BEIRUT: Members of Lebanon's Kurdish community demonstrated in support of imprisoned Turkish Kurdish leader Abdullah Ocalan Sunday in front of the European Union building in Saifi, Beirut.

The protesters, around 150 people, also denounced the mistreatment of Kurds in a number of European countries. Setting off from Beirut suburbs such as Nabaa, Burj Hammoud and Dora, the protesters converged on Saifi for the climax of the rally.

Internal Security Forces blocked the main road leading to Downtown Beirut in preparation for the protest and diverted traffic to the seaside road.

No official figures for the number of Kurds in Lebanon are available, but conservative estimates put them at approximately 60,000. Kurds in Lebanon are divided almost equally between those who have Lebanese citizenship and those who are nationals of other countries, mainly Turkey and Syria.

Turkey, which is home to a large Kurdish minority, has witnessed an ongoing conflict between the Kurdistan Workers' Party, commonly abbreviated as the PKK, and the Turkish military.

Abdullah Ocalan, leader of the PKK, was captured by Turkey in 1999 and put on trial. He was sentenced to death for forming and leading an "armed gang" for the purpose of separatism, but his sentence was later commuted to life imprisonment. Ocalan remains popular among Kurdish nationalists in various countries.