BEIRUT: The March 14 alliance and civil society groups condemned the Syrian regime’s violent crackdown against opposition groups Wednesday, warning against similar moves in Lebanon to target supporters of the popular uprising in Syria.

The March 14 Secretariat General urged the international community and the Arab League to take swift action to end the “[Syrian] regime’s massacres against its people,” calling on the Lebanese government to voice support for the Syrian people’s right to freedom at the U.N. Security Council.

“The historic ties between the Lebanese and Syrian people make the Lebanese concerned with the freedom of the Syrian people and their democratic rights in the hope of building brotherly and friendly ties between the two countries,” said a statement released by the secretariat following its meeting.

March 14 officials warned the government against attempts to associate Lebanon with the Syrian regime.

Seven demonstrators were injured when pro-Syrian regime supporters, armed with knives and sticks, attacked them near the Syrian Embassy Tuesday.

Commenting on the incident, March 14 Secretariat General Coordinator Fares Soueid told reporters that “groups with weapons,” in a veiled reference to Hezbollah, were encouraging groups to take over the state.

“Assaulting any group demonstrating for freedom and democracy is a crime,” Soueid said.

The SKeyes media watchdog group, which monitors freedoms of press and expression, reported that the pro-Syrian crowd, including some carrying knives and sticks, launched the assault.

SKeyes added that there were no security personnel present when the attack began but they arrived later and did not intervene.

“Around 50 Lebanese and Syrian thugs affiliated with the Syrian Embassy, which hires them as crowd control for anti-regime demonstrators, were summoned by the embassy’s security and attacked peaceful protesters,” said the statement released by SKeyes Wednesday.

Members of a pro-Syrian political party continued to chase demonstrators down Hamra Street, leading to the injury of two people, SKeyes added.

The incident lasted until the early morning hours, according to SKeyes

For his part, Progressive Socialist Party leader Walid Jumblatt stressed the importance of safeguarding the people’s right to peaceful demonstrations in accordance with the law.

Jumblatt warned against turning the streets of the Lebanese capital into what he called “security zones.”

“Turning some streets or neighborhoods in Beirut into security zones does not help anyone,” Jumblatt said in a statement issued Wednesday on the PSP’s website.

“The capital is a city for all Lebanese and is home for all political affiliations and intellectual diversity,” he added.

“Regardless of slogans and cries, it is necessary to keep the right to peaceful protest within the legal norms,” Jumblatt said.

Echoing SKeyes, the Union of Lebanese Democratic Youth said the attack was a warning sign of attempts to promote a political culture that rejects freedom of opinion.

The union urged the judiciary and security forces to take the necessary measures to hold perpetrators of the attack accountable for their actions and to defend democracy and freedom of opinion.

“The union condemns the non-intervention of police to defend protesters from thugs, and condemns their decision to stand at equal distance between the victim and the assailant, in a clear sign of their conspiracy against protesters,” the statement released by the union said.