|
||
 |
||
|
||
|
||
| Bomb scare at Hariri
murder spot sends hundreds running for life Another bomb scare has sent hundreds of Lebanese running for their lives off the spot where ex-Premier Rafik Hariri was assassinated just hours after an explosion ripped through Monot street, one of the city's most-frequented entertainment sections. Police cordoned off a large sector of Ein Mreisseh seaside boulevard, close to Hariri's murder scene near the Phoenicia and St. Georges hotels following a tip of a suspicious car parked at the busy intersection on Saturday. Authorities thoroughly searched the car and found no explosives. The all-clear was then sounded and the intersection was reopened to traffic, security officials said in accounts highlighted by Beirut bureaus of several international news agencies on Sunday. The scare came after a bomb exploded on a narrow street crowded with bars and restaurants late Friday, wounding 12 people just hours after U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice passed through the neighborhood during a surprise visit she made to Beirut. Most of the injured have been discharged from hospital. Only the owner of the car beneath which the bomb detonated, journalist Joseph Nadim remained in intensive care from a heart attack he suffered when he saw the wreckage of his Volkswagen. Premier Seniora convened a crisis meeting of the nation's Higher Security Council Saturday and instructed the Commander of the army and various other security chiefs to redouble efforts to prevent a repetition of such bombings that are sabotaging Lebanon's 2005 tourist season.(AP) |
