Protests erupt in Lebanon's Tripoli after assault on Mosque

Residents in northern Lebanon's Tripoli on Saturday held a demonstration condemning an assault on the Ibrahim bin Adham Mosque in Byblos a day before, the official National News Agency reported.

According to local reports, a group of attackers entered the mosque's premises and threw insults at the Muezzin, who was also physically assaulted. 

Religious authorities in the country called to avoid sectarian tensions and said security agencies should immediately arrest the perpetrators.

Lebanon's Islamic Awqaf organisation said on Monday in a statement that it visited the mosque where the assault took place and heard the account of the muezzin.

The organisation's Mount Lebanon department filed a lawsuit against the aggressor, the statement said.

"[Awqaf - Mount Lebanon] demanded that the appropriate punishment be inflicted on the aggressors to ensure such incidents targeting the sanctity of places of worship – be they mosques or churches – are not repeated," the group said.

Read also: Lebanese army arrests Palestinian for unlawful 'entry from Israel': report

Lebanon's second largest city, the predominantly Sunni Muslim city of Tripoli, has more than 350,000 inhabitants.

Last month, Tripolians participated in Beirut protests against French cartoons depicting the Prophet Mohammad.

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