bahrain, attacks on the Resistance and its martyrs, inciting strife between sects, sowing discord and sedition, and violating the Sharia laws of the Jaafari sect.”

Al-Amin’s questioning was scheduled to take place on Tuesday at the Justice Palace in Beirut, but it was postponed due to a strike by lawyers.

Religious and media figures had gathered outside the Justice Palace in solidarity with the cleric ahead of the planned questioning.

They raised banners supporting al-Amin and saying that violent messages do not silence the voice of freedom.

Kataeb Party chief Sami Gemayel expressed his solidarity with al-Amin “and support for his free and open mind in the face of oppression and close-minded people.”

He added: “We will not accept intimidation, and we will bring down the police state and the militias behind it.”

Last year, Prime Minister-designate Saad Hariri condemned the lawsuit filed against the cleric as “an attack on the dignity of Lebanese.”

The Mustaqbal movement leader in a tweet said that Amin “is a representative of national and Islamic unity and the attack on his dignity is an attack on all Muslims and Christians.”

Al-Amin has said he held no personal meeting with any Israeli at the conference, and that he “was not aware of their attendance.”

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Libya Fighting Eases after Announcement of Truce

Libyans walk past a burnt vehicle after Monday evening clashes between armed militias in Tripoli, Libya, Tuesday, May 13, 2025. (AP)
Libyans walk past a burnt vehicle after Monday evening clashes between armed militias in Tripoli, Libya, Tuesday, May 13, 2025. (AP)
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Libya Fighting Eases after Announcement of Truce

Libyans walk past a burnt vehicle after Monday evening clashes between armed militias in Tripoli, Libya, Tuesday, May 13, 2025. (AP)
Libyans walk past a burnt vehicle after Monday evening clashes between armed militias in Tripoli, Libya, Tuesday, May 13, 2025. (AP)

The worst fighting in Libya's capital for years calmed on Wednesday after the Government of National Unity (GNU) announced a ceasefire, Tripoli residents said, while there was no immediate statement from authorities on how many people had been killed.

Clashes broke out late on Monday after the killing of a major militia leader. After calming on Tuesday morning, the fighting reignited overnight, with major battles rocking districts across the entire city.

"Regular forces, in coordination with the relevant security authorities, have begun taking the necessary measures to ensure calm, including the deployment of neutral units," the defense ministry said.

The ministry said the neutral units it was deploying around sensitive sites were from the police force, which does not carry heavy weapons.

After the fighting, burned-out cars littered the streets in some areas, and nearby buildings were pocked with bullet marks.

Monday's clashes had appeared to consolidate the power of Abdulhamid al-Dbeibah, head of the divided country's GNU.

However, any prolonged fighting within Tripoli risks drawing in factions from outside the capital, potentially leading to a wider escalation between Libya's many armed players after years of relative calm.

The main fighting on Wednesday was between the Dbeibah-aligned 444 Brigade and the Special Deterrence Force (Rada), the last major armed Tripoli faction not currently in his camp, the English-language Libyan Observer reported.

Fighting also erupted in western areas of Tripoli that have historically been a gateway for armed factions from Zawiya, a town to the west of the capital.

Dbeibah on Tuesday ordered the dismantling of what he called irregular armed groups.

That announcement followed Monday's killing of major militia chief Abdulghani Kikli, widely known as Ghaniwa, and the sudden defeat of his Stabilization Support Apparatus (SSA) group by factions aligned with Dbeibah.

The seizure of SSA territory in Libya by the Dbeibah-allied factions, the 444 and 111 Brigades, indicated a major concentration of power in the fragmented capital, leaving Rada as the last big faction not closely tied to the prime minister.

'TERRIFYING'

Tripoli residents trapped in their homes by the fighting voiced horror at the sudden eruption of violence, which had followed weeks of growing tensions among armed factions.

"It's terrifying to witness all this intense fighting. I had my family in one room to avoid random shelling," said a father of three in the Dahra area by phone.

In the western suburb of Saraj, Mohanad Juma said fighting would pause for a few minutes before resuming. "Each time it stops we feel relieved. But then we lose hope again," he said.

The United Nations Libya mission UNSMIL said it was "deeply alarmed by the escalating violence in densely populated neighborhoods of Tripoli" and called for a ceasefire.

Libya has had little stability since a 2011 NATO-backed uprising ousted longtime ruler Moammar al-Gaddafi. The country split in 2014 between rival eastern and western factions, though an outbreak of major warfare paused with a truce in 2020.

While eastern Libya has been dominated for a decade by commander Khalifa Haftar and his Libyan National Army (LNA), control in Tripoli and western Libya has been splintered among numerous armed factions.