LebaneseForces.com: Fighting for Freedom

Besharri Demonstrates for Geagea's Release

Lebanese Forces activists have staged an Easter demonstration at Samir Geagea's hometown of Besharri demanding his release from nearly an 11-year imprisonment as a drive for a parole gathered steam in parliament.
Legislator Nicholas Fattoush has added his signature to a parliamentary petition for a amendment of a 1991 post-civil war amnesty law to allow the LF commander to be set free from jails at the Defense Ministry compound in Yarze, where he spent more than 10 years in solitary confinement.

"I am signing the 'free Geagea' bill because his freedom is an essential requirement of a genuine national reconciliation," Fattoush said as he signed at Geagea's suburban house north of Beirut in the presence of his wife Sitrida and parliament member Nimatallah Abi Nasr Monday, An Nahar reported on Tuesday.

Abi Nasr is one of the six legislators who signed the bill last week. The draft needs between six and 10 signatures to set the amendment move in motion at the 128-member legislature.

Hundreds of LF activists brandishing Geagea's portraits in a forest of LF and Lebanese national flags paraded in the streets of Besharri, shouting slogans demanding his unconditional release as a precondition for national reconciliation.

The LF has forcefully joined the opposition drive to end Syria's tutelage over Lebanon in the wake of ex-Premier Hariri's assassination. So did exiled Gen. Michel Aoun's Free Patriotic Movement. Activists from the two far-right groupings are taking part in the 43-day-old non-stop vigil at Hariri graveside.

Posted by 40-Tactical on Tuesday, March 29, 2005 | Permalink

Syrian's Leaving Next Week?

President Assad has sent out orders to speed up the ongoing withdrawal of Syrian troops and intelligence personnel from Lebanon, setting midweek next week as the final deadline for the complete departure that ends 28 years of highhanded tutelage, An Nahar reported on Tuesday.
The deadline has been pressured from two months down to 20 days as of last Wednesday. This made the middle of next week the historic date for the departure of the last Syrian soldier from Lebanon, An Nahar's Domestic Affairs Editor Nicholas Nassif reported.

Assad's decision was conveyed to the Lebanese army command in the latest of three unpublicized meetings held by the Lebanese-Syrian joint military committee March 18, 21 and 26, Nassif wrote.

"The decision quickens the pace for a complete termination of Syrian military and intelligence presence in Lebanon to strip the U.N. Security Council from any alibis to keep Syria under pressure," An Nahar's Nassif stressed.

The Syrians are currently dismantling their air defenses across the Bekaa Valley and towing guns into Damascus and the central Syrian city of Homs in long convoys of tanks, armored personnel carriers and troop-loaded trucks under Beirut media glare.

Nassif said some 6,000 Syrian soldiers have already returned home and the 8,000 left behind would be out of Lebanon by the new deadline.

Posted by 40-Tactical on Tuesday, March 29, 2005 | Permalink

Hariri blast video aired on TV

An Arabic-language satellite channel broadcast a videotape Sunday that it said showed images recorded seconds before the explosion that killed former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik Hariri in February.

The 90-second tape was broadcast on the al-Arabiya news network, which said it was recorded by a nearby bank security camera.

On it, a white pickup truck -- moving at about a quarter the speed of surrounding vehicles -- enters into camera range; moments later, the camera records what appear to be the final movements of Hariri's doomed convoy of black vehicles.

A flash occurs, and then the images halt abruptly -- presumably the result of the blast that occurred February 14 in downtown Beirut. The explosion killed 20 people, including Hariri.

The tape does not capture the detonation itself, but the footage of the truck is considered a vital lead by investigators from the United Nations, which last week completed a 19-page report on the blast.

The U.N. team said it thought the blast may have been caused by the explosion of about 1,000 kilograms (2,200 pounds) of TNT carried in a 1995 or 1996 Mitsubishi truck.

A U.N. spokesman confirmed that the video shown by the network was the same one the investigative team has taken back to U.N. headquarters in New York. The report says that the vehicle would have reached the site of where the detonation occurred 69 seconds before the Hariri convoy reached the same location.

"It is estimated that if the pickup truck had continued its journey at the same speed without stopping, it would still have been affected by the force of the blast and would most probably have remained at the scene after the explosion," the report said.

"In order to have avoided the explosion, this pickup truck would have had to speed up considerably, immediately after going out of view of the ... camera. There is no evidence to support this."

United Nations investigators say their line of inquiry has been damaged by gross negligence and possible criminal behavior of Lebanese security forces, who are suspected of planting evidence inside the bomb crater.

The U.N. report concluded: "Syria bears primary responsibility for the political tension that preceded the assassination of former Prime Minister Mr. Hariri.

"The government of Syria clearly exerted influence that goes beyond the reasonable exercise of cooperative or neighborly relations. It interfered with the details of governance in Lebanon in a heavy-handed and inflexible manner that was the primary reason for the political polarization that ensued."

The U.N. fact-finding team presented its report Thursday.

Sunday, Lebanese security forces were investigating a bombing in the capital that came just hours before the traditional Easter midnight Mass. Up to eight people were reported injured.

Not since the years of civil war has Beirut suffered a similar wave of bomb blasts -- three in eight days have targeted predominantly Christian districts on the outskirts of the capital.

U.S. officials have said they are concerned the attacks could intensify.

"The United States has condemned in the strongest possible terms these acts of violence and intimidation," U.S. Deputy Assistant Secretary of State David Satterfield said.

"They are aimed directly at the people of Lebanon, and I think the people of Lebanon are confident in their ability to proceed in a manner that tells those responsible they will not be frightened," he said.

Meanwhile, Syrian forces continue a gradual withdrawal -- a key opposition demand -- abandoning more positions in eastern Lebanon. But the spate of bombings, coinciding with the troop movements, has unnerved many Lebanese.

Syria began pulling its 14,000 troops to the Bekaa Valley near the border March 8, and vowed to bring all the troops and intelligence officials across the border into Syria.

Many opposition members contend that the violence is part of a Syria-backed conspiracy to undermine security and weaken their drive to free Lebanon from Syrian control.

Hariri's assassination provoked outrage over Syria's influence, setting off extensive demonstrations.

Many Lebanese believe Syria was behind the killing, and Prime Minister Omar Karami and his government resigned February 28 under intense pressure.

But he was reappointed by parliament to bring together opposition and loyalist politicians in a Cabinet to lead Lebanon to general elections scheduled for May.

President Emile Lahoud, a staunch Syrian ally, urged Lebanese to unite to save the country.

[via]

Posted by 40-Tactical on Monday, March 28, 2005 | Permalink

Easter Bomb Shows Syria Leaving Lebanon a Scorched Earth

A bomb blast set off huge fires in an industrial estate on Beirut's northeastern outskirts, killing two Indian janitors and injuring five other people in the third such attack in eight days. Opposition leaders said Syria was delivering on a threat to turn Lebanon into scorched earth before evacuating it. Police said Sunday the dead Indians worked as janitors in a complex of printing presses at suburban Dikwaneh, where the bomb exploded Saturday night. Huge flames leapt to five adjacent buildings, including a lumbar yard. It took a dozen fire engines four hours to put down the blaze.

Glass shards littered the streets and several cars were still smoldering in the streets as Easter Sunday dawned on the predominantly Christian-populated target of the latest bombing. Three other Asian janitors were killed and 14 people were wounded in the two previous attacks in New Jdeideh and Kaslik in Lebanon's Christian heartland north of Beirut.

"The Syrians have told us that they will turn Lebanon into scorched earth if they have to leave it. They are delivering," said Dikwaneh's Mayor Antoine Jbara, referring to a threat reportedly made by President Assad to ex-Premier Rafik Hariri before his Feb. 14 assassination, which exacerbated Syria's evacuation of Lebanon after 28 years of ruthless hegemony.

"They are purposely targeting Christian areas in their scorch earth campaign, hoping to provoke us into fighting our Muslim brethren, but we assure them civil warfare will never break out again. Hariri's blood has united us for ever," Jbara said.

"The Syrians will never again be able to bring us down to our knees. We tell loud and clear: 'we shall not kneel'," Jbara told reporters at the blazing scene in Dikwaneh.

As he spoke, Mount Lebanon police chief Maj. Gen. Sarkis Tadros said the blast was caused by a 25 kilogram (55 pound) bomb placed between a car and a furniture factory in the Bouchrieh industrial estate. It carved a crater one meter deep and three meters wide.

"They must love us -- we got it twice in a week," Mayor Gebara said, referring to last Saturday's explosion in the nearby predominantly Christian neighborhood of Jdeideh which falls within his municipal jurisdiction, too.

Posted by 40-Tactical on Sunday, March 27, 2005 | Permalink

Bomb Blast Injures 5, Sets 6 Buildings Ablaze in Beirut

An explosion ripped through an industrial district on Beirut's northeastern edge Saturday, setting six tall buildings afire and leaving at least 5 people injured. It was the third bombing in 1 week that was blamed by the opposition on Syria's intelligence service in a bit to show that law and order cannot be maintained in Lebanon if Syria evacuates the country.

"The Syrians are telling us that we have one of two options, either law and order under tutelage or freedom with security chaos," said opposition leader Carlos Edde, head of the right wing National Bloc Party, from the blazing scene of the blast.

Police were confused about the cause of the blast. One officer at the scene said it was a car bomb, but another officer said it was a bomb concealed in a leather suitcase placed under a car with a timing device.

Edde and Druze leader Walid Jumblat asserted the new explosion was engineered by the same Syrian intelligence service that carried out the previous bombings of a commercial street in New Jdeideh and a shopping mall in Kaslik. Three persons were killed and 14 wounded in these blasts inside Lebanon's Christian heartland.

Nothing that Saturday's blast in the industrial sector that sits near the residential neighborhood of Dekwaneh had hit a predominantly Christian area, Edde said it was obvious that the perpetrators intended to provoke sectarian friction in the wake of the Feb. 14 assassination of ex-Premier Rafik Hariri, who was a Muslim.

"But we shall not fall in the trap. We shall win the spring elections. We shall overthrow the Syrian controlled regime of President Lahoud and install our national salvation government," Edde said.

Jumblat also said opposition efforts should focus on holding the elections on schedule so as to change the Lahoud regime and set up a free democratic government.

As they spoke a dozen fire engines battled to put down the raging fires as rescuers stood poised to enter the burning structures to try to evacuate any casualties there.

Posted by 40-Tactical on Sunday, March 27, 2005 | Permalink

Car bomb explodes in east Beirut, five wounded

A car bomb exploded in an industrial suburb of east Beirut on Saturday, causing a large fire and wounding five people, security sources said.

They said a rigged Buick car exploded in the industrial area in Dikwanah suburb in Christian east Beirut. Fire fighters were trying to contain blazes in two buildings as thick black smoke rose into the night sky.

Ambulances and rescue workers rushed to the scene, witnesses said.

"A large bomb exploded near a commercial centre in Sin al-Fil," said the security source who declined to be named.

It was not immediately known if there were people in the buildings. The area houses factories, printing houses and warehouses.

Two explosions in the past week have targeted commercial areas in the anti-Syrian Christian heartland, killing three people and wounding 16.

The assassination of former Prime Minister Rafik al-Hariri on Feb. 14 has plunged Lebanon into its biggest political crisis since the end of the 1975-1990 civil war.

Lebanon's opposition who blame Syria for Hariri's death urged the country's Syrian-backed security chiefs on Saturday to resign to make way for an international probe into the killing.

Syria denies involvement in the assassination.

The opposition seized on mass street protests to force the pro-Syrian government to resign last month and Damascus to bow to international pressure to withdraw the forces it poured into the country early in the civil war.

Posted by 40-Tactical on Saturday, March 26, 2005 | Permalink

Gas container depot explodes in Beirut

A large explosion has been heard in a Christian district in eastern Beirut, witnesses said.

Smoke could be seen rising from the site of the blast, which resonated throughout the Lebanese capital.

Police said that a gas container depot in an industrial zone in an eastern suburb had exploded.

The explosion had been caused by a car bomb, a police officer said.

An AFP photographer reported seeing a burned out car several metres from the site of the explosion outside a building in an industrial district near Dekouaneh.

The explosion happened after two bomb attacks in Lebanon in the last week.

A blast on March 19 in a northern suburb of Beirut wounded 11, while another blast on Wednesday killed three people in Kaslik, 20 kilometres north of the capital.

Posted by 40-Tactical on Saturday, March 26, 2005 | Permalink

Car bombings dampen Beirut's hope for change

Tony Rizk needs only to look at the empty stools in his nightclubs and the deserted street outside to know something has gone awry in the midst of Lebanon's so-called Cedar Revolution.

As part-owner of two popular bars on Monot Street, a thin and winding road that is usually the throbbing heart of Beirut's nightlife, Mr. Rizk has been staring at empty tables for a week now, ever since the first of two car bombings hit Christian neighbourhoods.

The attacks killed three people, and shook the confidence of a country trained by its history to expect the worst. A siege mentality now reigns over Beirut's good-times district.

"It's a holiday weekend; it's supposed to be packed in here," Mr. Rizk said yesterday. "But people are afraid, so they're staying at home. Parents aren't letting their children go out."

It's not just the nightlife that has taken a hit. Shopping malls and restaurants that are usually bustling have been nearly deserted since the first attack, and Western embassies have seen a crush of visa applications and foreign passport renewals as many Lebanese make contingency plans to leave the country.

Patrons at Mr. Rizk's clubs got news of the first explosion on their mobile phones minutes after it happened last weekend, and headed immediately for the door. Everyone understood the bomb's frightening implications — Christians had clearly been targeted in the attack, and if Muslims were blamed and there was any retaliation, the fighting would be hard to stop.

A series of tit-for-tat attacks ignited the 1975-1990 civil war, a conflict that left 150,000 people dead and that is still fresh in the minds of all but the youngest Lebanese.

Monot Street is just metres from the old Green Line that once separated Beirut's Christian east side from the Muslim west end, and many of the buildings on the narrow road still bear physical scars from those destructive years.

Talk of a Cedar Revolution — the name bestowed by the U.S. State Department on a series of massive pro-democracy rallies in Beirut — has died down in the past few days.

While a few hundred demonstrators still occupy a tent city in the middle of Beirut's main square, many are now wondering whether the country, instead of leading a wave of reform in the Middle East, isn't sliding back toward the bad old days.

The anti-government demonstrations had been remarkable for bringing together Christians, Sunni Muslims and Druze, groups who fought each other during the civil war. But much of that hopefulness has now been grounded by worries that the next bomb could destroy the unity and set Christians and Muslims against each other once more.

"They've started in the Christian areas, but there's no reason why it couldn't spread to the Muslim ones. Someone could plant a bomb in a Muslim area and make it appear as though the Christians are retaliating," said Farid Chedid, a Beirut-based political analyst. "Certainly, someone is trying to create a conflict."

The bombings added to the tension that has existed in Lebanon since the Feb. 14 assassination of popular former prime minister Rafik Hariri, a killing that many Lebanese believe was orchestrated by the country's pro-Syrian government and its political masters in Damascus.

Mr. Hariri's death sparked an outpouring of popular anger that brought hundreds of thousands of protesters into the streets, and forced both the resignation of Prime Minister Omar Karami's government and a promise from Syrian President Bashar Assad to end Syria's 29-year military presence in Lebanon.

Since those breakthroughs for the opposition, however, the country has drifted into a cloud of deep uncertainty.

President Émile Lahoud reappointed Mr. Karami 10 days after his resignation, but he has been unable to form a national-unity government and is widely expected to quit again in the coming days.

There is a parliamentary election scheduled for May, but with no government in place and no election law written, there's speculation it will be postponed.

Though Syrian troops have already begun leaving, both Mr. Assad and Mr. Lahoud have warned that the withdrawal could destabilize Lebanon and send it hurtling back toward civil war.

The Lebanese opposition has accused the Syrian and Lebanese security services of orchestrating this week's car bombings to add weight to that dire talk.

Both bombs exploded in the middle of the night in places that are normally crowded during the day. The opposition believes the attacks were intended as warning shots, to demonstrate the chaos that could be unleashed if the opposition doesn't drop its demands for Mr. Lahoud to resign and for an international investigation into Mr. Hariri's murder.

In his Easter sermon yesterday, Maronite Patriarch Nasrallah Boutros Sfeir, a leading opposition figure, said the country is heading into a phase that could see its unity put to the test. He said the Lebanese "will not be divided unless somebody is forcefully dividing them ..... planting explosives on their land and outside their homes and shops, and terrorizing them."

Posted by 40-Tactical on Saturday, March 26, 2005 | Permalink

U.N. Accuses Beirut Authorities of Derailing Hariri Assassination Probe

A U.N. mission has recommended a new international investigation into the assassination of Lebanon's ex-Premier Rafik Hariri, charging the Lebanese authorities had bungled and systematically manipulated the on-the-scene probe at a waterfront resort in downtown Beirut Feb. 14.

But it warned that even an international investigation would be futile if the current commanders of the security forces in Lebanon remain in their posts, charging them with dereliction of duty in connection with Hariri's murder.

The report pointed a finger at Syria although stopped short of openly accusing the Assad regime of involvement in the killing, noting, instead, that Damascus was behind the political tension and weak security that led to Hariri's death with 19 other people, including six bodyguards.

"The government of Syria bears primary responsibility for the political tension that preceded the assassination," said the report from a fact-finding mission led by deputy Irish police commissioner Peter Fitzgerald, which spent a month in Beirut probing the murder.

"Clearly, Mr. Hariri's assassination took place on the backdrop of his power struggle with Syria, regardless of who carried out the assassination and with what aim," the report said.

It said the blast which shredded Hariri's motorcade as it drove by a beachside near the St. George bomb-scarred hotel was probably caused by a car-bomb rigged with 1,000 kilograms (2,200 pounds) of TNT.

"It is clear that the assassination took place in a political and security context marked by an acute polarization around the Syrian influence in Lebanon, and a failure of the Lebanese state to provide adequate protection," it said.

"There was a distinct lack of commitment on the part of the Lebanese authorities to investigate the crime effectively," it said, claiming there may have even been illegal manipulation of some evidence.

"The manner in which this element of the investigation was carried out displays at least gross negligence, possibly accompanied by criminal actions for which those responsible should be made accountable," it said.

Lebanese security services need new leadership and the proposed international probe to uncover Hariri's killers could fail if the same security bosses remained in place, the report said.

Opposition leaders in Lebanon are demanding the ouster of State Prosecutor Adnan Addoum plus the commanding generals of the nation's main security services, blaming them outright for Hariri's tragic death. They were also accused of manufacturing alibis and inventing scapegoats to absolve Syria from guilt.

In addition to the "distinct lack of commitment," the report said the Lebanese probe was not carried out "in accordance with acceptable international standards."

It detailed a host of flaws, including the disappearance of crucial evidence and tampering with the scene of the blast. Parts of a pickup truck were brought to the scene, placed in the crater and photographed as evidence, it said.

The report said investigative judges in Beirut had no control over the probe and even faulted police for not turning off a water main that flooded the blast crater and washed away vital evidence.

Studying the aftermath of the bombing, Fitzgerald's team also cast serious doubts on the legitimacy of a suspect in the bombing, a Palestinian named Ahmed Abu Adas, and a group that claimed responsibility, the little-known Support and Jihad in Syria and Lebanon.

Abu Adas did not possibly possess the skill, the equipment and the expertise to stage such an assassination operation, the report said.

Fitzgerald also faulted Syria for interfering in the governing of Lebanon "in a heavy-handed and inflexible manner." He said his investigators also received testimony that Syrian President Bashar Assad had threatened Hariri and leading opposition figure Walid Jumblat with physical harm.(Naharnet-AP-AFP)

Posted by digitalDNA on Friday, March 25, 2005 | Permalink

Syria to leave Lebanon 'very, very quickly'

Syria's ambassador to the United States said his government is planning a quick withdrawal of troops from Lebanon, likely before summer.

"Right now nobody, even in Damascus itself, knows the actual timetable," Imad Moustapha told an audience Wednesday at Georgetown University in Washington, D.C.

"We believe that it will happen sooner than you might expect."

Moustapha said Syrian and Lebanese military officials would meet at the beginning of April to draft a timetable for withdrawing troops.

"We will withdraw as soon as possible. The sooner, the better. And we're not talking about two or three months. We will do this very, very quickly," he said.

But he noted, Syria will withdraw "in a phased, organized way so that we will not create a vacuum" and further destabilize Lebanon.

Last week, Syria began moving its 14,000 troops to the Bekaa Valley near the border and promised to bring all the troops and intelligence officials across the border into Syria later on.

"There is no hesitation about this, as the political decision has been taken," Moustapha said. "We are withdrawing every single official from Lebanon, whether he is a regular army soldier, or whether he is in the security or intelligence forces."

On Tuesday U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan, in Algeria for the Arab League summit, said that Syrian President Bashar Assad had agreed to present by April a firm timetable for withdrawal. Annan said he expected for it to occur before the Lebanese parliamentary elections in April and May.

The United Nations last year passed U.N. Resolution 1559, calling for the full withdrawal of Syrian troops and intelligence forces. Annan has said he wants Damascus to carry through with its obligations.

The assassination of former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri has resulted in massive demonstrations against Syria's troop presence in Lebanon and the resignation of Prime Minister Omar Karami's pro-Syrian government.

Hariri was the chief opposition figure in Lebanon who spearheaded the push for Syrian troops and intelligence officers to leave Lebanon. That movement culminated in the largest demonstration in the nation's history last week, with an estimated 500,000 to one million people cramming the streets, chanting, "Get out Syria!"

The demonstration came one month to the day after Hariri's February 14 assassination.

Moustapha said, "No other incident has caused [such] terrible damage to Syria in the past 30 years."

"Those that killed Hariri, what they really wanted to do by killing him is exactly what we have seen, creating a rift between Syria and Lebanon," he said.

Moustapha said once Syrian troops are out of Lebanon, Damascus could focus on political reforms promised by Assad.

Among those reforms, he said, are Syrian plans to release all remaining political prisoners by June. The government, Moustapha said, has already started to release groups of political detainees over the past several years.

"I am not so proud that Syria has political detainees, just like you have in Guantanamo Bay," he told the Georgetown University audience.

[via]

Posted by 40-Tactical on Thursday, March 24, 2005 | Permalink

Opposition blames Syria for deadly blast

Lebanon's opposition accused pro-Syrian Lebanese security agents of Wednesday's bomb blast in a Christian quarter north of Beirut which killed three and wounded five others. The huge bomb, the second targeting a Christian area in less than a week in the run up to Easter, threatens to envelope Lebanon in an atmosphere of fear and chaos just weeks before nationwide elections are scheduled to take place.

The country's political opposition believes the bomb attacks are being carried out by pro-Syrian groups who are determined to create havoc in order to prove a need for a Syrian Army presence in Lebanon.

In a statement, the opposition Qornet Shehwan gathering said: "It has become clear to everyone that the security regime and its collaborators are responsible for terrorizing the people that united behind the demands of the opposition."

Leading opposition MP Walid Jumblatt said the security services were guilty of organizing a "theater of blood" and reiterated his demand that the top security chiefs resign.

Opposition member Simon Karam added: "The Lebanese-Syrian security network is targeting Christian regions in order to provoke Islamic-Christian tension, which will not happen."

French President Jacques Chirac, one of Syria's most vocal international critics, said he was "beside himself with anger" at the bombing.

Chirac said: "I hope that those who are banking on stirring strife in Lebanon and are trying to show that anarchy and bombings would return to Lebanon without Syrian intervention, I hope those who are playing this trivial game can be swiftly exposed and brought to justice."

The blast occurred in the Kesrouan area of Kaslik a few miles outside the capital and comes hard on the heels of a similar blast just five days earlier in New Jdeideh which wounded 11 people.

The three victims of the blast are all believed to be Sri Lankan nationals who had recently arrived in Lebanon in search of work and a better life.

The 30-kilogram bomb, planted in a suitcase under the stairway entrance to the Alta Vista center, exploded at 1:30 a.m. and devastated shops, boutiques and nightclubs, as well as dozens of parked cars.

Red Cross and Civil Defense personnel searched by hand through the debris for victims as police dogs sniffed the rubble for other explosive charges that could have been planted at the site.

Rumors of booby-trapped cars have been spreading rapidly and a number of false alarms were reported in Mansourieh, Achrafieh, Jamhour and Kaslik, where the Universite Saint Esprit received a call that a bomb might explode at any moment. All students and staff members were evacuated, but the alarm proved to be false.

Hizbullah condemned the bombing and urged Lebanese people to be cautious. The

group also called on the authorities to take all measures that would secure people's safety and reassure them.

President Emile Lahoud said the attack was aimed at pushing Lebanon into "chaos and fear" and reiterated his earlier call for dialogue between opposition and loyalist politicians "as the only means to break the political stalemate and bridge all differences on controversial issues."

Lebanon's opposition has steadfastly refused to enter a dialogue with loyalist politicians until its demands, which include the resignation of the country's security chiefs, an independent investigation into former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri's murder and a full Syrian withdrawal from Lebanon are met.

The opposition also called for those directly harmed by the blasts to file personal lawsuits against the interior and defense ministers for "failing to protect the security of the Lebanese."

Outgoing Interior Minister Suleiman Franjieh said he was willing to assume full responsibility for the blast, but insisted his "conscience is clear" and that he was not afraid of any lawsuits.

He urged Qornet Shehwan members, who he said were "full of hatred and had found in Hariri's assassination a means to settle accounts, to overcome their hatred or at least postpone it because of the current delicate situation."

In Bkirki, Maronite Patriarch Nasrallah Sfeir said the bombings were proof of "weakness not of strength."

He added: "There are always people who do not want any good for Lebanon, and they want to create problems."

Kesrouan MP Farid Khazen said the Kaslik attack was a response by the commanders of Lebanon's major security branches to the opposition demand that they all be fired for failing to prevent Hariri's assassination last month.

Kesrouan MP Neamatallah Abi Nasr added: "Such attacks will escalate correspondingly with the progress of the process of Lebanon's restoration of sovereignty and independence."

[via]

Posted by 40-Tactical on Thursday, March 24, 2005 | Permalink

Kaslik Bomb Kills Two, Not Three

Lebanese news agencies are reporting that two people were killed in an explosion that rocked the Lebanese commercial center in northern Beirut, not three as was originally reported.

According to current reports, one Indian citizen and one Pakistani citizen were killed. The two were working as custodians, and were cleaning at the time the bomb exploded.

Posted by 40-Tactical on Wednesday, March 23, 2005 | Permalink

Bomb Wrecks Kaslik Shopping Mall

A bomb blast ripped a shopping mall in an elite commercial thoroughfare at the coastal township of Kaslik north of Beirut early Wednesday, killing two Asian janitors and sharpening fears of escalating violence apparently designed to show that Lebanon still cannot afford a total Syrian departure.
Police said the victims were an Indian and a Pakistani who had long worked as janitors in Kaslik's Alta Vista Tower, where four others –two Sri Lankans and two Lebanese-- were. One injured Lebanese was treated on the spot for minor cuts from flying glass and sent home while the other three were hospitalized with critical wounds.

It was the second such bombing attack in five days. The first occurred at suburban New Jdeideh on Beirut's northern edge at the southern flank of the Metn district early Saturday, injuring 11 people. Kaslik is in the Kesrouan district some 10 kilometers north of New Jdeideh. Both districts are part of Lebanon's Christian heartland.

Kesrouan parliament members blamed the Kaslik bombing on Syrian-controlled Lebanese intelligence services, calling both the Kaslik and New Jdeideh bombings systematic acts of terrorism.

Legislator Farid Khazen said the Kaslik attack was a response by the commanders of Lebanon's major security branches to the opposition demand that they all be fired for failing to prevent ex-Premier Rafik Hariri's assassination Feb. 14.

"Such attacks will escalate correspondingly with the progress of the process of Lebanon's restoration of its sovereignty and independence," said Legislator Nihmatallah Abi Nasr in an obvious reference to the advancement of Syria's ongoing exit from Lebanon.

Posted by 40-Tactical on Wednesday, March 23, 2005 | Permalink

Shopping mall blast in Kaslik kills three

A bomb has ripped through a shopping mall in a predominantly Christian area north of Beirut, Lebanon, killing three people and wounding at least two others, police said.

It was the third bombing in six weeks in Lebanon, which has been tumultuous since a bombing killed former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri last month.

Video from the scene of Wednesday's blast showed the mall heavily damaged -- with glass, concrete and other debris strewn inside the shopping center and throughout the nearby street.

Police cordoned off the area, and an investigation is under way. There has been no claim of responsibility.

Police said the three people killed were security personnel at the mall, located about 12 miles north of Beirut.

The bombing comes on the heels of a similar blast just four days ago, when a car bomb exploded in another Christian area, sheering off part of a multistory office building. Nobody was killed, but it raised concerns about more violence in the volatile Lebanese capital.

No suspects have been arrested or identified in that blast or in the bombing that killed Hariri.

Hariri's assassination has resulted in massive demonstrations against Syria's troop presence in Lebanon and the resignation of Prime Minister Omar Karami's government.

Karami stepped down February 28 under intense pressure following Hariri's killing. But he was reappointed by parliament to bring together both opposition and loyalist politicians in a Cabinet to lead Lebanon to general elections scheduled for May.

Hariri was the chief opposition figure in Lebanon who spearheaded the push for Syrian troops and intelligence officers to leave Lebanon. That movement culminated in the largest demonstration in the nation's history last week, with an estimated 500,000 to 1 million people cramming the streets, chanting, "Get out Syria!"

The demonstration came one month to the day after Hariri's assassination.

Syria began pulling its 14,000 troops to the Bekaa Valley near the border March 8, and vowed to bring all the troops and intelligence officials across the border into Syria later on.

After Saturday's bombing, pro-Syrian President Emile Lahoud urged Lebanon's divided politicians to begin immediate talks.

Posted by 40-Tactical on Wednesday, March 23, 2005 | Permalink

Bomb Explosion in Kaslik

Three people were killed and five wounded early on Wednesday when a bomb exploded at a shopping centre in a Christian town north of the Lebanese capital Beirut, police sources and local television said.

The explosion, the second in a commercial Christian area in five days, fuelled growing concerns that a deepening political crisis following the assassination of a former prime minister last month could plunge the country into chaos.

The roof of the centre in the coastal town of Kaslik, 20 km north of Beirut, had collapsed and emergency services workers searched through the rubble for other victims.

Windows of nearby buildings were shattered and broken glass littered nearby streets.

Investigators were quickly on the scene. Police sources said indications were that the blast was caused by an explosive charge placed inside the multi-storey centre which had been closed.

It was not clear who the casualties were, but rescue workers speculated most were either guards or foreign cleaning staff at the building. The toll would have been much worse if the blast had taken place in daytime at the usually crowded street.

"It is clear that those who carried out this attack are targeting the security and stability of the country," opposition parliament member Faris Bouez told reporters at the scene. "It is a political message to the (anti-Syrian) independence uprising."

In the previous incident, a car bomb exploded in a Christian suburb of Beirut early on Saturday, wounding 11 people.

TENSION

The explosion at around 1:30 a.m. (2330 GMT) came amid acute political tension since the Feb. 14 killing of former Prime Minister Rafik al-Hariri in another bombing. The assassination triggered a wave of anti-Syrian protests.

International pressure forced Syria to announce a troop withdrawal from Lebanon. It has already cut the number of its forces in its neighbour and a timetable for a complete pullout would be agreed in early April.

"The aim is chaos ... The country is the target," another Christian opposition parliamentarian, Ghanem al-Boun, said in Kaslik.

The anti-Syrian opposition has refused to sit in a national unity government with pro-Syrian loyalists, almost foiling the task of Damascus-backed Prime Minister Omar Karami to form such a government.

The opposition wants a transitional government with the sole role of supervising general elections in May. Loyalists say the country's crisis was so serious that dialogue between both sides should start immediately and a unity government should lead Lebanon to the elections.

Hizbollah, the country's most powerful party, said on Tuesday the coming days would show whether Karami would be able to form a national unity government.

"This week I believe matters will become clear and definite, and on that basis the fate of the government will be decided -- will a national unity government be formed or something else?" the Syrian-backed Shi'ite Muslim group's leader, Sheikh Hassan Nasrallah, said after meeting Karami.

If Karami cannot form a new government, a different prime minister will be given the task and consultations will start again, Nasrallah said, adding that "there is still time

Posted by 40-Tactical on Wednesday, March 23, 2005 | Permalink

Syria's Backsliding Influence Aids Geagea's Release

An opposition drive to get Lebanese Forces commander Samir Geagea out of prison seems to be gathering steam now that Syria's influence is backsliding fast in Lebanon. Geagea's wife, Sitrida, who has been leading her husband's movement during his nearly 11 years in jail, told LBCI on Monday that she expects her husband to be freed soon. "It is impossible to have a comprehensive reconciliation" without his release, she said.

Mrs. Geagea is expected to call on Speaker Berri in parliament shortly to add punch to a draft bill signed by six parliament members over the weekend to amend the 1992 post-civil war amnesty law to have her husband released before the spring elections.

One signatory of the draft, legislator Nihmatallah Abi Nasr, said "there can be no national reconciliation if Samir Geagea remains in prison." Lawmaker Akram Shehayeb, another signatory, said Geagea is a pillar of the opposition and his case should be resolved quickly.

Previous attempts to gain a pardon for Geagea had been stumped by Syrian influence in Lebanese politics. But now as Syria is on the retreat in the aftermath of ex-Premier Hariri's assassination, the opposition feels the new bill will be passed by parliament even though Syria's loyalists still hold the majority in the current parliament.

Posted by 40-Tactical on Tuesday, March 22, 2005 | Permalink

Geagea To Get Out Before Elections?

A move is underway in parliament to get Lebanese Forces commander Samir Geagea released from jail before the spring elections, slain ex-premier Hariri's Al Mustaqbal newspaper reported on Monday.
It said six parliament members have signed a proposed draft bill to amend the 1992 amnesty law on an emergency basis in order to have Geagea released from nearly 11 years in prison at the defense ministry jail in Yarze before the April-May election deadline.

The signatories are Fares Boueiz, Bassem al Sabaa, Akram Shehayyeb, Ala' Terro, Nihmatallah Abi Nasr and George Kassarji. They are studying the proper timing for tabling the draft bill before the 128-member parliament, Al Mustaqbal said.

It implied that the draft would be submitted after a visit Geagea's wife, Strida Geagea, plans to make to Speaker Berri in the near future.

From Naharnet

Posted by 40-Tactical on Monday, March 21, 2005 | Permalink

Jdeideh Bombing Pictures

Exclusive pictures from yesterdays explosion in Jdeideh are available on Wanabka. Click here to view them.

Posted by 40-Tactical on Sunday, March 20, 2005 | Permalink

New Lebanese Forces Website

A good friend of mine just setup a new LF website called LF Info. The site covers LF news directly from within Lebanon and also international news. You can check the site by visiting LFinfo.org.

Posted by 40-Tactical on Saturday, March 19, 2005 | Permalink

Bingo Car Bomb Fuels Fears of Civil Warfare in Syria's Favor

A car bomb wrecked the front of a building in a predominantly Christian suburb of Beirut early Saturday, wounding nine people and kindling fears of schemes to reignite civil warfare so as to show that Syria is sill needed in Lebanon as a stabilizing force.
There was no immediate clue linking the blast in New Jdeideh to the ongoing withdrawal of the Syrian army and intelligence services from Lebanon or the turbulent aftermath of ex-Premier Rafik Hariri's assassination.

But opposition parliament member Pierre Gemayel, called the bombing an act of terrorism that could be an attempt to destabilize the country.

"This has been the message to the Lebanese people for a while -- to sow fear and terror among Lebanese citizens," Gemayel told Al-Jazeera satellite television.

The message is "if there is a Syrian withdrawal from Lebanon, look what Lebanon will face," said Gemayel, elder son of former President Amin Gemayel.

As if to corroborate Gemayel's theory, Hariri's Future-TV network quoted witnesses as saying another car was seen racing out of the blast scene with three gunmen holding a man they had kidnapped. The speeding car was escorted by another and a 4-wheeler, FTV said.

The blast devastated shops on the ground floor of the adjacent building and blew off the facades of the apartments on the first and second floors.

"We don't know what and why," said a white-haired man who was asleep on the second floor when the bomb went off. "No one important lives here. We're all ordinary."

Standing in the street in blue pajamas, the man declined to give his name and broke into tears when a neighbor kissed him and asked about his children. "The two children were taken to hospital with glass cuts, but they're fine" he replied.

Police said seven people were injured. But three local hospitals gave a total of nine people treated for light injuries, most from flying glass and debris.

The Future-TV network said the car, a Japanese-made Datsun, belonged to an Armenian citizen identified as Hagop Jankoian and was parked in front of an empty bingo parlor in the commercial area of shops and boutiques off the Beirut-Tripoli coastal highway.(Naharnet-AP-AFP)

Posted by 40-Tactical on Saturday, March 19, 2005 | Permalink

Syrian Army Leaving Heavy Weapons for Hezbollah

ALMOUQUAWAMA.COM reported today that they received information from a confirmed source in the Lebanese army that the Head of Lebanese army intelligence, general Raymond azar ordered the Lebanese army to secure a safe area in bekaa valley in order to facilitate weapons transfer to Hezbollah from the Syrian army and other major combat units known to be regularly deployed in eastern Lebanon, mainly the 27th and 82nd Brigades from the 3rd Armoured Division and the 87th Brigade from the 11th Armoured Division, usually in the bases around Baalbek, Rayak airfield, Jub Jenin, and Rashaye.”

The sources confirmed that several BM24 “240mm rocket launcher were delivered to Hezbollah” with 1532 rockets “confiscated from OLP“.

Same sources confirmed that more than 87 heavy loaded trucks disappeared in the baalbeck mountains area most of the weapons are heavy weapons and ammunitions especially explosives “confiscated from OLP and Lebanese forces”.

The sources indicate that such heavy weapons stock is not intended to fight Israel, so why the Syrian army is leaving such amount on the Lebanese soil.

From www.chahadatouna.com

Posted by digitalDNA on Saturday, March 19, 2005 | Permalink

New Explosion in Beirut

A car bomb has ripped through a predominantly Christian area of Beirut early Saturday, sheering off part of a multi-story office building and raising concerns about more violence in the volatile Lebanese capital.

The city has been wracked by turmoil since last month's assassination of former prime minister Rafik Hariri.

There were no immediate reports of deaths in the bombing, but several people were transported to a hospital with injuries, authorities said.

The explosion occurred around 12:30 a.m. (5:30 p.m. ET Friday, 10.30 p.m. GMT) and could be heard downtown, more than eight kilometers (five miles) away.

Video of the lower portion of the building showed large chunks sheered off. Glass and other debris littered the area.

Shortly after the bombing, dozens of people took to the streets.

The vehicle containing the bomb landed about 50 meters (yards) away from where it exploded. All that was left of the car was a crumpled, burned out shell.

Security forces, including members of the Lebanese army and paramilitary forces, cordoned off the area.

Crime scene investigators were studying the wreckage to try to determine the type of explosive used, authorities said.

The explosion went off in the section of Beirut known as Jdeideh.

Eyewitnesses said the bombing could be an attempt to divide Christians and Muslims. There was no immediate claim of responsibility.

It was the second car bombing in the capital in five weeks -- the first one being the massive explosion that killed Hariri.

The assassination of Hariri resulted in the resignation of Prime Minister Omar Karami's government and in massive demonstrations against Syria's troop presence.

Hariri was the chief opposition figure in Lebanon who spearheaded the push for Syrian troops and intelligence officers to leave Lebanon.

That movement culminated in the largest demonstration in the nation's history on Monday, with an estimated 500,000 to 1 million people cramming the streets, chanting, "Get out Syria!" The demonstration came one month to the day since Hariri's assassination.

Last week, Syria began pulling its 14,000 troops to the Bekaa Valley near the border, and vowed to bring all the troops and intelligence officials across the border into Syria later on.

And on Tuesday, under mounting international and domestic pressure, Syrian intelligence units began leaving parts of Beirut, a Lebanese army source told CNN. (Syria ends first phase)

The United Nations last year passed U.N. Resolution 1559, calling on the full withdrawal of Syrian troops and intelligence forces, and U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan has said he wants Damascus to carry through with its obligations.

Annan's envoy to Lebanon, Terje Roed-Larsen, said Thursday he had reached an understanding with Syrian President Bashir Assad on Syria's withdrawal but declined to say if Assad had agreed to the timetable.

"I've been given commitments and I will see if these commitments are met," he said.

Taken from CNN

Posted by digitalDNA on Saturday, March 19, 2005 | Permalink

Panoramic view of the protests in Beirut, Lebanon

Panorama 1
Panorama 2

Posted by 40-Tactical on Friday, March 18, 2005 | Permalink

U.N. Finds Evidence of Official Cover-Up in Hariri Assassination

As the United Nations' Irish-led special investigation team here prepares to report that the Lebanese authorities have covered up evidence of the murder on 14 February of the former prime minister Rafik Hariri, his two sons have fled Lebanon after hearing that they too are in danger of assassination.
Mr. Hariri's elder son, Bahaa, has flown to Geneva while Saad has left hurriedly for Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, after warnings that they could be the next targets of their father's assassins.

President George Bush is expected to announce on Wednesday that Syrian - and perhaps Lebanese - military intelligence officers were involved in Mr. Hariri's death; the bombing killed 18 other civilians.

The UN's Irish, Egyptian and Moroccan investigation team has now been joined by three Swiss bomb experts following the discovery that many of the smashed vehicles in Hariri's convoy were moved from the scene of the massacre only hours afterwards - and before there was time for an independent investigation. Yesterday, frogmen were sent into the sea off the Beirut Corniche to recover the wreckage of the one car in the Hariri convoy that was not taken away by the authorities because it was blasted over a hotel wall into the Mediterranean by the force of the explosion. If they successfully recover parts of the vehicle, they may be able to discover the nature of the explosives. First reports that Hariri was killed by a car bomb are now being challenged by evidence that the explosives - estimated at 600kg - could have been buried beneath the seafront avenue.

A unique photograph handed to The Independent in Beirut - which is now also in the hands of the UN investigators - was taken on the afternoon of 12 February, about 36 hours before the bombing. It shows a drain cover in the road at the exact spot where the explosion was to tear a 30-foot crater in the highway, instantly killing Hariri and many of his bodyguards.

The section of roadway is marked off by "no parking" signs which have been left there innocently by staff of the nearby HSBC bank. But a mysterious object can be seen on the left edge of the drain cover. Both the metal cover and an extensive area of roadway around it were atomized by the bomb.

The picture also shows two buildings which the UN police officers are investigating as possible locations of the bomber who detonated the explosives: one is on top of the circular building in the centre of the photo - which houses a Beirut hotel as well as a Lebanese army retirement fund office - and the other is on top of the war-damaged Holiday Inn (far right) which has been empty for more than a decade. The balloon in the centre of the photograph regularly takes tourists on sightseeing tours of Beirut.

Some members of the Hariri family have been told that the report of the UN inquiry team will be so devastating that it will force a full international investigation of the murder of "Mr. Lebanon" and his entourage, perhaps reaching to the higher echelons of the Syrian and Lebanese governments.

Hariri opposed the continued Syrian military presence in Lebanon and many Lebanese have blamed the Syrians for his murder. The UN investigators have become convinced that there was a cover-up of evidence at the very highest levels of the Lebanese and Syrian intelligence authorities.

In their search for information, at least one Irish police officer has now interviewed Brigadier General Rustom Ghazale, the senior Syrian army intelligence officer in Lebanon, at his headquarters in Aanjar. He is believed to have pointed out to the police that his job was only to safeguard Syrian forces in the country - an assertion which will require more than a few grains of Syrian salt to be believed.

President Bush's expected remarks on Wednesday will follow two extraordinary days of public demonstrations in Beirut. In the first, today, opposition politicians will try to gather a million followers to protest against the government's failure to resign and to reveal the truth about Hariri's murder - as well as to dwarf last Tuesday's half-million strong Hizbullah rally in support of Syria. The second, by pro-Syrian demonstrators, is planned to march to the US embassy in the Aukar suburb of east Beirut.

All this is being organized while violent rumors sweep Beirut. One says that the Syrians have been handing out weapons to pro-Syrian Palestinians in the refugee camps of Sabra and Chatila in Beirut and Ein el-Helwe in Sidon.

Investigations by The Independent strongly suggest that this in untrue; the Palestinians have quite enough weapons without being resupplied, and many of them would like to be disarmed to end lethal inter-Palestinian factional fighting. But on Saturday night in the Sabra camp, someone knifed to death an elderly Syrian fruit-seller in what was an obvious attempt to provoke violence.

Posted by 40-Tactical on Tuesday, March 15, 2005 | Permalink

Syria's Loyalists Beat up Lebanese Opposition Youth

A 21-year-old youth was taken to hospital Tuesday after being beaten by club-wielding men carrying Syrian flags in the latest incident between anti- and pro-Syrian followers, police said.

Bashir Daibess, 21, was admitted with head and back injuries as well as a fractured elbow which will necessitate surgery after the incident in Furn el-Shebbak residential neighborhood, the injured man and doctors said.

In another incident in nearby Ain al-Remmaneh, men in cars bearing Syrian flags drove through the area honking their horns and insulting youths standing along the streets, police said.

Youths from both sides beat each other with clubs and stones before the cars sporting Syrian flags drove away and Lebanese army forces deployed in force in the area, they said.

"It is not the first time that men carrying Syrian flags pass by the neighborhood to provoke the youngsters here, and actually they have been also driving by and firing shots in the air at night," a police officer said.

At Mount Lebanon Hospital, Daibess said "I was driving around Furn el-Shebbak neighborhood with four of my friends, when a man insulted us from another car carrying seven people."

The car was decorated with a Syrian flag and portraits of Assad and his Lebanese counterpart, Damascus protege Emile Lahoud, he told the Agence France Presse from his hospital bed.

"Then, they got out of the car and we did too. My friends managed to escape, but I was beaten by a baseball bat on the head, the back and the elbow," he said.

"These are provocations that have been taking place every evening in the last few days, and we had been expecting this to happen today after the demonstration of Sheikh Hassan Nasrallah," said witness Tufic Moawad.

"These incidents are very dangerous, especially that they are targeting the residents of Ain al-Remmaneh where the war started," said Moawad, standing among dozens of young men vowing to remain on the streets to "protect our neighborhood."(AFP)

Posted by 40-Tactical on Wednesday, March 09, 2005 | Permalink

Opinion: Getting Back the LBC

“We want LBC back”, a common chant in every LF demonstration, but does Pierre Daher ever hear it? Does Pierre Daher know that LBC was created by the leader of the Lebanese Christian Resistance Bachir Gemayel? Does he know that it was created to support the resistors, to always show the truth and to never hide our creed? Does he know that Samir Geagea paid the price with his liberty to keep the Lebanese Forces institution alive to remain and continue?

Star Academy it seems is more important for Pierre Daher then Lebanon is. Star Academy makes him a lot of money but talking about Samir Geagea and the Lebanese Forces won’t make any and may attract pressure and controversy.

He didn’t stop there. Pierre Daher with his wife Randa insist on firing every employee who was and is related to the Lebanese Forces. Last week I was watching Dr. Fares Souaid on the live talk show on LBC with Marcel Ghanem. At one point during the program a fax was sent by the Lebanese Forces students relating to the recent Anti-Syria demonstrations. MP Fares Souaid interfered and said “It is good to hear the name of the Lebanese Forces back on LBC”, Marcel Ghanem replied “What is the link?” and he meant what is the link between the LF and LBC. Can somebody please tell Mr. Ghanem what the link is?

Opinion by PierreK

Posted by 40-Tactical on Wednesday, March 09, 2005 | Permalink

LF Member Shot

An 18-year-old Lebanese youth was wounded late Sunday in a shooting incident near a sit-in by anti-Syrian opposition supporters staging a running sit-in at slain ex-Premier Rafik Hariri's graveside in downtown Beirut.

"Sharbel Ghanem, 18, was wounded in the hip in a shooting incident near Martyrs' Square," Joseph Khairallah, a doctor at Hotel Dieu de France hospital said. "His condition is serious but not life threatening," he said.

The army announced Monday that three suspects involved in the attack were arrested in predawn house raids staged by the military intelligence service. No names were mentioned.

The incident came as Syria was out to prove that its stranglehold on Lebanon would not be broken by the withdrawal of its army and that the Assad regime would stay on a power broker in the turbulent politics of its weaker neighbor.

A senior security official said the incident occurred after a gunman in a car sporting the flag of Speaker Nabih Berri's Syrian-backed Amal movement fired on another car flying the flag of Samir Geagea's Lebanese Forces, which is taking part in the graveside non-stop sit-in.

"There was a verbal dispute between passengers of the two cars in the Saifi neighborhood, near Martyrs' Square, and then someone from the Amal car fired on the Lebanese Forces car," he explained.

This is the second shooting incident by Syria's loyalists in Beirut since Assad announced a total two-stage withdrawal of his army from Lebanon on Saturday.(AFP-Naharnet)

Posted by 40-Tactical on Monday, March 07, 2005 | Permalink