Demonstrators arrested over Aoun interview
Lebanon, Politics, 12/15/1997

Demonstrators on Sunday clashed with security forces after protests over the banning of a television interview.

The demonstrations took place in Ashrafieh, outside the offices of the local Murr TV station, when demonstrators tried to protest the banning of a live interview from Paris with ex-army commander Gen. Michel Aoun, originally scheduled for Sunday night.

The demonstrators shouted "Freedom" and carried pictures of Aoun, an outspoken critic of Syria's role in Lebanon. Aoun has been living in Paris since he was ousted by Syrian troops in 1990. He still has followers among the Christian community in Lebanon, which has been feeling politically alienated since the civil war ended.

Police, who had deployed heavily in anticipation of such demonstrations, tried to disperse the protesters by firing tear gas and spraying them with water from fire engines. Some reports said that around 100 people were arrested.

Murr TV (MTV) had announced that it was canceling the Aoun interview following a meeting this week between MTV officials and Information Minister Bassem Sabee, who said Aoun's rhetoric would be "predictably" anti-Syrian and would be a harm to "public order and national reconciliation."

Previous Stories:
  Government bans Aoun interview   (12/13/1997)
  Government to clamp down on television immorality   (12/11/1997)
  Lebanese broadcasters pull plug   (7/25/1997)

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