May21-2007
BEFORE MIDNIGHT
Huge Explosion Rocks Ashrafiyeh, Killing 1, Wounding 12
Retrieved from Naharnet on May 21, 2007
A huge explosion near the busy ABC shopping mall in Beirut's Ashrafiyeh neighborhood shortly before midnight killed an elderly woman and wounded 11 other people, police said.
The 11:50 p.m. blast shook thousands of sleeping Ashrafiyeh residents out of bed, many hurrying down the street to take stock of the damage.
Police said the bomb, which weighed about 15 kilograms, was believed to have been placed underneath a car in a parking lot adjacent to ABC, which also has restaurants and movie theaters that operated late, particularly on Sunday.
They identified the woman as Leila Moqbel, 63. She was killed when the wall in her apartment collapsed on her from the impact of the blast which was heard across the city and surrounding hills.
Thick black smoke billowed from the scene of the bombing as firefighters battled the blaze.
Police and army troops cordoned off the area as ambulances and civil defense volunteers rushed to evacuate the casualties.
Beirut and surrounding suburbs have seen a series of explosions in the last two years, particularly targeting Christian areas in which the pro-government majority coalition has blamed on Syria.
The bomb caused a crater 1.5 meters deep and 3 meters wide in the road, and police officials said the explosives.
The blast started fires in parked vehicles and shattered car, shop and apartment windows. Other vehicles were collapsed from the impact of the explosion.
TV footage showed Red Cross workers helping an elderly man, whose head was wrapped in blood -soaked bandages. A woman in her night gown was being carried by a companion, in his pajamas.
ABC owner, Robert Abu Fadel, said he was expecting "this kind of thing," pointing to extra security measures the mall and other businesses have taken in recent months.
"For sure this will affect us in part, but we've been through more difficult times," he told LBC as he examined the blast site overnight. "But God is the Almighty. We will rebuild."
The most prominent recent deadly attack in Beirut was the near simultaneously bombings of commuter buses in the Christian heartland that killed three people on Feb. 13.
The same militant group in Sunday's Tripoli clashes, Fatah al-Islam, was blamed by authorities for the bus bombings, an accusation they have denied.
Sunday's explosion, the fourth in Ashrafiyeh in the last two years, also came as the U.N. Security Council is considering a draft resolution to impose the international tribunal in the assassination of former Premier Rafik Hariri after the pro-Syrian opposition led by Hizbullah failed to agree on approving it in Beirut.
A U.N. investigation into the 2005 assassination also has been expanded to include the series of bombings anti-Syrian groups blame on Syria.
Syria has denied involvement in Hariri's death and the other explosions, but Damascus was forced to withdraw its army from Lebanon after a 29-year presence two months after the assassination.
Cabinet minister Pierre Pharaon, whose constituency includes Ashrafiyeh, said the explosion aimed at showing that the approval of the international court would coincide with attempts to undermine
Lebanon's security.(Naharnet-AP)
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PM
Heavy Gunbattles Between Army, Fatah al-Islam Shake Northern Lebanon
Retrieved from Naharnet on May 21, 2007
Relative calm returned to Tripoli's streets Sunday evening following deadly clashes between the Lebanese army and Fatah al-Islam militants in the northern port city and the adjacent Palestinian refugee camp of Nahr al-Bared. LBCI TV station said the Lebanese army brought the situation under control in Tripoli after heavy fighting in several neighborhoods, including Zahriyeh and Miatain, although tension remained high there.
The army said 23 soldiers and 14 gunmen were killed in the fighting in the city and the camp, which involved tank and grenade fire. Nineteen soldiers and 14 police officers were also wounded, security officials said.
LBCI said several fighters were killed in Zahriyeh area. It also said a militant blew himself up and a fourth surrendered following day-long clashes with the army.
Two Lebanese youths, who were held captive by the fighters, were released as well after the fighting came to an end there.
The TV station said three of the fighters were killed when Lebanese soldiers launched an assault at noon on Abdo building in Tripoli's Miatain street where the militants were hiding. It said a fighter was arrested during the clashes.
At least seven vehicles were also burned and many more damaged in the building's surroundings, the LBCI added.
"We are now in control of the situation in Tripoli," Internal Security Forces chief Gen. Ashraf Rifi said, after 12 hours of fighting.
Information Minister Ghazi Aridi said Sunday evening after a ministerial-security meeting at the Grand Serail that only the Lebanese army and security forces should carry weapons. He also said "we are determined to confront conspiracy."
Aridi said that Education Minister Khaled Qabbani decided to suspend Monday's classes in private and public schools and universities in the northern province following the clashes.
The Lebanese media also reported that Syria temporarily closed its border with northern Lebanon following the heavy battles.
The fighting between army troops surrounding Nahr al-Bared and gunmen from the terrorist group began at dawn after a gunbattle raged in a Tripoli neighborhood.
Witnesses said Fatah al-Islam militants seized Lebanese army positions at the entrance to the camp. They also opened fire on roads leading to the city and ambushed a military unit, security officials said.
The army brought reinforcements and was firing on Fatah al-Islam positions. Black and white smoke billowed from the camp.
LBCI said more than 17 injured people, including children, were trapped inside the camp.
In Beirut, legislator Saad Hariri issued an appeal for calm and called for the population of Tripoli to cooperate with the Lebanese army.
Premier Fouad Saniora described the assault on the army as a crime against national stability and the spiritual leader of the Sunnis in Lebanon Sheikh Mohammed Rashid Qabbani urged the Lebanese not to get involved in attempts to sow civil strife.
But a Fatah al-Islam spokesman said the group only fought to defend itself.
"We acted in self-defense after brothers of ours in Tripoli were subjected to arrests," Abu Salim, identified as a spokesman for the group, told the Associated Press by phone from inside Nahr el-Bared.
He claimed the Sunnis were under attacks and "we rose to defend our people."
During the fighting, Tripoli was shuttered and roads were deserted. Scores of troops armed with automatic rifles and rocket launchers had taken positions on city streets and the army was bringing reinforcements from other regions.
The clashes in Nahr al-Bared started shortly after police raided a militant-occupied apartment in Tripoli.
The police were looking for suspects in a bank robbery a day earlier in Amioun in which gunmen made off with $125,000 in cash.
A security source told Naharnet on Saturday that the escape car of four gunmen, who had robbed the Mediterranean Bank branch, has been identified as one of the vehicles used by Fatah al-Islam.
The source noted that members of the group had robbed two banks in Tripoli and the southern coastal village of Gaziyeh earlier this year to finance terrorist attacks in Lebanon.
It was the worst fighting in Lebanon's second-largest city in more than two decades, security officials.
At one point, TV footage showed an army helicopter pursuing a militant vehicle in north Lebanon's Balamand area. LBCI said the region was completely deserted.
In April, a Lebanese soldier was killed in a shootout with Fatah al-Islam gunmen at the edge of Nahr al -Bared, a camp of 30,000 refugees.
Police had also arrested a number of Fatah al-Islam members in connection with the twin bus bombings in the town of Ein Alaq on Feb. 13 which killed and wounded at least 20 people.(Naharnet-AP-AFP)
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AM
Battles Rage Between Army, Fatah al-Islam in North Lebanon
Retrieved from Naharnet on May 20, 2007
The Lebanese army engaged in deadly fighting with Fatah al-Islam militants in the northern port city of Tripoli and the adjacent Palestinian refugee camp of Nahr al-Bared Sunday, officials said.
Seven Lebanese soldiers and four Fatah al-Islam militants were killed in the fierce fighting, which involved tank and grenade fire, Internal Security Forces chief Gen. Ashraf Rifi told Agence France Presse.
The fighting between army troops surrounding the camp and fighters from the terrorist group began at dawn after a gunbattle raged in a Tripoli neighborhood.
Witnesses said Fatah al-Islam gunmen seized Lebanese army positions at the entrance to the camp.
The gunmen also opened fire on roads leading to the city and ambushed a military unit, the security officials said.
The army brought reinforcements and was firing on Fatah al-Islam positions. Black and white smoke billowed from the camp.
In Beirut, legislator Saad Hariri issued an appeal for calm and called for the population of Tripoli to cooperate with the Lebanese army.
The northern city was shuttered and roads were deserted.
The clashes in Nahr al-Bared started shortly after police raided a militant-occupied apartment in Tripoli.
The police were looking for suspects in a bank robbery a day earlier in Amioun in which gunmen made off with $125,000 in cash.
A security source told Naharnet on Saturday that the escape car of four gunmen, who had robbed the Mediterranean Bank branch, has been identified as one of the vehicles used by Fatah al-Islam.
The source noted that members of the group had robbed two banks in Tripoli and the southern coastal village of Gaziyeh earlier this year to finance terrorist attacks in Lebanon.
On Sunday, troops in Tripoli's Zahriyeh neighborhood could be seen besieging a building where militants had taken refuge and were demanding they surrender. They occasionally exchanged fire with the gunmen.
Both sides clashed in the Miatain neighborhood too.
It was the worst fighting in Lebanon's second-largest city in more than two decades, security officials.
At one point, TV footage showed an army helicopter pursuing a militant vehicle in north Lebanon's Balamand area. The LBCI TV station said the region was completely deserted.
In April, a Lebanese soldier was killed in a shootout with Fatah al-Islam gunmen at the edge of Nahr al -Bared, a camp of 30,000 refugees.
Police had also arrested a number of Fatah al-Islam members in connection with the twin bus bombings in the town of Ein Alaq on Feb. 13 which killed and wounded at least 20 people.(AP-AFP-Naharnet)
MAY 21, 2007
Explosion Shakes Verdun, Wounding 10, Causing Extensive Damage
Retrieved from Naharnet on May 22, 2007
A massive blast ripped through Beirut's stylish Verdun district overnight, wounding 10 people, including two boys, and gutting several apartments and cars.
The explosion, which went off at 11:50 p.m. on Monday, also started fire in cars and caused extensive damage to one of the Lebanese capital's posh districts.
Police said the injured boys aged 7 and 11. They said the others were all men.
Verdun is home to senior public personalities, including Information Minister Ghazi Aridi and former cabinet minister Najib Mikati. It also houses the renowned Dunes shopping center and the Russian Cultural Center, in addition to restaurants, schools and banks.
It was not clear whether the bomb was placed inside or under a parked four-wheel-drive vehicle, but police estimated the bomb was made up of 15 kilograms of explosives.
Television footage showed a car burning near a building as a fire engine doused the flames with water.
Several nearby cars had their windows blown out from the blast, and a high-floor apartment in a nearby building was in flames. Pieces of wood and glass littered the streets and hung from balconies, as security forces and civilians crowded the scene.
The daily Al Liwaa on Tuesday said a suspect in the Verdun bombing was now in police custody.
It said security sources identified him as Hussein Ahmad.
Al Liwaa said Ahmad confessed that another person, only identified as M.M., was also involved in the bombing, which came less than a day after a bomb near the ABC shopping mall in Ashrafiyeh killed a woman and wounded 12 others.
The violence came as Lebanese troops fought heavy battles with the Fatah al-Islam extremist group in northern Lebanon's Palestinian refugee camp of Nahr el-Bared, in which more than 50 people were killed in the last two days.
Beirut and surrounding suburbs have been hit by a series of explosions in the last two years, particularly targeting Christian areas in which the pro-government majority coalition has blamed on Syria.
The explosions also come as the U.N. Security Council is considering whether to impose an international tribunal in the assassination of former Premier Rafik Hariri after the government and the Hizbullah-led opposition failed to agree on approving it.
A U.N. investigation into the Hariri assassination has been expanded to include the series of bombings some blame on Syria. A U.N. probe has linked senior Syrian security officials and allies in the Lebanese security services to Hariri's 2005 truck bombing murder while Syria controlled Lebanon.
Damascus has denied involvement in Hariri's death and the other explosions, but Syria was forced to withdraw its army from Lebanon two months after the assassination, ending a 29-year presence.
(Naharnet-AP)