Lebanonwire.com | Lebanon's pro-Syrian defence minister survives deadly blast

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July 12, 2005

Lebanon's pro-Syrian defence minister survives deadly blast
by Henri Mamarbachi

BEIRUT, Lebanon - Lebanon's pro-Syrian Defence Minister Elias Murr survived an apparent assassination attempt with light wounds when a car bomb exploded outside Beirut Tuesday, killing at least two and injuring nine others.

He was driving in an upscale Christian suburb 10 kilometres (six miles) north of the capital when an estimated 40 kilogrammes (90 pounds) of TNT exploded in a nearby parked car.

Seven cars were completely destroyed by the blast, which left a scene of devastation that has become all too familiar for Beirut residents.

Murr, 43, the Christian deputy prime minister and son-in-law of pro-Syrian President Emile Lahoud, suffered superficial burns and a hand injury.

He issued a statement at Serhal hospital aimed at "reassuring the Lebanese".

"Thank God I am in good health, and I wish a speedy recovery for all the bodyguards and the wounded. We must support them as the country is going through a very difficult period," he said.

Lahoud himself lashed out at the attackers.

They are "enemies of Lebanon who do not distinguish between Lebanese whatever their allegiance and position, be they opposition or loyalist (to Syria)," a statement said.

"What is important to them is to damage the country's stability and security, in order to provoke conflict ... and maintain Lebanon in the cycle of violence and fear."

This was the third bombing involving a leading political figure in less than two months. However, the previous two bombs killed a journalist and an ex-communist leader who were anti-Syrian figures.

Syria, which pulled its troops out of Lebanon in April amid relentless international pressure following the February assassination of anti-Damascus former premier Rafiq Hariri, fiercely condemned the new attack.

"Syria considers this terrorist act as one link in a series of explosions and assassinations aimed at destabilising Lebanon and weakening its national unity," the official SANA agency quoted an information ministry official as saying.

There were also comdemnations from the United States, United Nations, European Union, Britain, Russia and Jordan.

Druze leader Walid Jumblatt claimed that the attack was aimed at silencing a man who could potentially give incriminating evidence to international investigators still probing the Hariri murder.

"There is a plot to eliminate all the witnesses or everyone able to give information on the assassination of Rafiq Hariri," Jumblatt told private satellite channel LBCI.

Rafiq Hariri's son Saad, who heads the Future Movement bloc that won recent parliamentary elections, spoke of a "hand that wants to destabilise Lebanon and kill politicians and journalists".

Interior Minister Hassen Sabeh described the attack as a message aimed "at destabilising Lebanon and forcing fear, desperation and instability on its people.

"We are facing a criminal group that wants to shake and destabilise Lebanon. We cannot face this kind of crime on our own and place a guard behind every Lebanese," he added, dismissing claims of lax security.

The wife of the Mexican ambassador to Lebanon was among those hurt, state media said.

And Lieutenant Colonel Elias al-Bayssari of the internal security forces was seriously wounded, the official ANI agency reported.

Following the explosion, Murr extricated himself from his car and asked a passing motorist to take him to the nearby hospital. "Mr Murr was very upset and had tears in his eyes," a witness recounted.

Tuesday's blast came just hours before prime minister-designate Fuad Siniora announced that he had finally managed to put together a new government after nearly two weeks, and had presented it to Lahoud.

He gave no details, but said it would included all the major blocs whose candidates were elected in last months's parliamentary election are included.

That would presumably also mean the alliance of two Shiite Muslim groups -- Hezbollah and Amal.

Hezbollah's militia spearheaded the guerrilla campaign that drove Israeli troops from southern Lebanon in 2000 after a two-decade occupation and continues to nip at Israel's heels. The group, which is on US and EU lists as a terrorist organisation, is refusing to heed a UN Security Council demand made last September that it disarm.

Last week, Hezbollah said it was seeking cabinet posts for the first time in a Lebanese government, which complicates those demands.

Siniora, 62, has made clear that a major priority for his new government will be to uncover the truth about the assassination of Hariri and subsequent killings of Hawi and Kassir.