Investigators searched for clues yesterday amid the rubble of a car bombing building in a largely Christian neighborhood in Beirut, an attack that sparked fears of a renewed bloodshed in Lebanon and complicated already troubled negotiations between rival political groups over the formation of a new government.
The attack, which wounded nine people, came amid the withdrawal of Syrian troops to eastern Lebanon and Syria after a 29-year presence in this former civil war-ravaged country. The redeployments followed intense international and local opposition to Syria's role in Lebanon since the Feb. 14 assassination of ex-premier Rafik Hariri in a massive bombing that killed 17 others.
The motive behind the attack wasn't immediately clear, but it devastated an eight-story residential building in Beirut's New Jdeideh neighborhood shortly after midnight and sent panicked residents wearing pajamas and night gowns into the street to inspect the damage.
PHOTO: AP
It also played to concerns among some Lebanese that pro-Syrian elements might resort to violence to show, in their view, the need for a continued presence by Damascus forces. Hundreds of thousands of Lebanese have been participating in demonstrations for and against Syria since Hariri was killed. Anti-Syrian opposition demonstrations have included large numbers of Maronite Christians.
"This has been the message to the Lebanese people for a while -- to sow fear and terror among Lebanese citizens," Christian opposition member Pierre Gemayel told Al-Jazeera satellite television. The message is "if there is a Syrian withdrawal from Lebanon, look what Lebanon will face."
Police closed all entrances leading to the blast site and blocked onlookers from nearing the devastated building. After sunrise, residents began clearing up debris and inspecting damage to their shops and homes in the area, sweeping broken glass and throwing out twisted metal and rocks thrown by the explosion.
In a statement released following the blast, Lebanon's pro-Syrian president, Emile Lahoud, made no mention of the attack, saying only that Lebanon was experiencing "exceptional circumstances" that required "immediate and direct dialogue" between opposition and pro-government groups.
Lahoud said Lebanon's various political factions must "shoulder their historic responsibilities in protecting the higher interests of Lebanon at this critical stage."
"The doors of the presidential palace will be open at any time to host such a meeting starting today," he said.
Political demands from factions for and against Syria have bogged down efforts to form a new government, raising concerns that the deadlock that could threaten upcoming elections and even Syria's final withdrawal.
Pro-Damascus premier-designate Omar Karami has insisted on a "national unity" government, but the anti-Syrian opposition is refusing to join before its demands are met. The opposition has demanded a neutral Cabinet to arrange for elections, the resignation of security chiefs and international investigation into Hariri's death.
Some opposition members accuse Karami of stalling to kill the chances of holding an election they believe the pro-Syrian camp will lose.
Walid Jumblatt, an opposition leader, said parliamentary elections should be held as planned for April and May.
"Why postpone the parliamentary elections? Let them hold the elections according to the electoral law they deem suitable, but we will not participate in the government," he told Future Television.
Saturday's explosion blew off the fronts of some structures, left a seven-foot-deep crater, damaged parked cars and shops and shattered windows for several blocks.
‘DISCRIMINATION’: The US Office of Personnel Management ordered that public DEI-focused Web pages be taken down, while training and contracts were canceled US President Donald Trump’s administration on Tuesday moved to end affirmative action in federal contracting and directed that all federal diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) staff be put on paid leave and eventually be laid off. The moves follow an executive order Trump signed on his first day ordering a sweeping dismantling of the federal government’s diversity and inclusion programs. Trump has called the programs “discrimination” and called to restore “merit-based” hiring. The executive order on affirmative action revokes an order issued by former US president Lyndon Johnson, and curtails DEI programs by federal contractors and grant recipients. It is using one of the
One of Japan’s biggest pop stars and best-known TV hosts, Masahiro Nakai, yesterday announced his retirement over sexual misconduct allegations, reports said, in the latest scandal to rock Japan’s entertainment industry. Nakai’s announcement came after now-defunct boy band empire Johnny & Associates admitted in 2023 that its late founder, Johnny Kitagawa, for decades sexually assaulted teenage boys and young men. Nakai was a member of the now-disbanded SMAP — part of Johnny & Associates’s lucrative stable — that swept the charts in Japan and across Asia during the band’s nearly 30 years of fame. Reports emerged last month that Nakai, 52, who since
EYEING A SOLUTION: In unusually critical remarks about Russian President Vladimir Putin, US President Donald Trump said he was ‘destroying Russia by not making a deal’ US President Donald Trump on Wednesday stepped up the pressure on Russian President Vladimir Putin to make a peace deal with Ukraine, threatening tougher economic measures if Moscow does not agree to end the war. Trump’s warning in a social media post came as the Republican seeks a quick solution to a grinding conflict that he had promised to end before even starting his second term. “If we don’t make a ‘deal,’ and soon, I have no other choice but to put high levels of Taxes, Tariffs, and Sanctions on anything being sold by Russia to the United States, and various other
In Earth’s upper atmosphere, a fast-moving band of air called the jet stream blows with winds of more than 442kph, but they are not the strongest in our solar system. The comparable high-altitude winds on Neptune reach about 2,000kph. However, those are a mere breeze compared with the jet stream on a planet called WASP-127b. Astronomers have detected winds howling at about 33,000kph on the large gaseous planet in our Milky Way galaxy approximately 520 light-years from Earth in a tight orbit around a star similar to our sun. The supersonic jet-stream winds circling WASP-127b at its equator are the fastest of their kind
RSS