BEIRUT: Supporters of Syrian President Bashar Assad clashed Thursday with anti-Assad protesters who were holding a demonstration in front of the Syrian Embassy in the Hamra district of Beirut.

The anti-Assad demonstration was organized by Al-Jamaa Al-Islamiya’s Muslim Students League – an Islamist group – and dozens of its members were on the scene demonstrating.

Fearing a possible confrontation with Assad supporters, organizers from the group also deployed members to keep the demonstration calm.

While these men, charged with maintaining discipline, dressed in special uniforms, stood in front of the riot police, their presence did not prevent a scuffle from breaking out between the pro- and anti-Assad protesters.

Riot police of the Internal Security Forces quickly intervened, however, and were able to stop the violence.

More demonstrators continued to join both sides as the Lebanese Army helped members of the ISF form a buffer zone between the two camps.

While the security forces separated the opposing demonstrations, putting an end to the physical altercation, tensions remained high.

“Freedom for the Oppressed … Death for Dictators,” read banners raised by anti-Assad demonstrators.

Assad has responded to pro-democracy protests with a violent crackdown over the past five months, killing more than 2,000, according to activists.

“Is asking for freedom a crime?” asked one demonstrator. “We are here simply to say we stand by the Syrian people’s freedom and we reject seeing a dictator kill the Syrian people,” he added, refusing to give his name.

The protest was the first large anti-Assad protest to reach the Syrian Embassy in Beirut since the start of the unrest in Syria.

Many anti-Assad activists and organizations have held demonstrations in Hamra but have been unable to reach the Syrian Embassy.

In an unpublicized demonstration late last month, a small group of students demonstrating in front of the embassy were confronted by supporters of the Syrian regime, who attacked them, injuring at least five protesters.

While intelligence personnel of the army and the ISF were trying to restore calm on the streets Thursday, both camps worked to escalate their demonstrations, even mimicking each other’s moves.

Several Sunni sheikhs joined the anti-Assad demonstration, prompting the other camp to respond in a bid to attract the attention of members of the media, who were in the no-man’s land between the two sides.

On the pro-Assad side, a convoy of cars covered with Syrian, Lebanese and Hezbollah flags caused a frenzy among pro-Assad demonstrators, and a group of protesters pulled out knives and scratched their bodies and faces in a display of allegiance to Assad’s government. The security forces were unable stop to such actions.

Meanwhile, officers assigned to the Syrian Embassy watched the demonstrations cautiously.

Islamist groups, like Al-Jamaa Al-Islamiya and Hizb ut-Tahrir, have regularly held anti-Assad rallies in the northern city of Tripoli, but this was the first demonstration in Beirut.

Pro- and anti-Assad demonstrations have become increasingly frequent over the past two months, as the division deepens between Lebanon’s ruling and opposition coalitions over their stances toward the ongoing unrest in Syria.

March 14 opposition has endorsed the pro-democracy movement in Syria, while the ruling March 8 politicians have refrained from criticizing the Syrian regime.