Hundreds attend funeral for man dubbed 'first martyr' of Lebanon's revolution

Hundreds of mourners gathered in Choeifat in Mount Lebanon on Thursday for the funeral procession of Alaa Abou Fakher, who died during Tuesday night's protests.

The 38-year old father and local official, affiliated with the Progressive Socialist Party, was killed by a Lebanese soldier.

While this was the second death reported in nearly a month of unprecedented anti-corruption protests that have erupted across Lebanon, the manner in which he was killed without provocation has rallied the Lebanese around him as 'the first martyr' of the revolution. 

People are rushing to crowdfund to help support his family and murals depicting his portrait already emerged of him in Tripoli, northern Lebanon.

The army said in a statement that it had arrested a soldier after he opened fire in Khaldeh and critically injured Abou Fakher.

Abou Fakher was protesting following comments by Lebanese President Michel Aoun in a televised interview where he urged protesters to go home.

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Lebanon's unprecedented protest movement, which broke out on 17 October, has been calling for a complete overhaul of a political elite accused of inefficiency and corruption.

After the government stepped down on 29 October, protesters demanded a fresh cabinet composed of experts not affiliated with any of the traditional political parties.