Mosque security

byHabib Battah
Oct 16, 2013
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One of the latest signs of a security crackdown since the twin bombings earlier this summer in Tripoli has been the cordoning off streets near mosques across Beirut.

I took these shots yesterday near the Shehab Mosque in Hamra, where the entire street was cordoned off ahead of the Adha holiday.

The cars are allowed back after prayers:

But between 8-12, no parking is allowed anywhere near the mosque as indicated by the signs:

Passersby told me this streets has been shut down every Friday, and it seems this is the case nationwide ever since the bombs that went off in front of Tripoli mosques last August.

A dismal sign of the times perhaps but many residents probably feel comforted by the move. The question is how long will security forces be able to keep their guard up and how long will parking-starved residents obey the rules.

Habib Battah

Habib Battah is an investigative journalist and founder of the news site beirutreport.com. Battah has covered Lebanon and the Middle East for over 15 years and teaches journalism and media studies at the American University of Beirut. He is a contributor to Monocle, The Guardian, BBC World, Al Jazeera and others, a former fellow at the Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism at Oxford University and two-time recipient of the Samir Kassir Press Freedom Award. Battah's investigative work was recently recognized for outstanding local reporting by the Columbia University Oakes Award for Environmental Reporting. Battah earned a B.A. in Journalism from the University of Texas at Austin and an M.A. in Near East Studies and Journalism from New York University.