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No Secret Deal Behind Assir’s Escape

Although many think that a secret escape deal was struck between Ahmad al-Assir and the Lebanese army, logic suggests that this is not the case.
A Sunni Muslim gunman fires his weapon expressing his support with Salafist leader Ahmad al-Assir in Tripoli, northern Lebanon, June 23, 2013. At least three Lebanese soldiers were killed in the coastal city of Sidon on Sunday in clashes with followers of a Sunni Islamist cleric who is a fierce critic of Hezbollah's military intervention in neighbouring Syria, a security official said. Sources in the city said the fighting broke out when a follower of Sheikh Ahmed al-Assir was arrested at an army roadblock
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Many Lebanese citizens are asking: Where is Ahmad al-Assir? Did he escape the country or was he allowed to leave as part of a deal?

Many Lebanese are asking those questions because they remember the events of the Nahr al-Bared Palestinian refugee camp in 2007. Back then, an Islamist group led by Shaker al-Absi killed several Lebanese soldiers, prompting the Lebanese army to besiege the camp.

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