Prisoners rebel at Roumieh Central Prison in Lebanon

The first day of the Eid al-Adha in Lebanon viewed a rebellion among prisoners in Roumieh Central Prison in Lebanon, to protest against bad living conditions, and delays in trying many of them.

The prisoners -- who include a number of different, nationalities, such as Sudanese, Egyptian and Palestinians -- threatened to launch a hunger strike today as they complaint about prison conditions. Some wire services reported that several thousand inmates were involved in the riots.

The prisoners' revolt is the first of its kind and spread due to the absence of officials who were preoccupied by the Eid al-Adha (Greater Bairam holiday).

The prisoners began their rebellion on Tuesday after a clash occurred between a soldier and one of the prisoners, who was accused of raping a girl to one of the prisoners' soldiers. The soldier poured a bottle of alcohol over the prisoner's clothes and lit a match, slightly burning the prisoner.