LEBANON: LEBANON SAYS THAT IT HAS FOILED MILITANT PLOT TO BLOW UP ITALIAN EMBASSY IN BEIRUT

Record ID: 344876

  • Title: LEBANON: LEBANON SAYS THAT IT HAS FOILED MILITANT PLOT TO BLOW UP ITALIAN EMBASSY IN BEIRUT
  • Date: 22nd September 2004
  • Summary: (W5) BEIRUT, LEBANON (SEPTEMBER 22, 2004 ) (REUTERS) 1. VARIOUS MEETING AT THE MINISTRY OF INTERIOR BETWEEN LEBANESE MINISTER OF INTERIOR ELIAS AL-MURR (BLACK JACKET, RIGHT HAND SIDE, UNDER PICTURE) AND ITALIAN AMBASSADOR FRANCO MISTRIRA (BLUE JACKET, MIDDLE, UNDER FLAG) AND GERMAN AMBASSADOR GUENTER RUDOLF KNIESS 0.16 2. WIDE OF ELIAS AL-MURR, LEBANESE MINISTER OF INTERIOR, SITTING DOWN FOR PRESS CONFERENC 0.22 3. SLV MEDIA 0.25 4. SCU (SOUNDBITE) (Arabic) ELIAS AL-MURR, LEBANESE MINISTER OF INTERIOR, SAYING: "Italian security tipped the Lebanese security general force four days ago with an information about a plan to bomb the Italian embassy in Lebanon with a car bomb or a suicide attack." 1.00 5. SMV MEDIA 1.03 6. PAN MEDIA SURROUNDING ITALIAN AMBASSADOR TO LEBANON FRANCO MISTRIRA 1.07 7. SCU (SOUNDBITE) (French) ITALIAN AMBASSADOR TO LEBANON FRANCO MISTRIRA SAYING ""The Minister has just briefed us on a foiled plot against the Italian embassy and other targets in Lebanon. We received all details, all information on this subject. This operation was the result of international cooperation, Italian intelligence tipped off their Lebanese counterparts. With great speed and efficiency, Lebanese forces went out and were able to make arrests.The Minister also briefed us on cooperation with Syrian security forces, who were very efficient and of great help." 2.22 8. WIDE OF EXTERIORS OF ITALIAN EMBASSY IN CENTRAL BEIRUT 2.31 9. CLOSE OF BADGE OUTSIDE ITALIAN EMBASSY 2.35 10. WIDE OF ITALIAN AND EU FLAGS OUTSIDE EMBASSY 2.39 Initials Script is copyright Reuters Limited. All rights reserved
  • Embargoed: 7th October 2004 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: BEIRUT, LEBANON
  • Country: Lebanon
  • Reuters ID: LVAF51S276NGS5L3JEI9XC9L2OXU
  • Story Text: Lebanon said it had foiled a plan by militant Islamists with ties to al
    Qaeda to blow up Italy's embassy in Beirut and other diplomatic missions and
    Lebanese government targets.



    Lebanon said on Wednesday (September 22, 2004) it had foiled a plan by
    militant Islamists with links to al Qaeda to blow up Italy's embassy in
    Beirut, other diplomatic missions and Lebanese government targets.

    Interior Minister Elias al-Murr said Lebanese and Syrian security
    forces acting on a tip that Rome sent last Friday (September 17) had arrested
    10 people in the plot, which he said involved simultaneous attacks on the
    various targets.

    The attacks were to include a suicide car bombing of the Italian
    embassy in downtown Beirut, as well as strikes on the Ukrainian consulate and
    several Lebanese court and security buildings, he said.

    Lebanese officials identified two ringleaders among the suspects:
    Ahmad Miqati, a Lebanese member of an Islamist group that staged a bloody
    uprising in north Lebanon in 2000, and Ismail Khatib, described as an
    operative of al Qaeda.

    The Interior Ministry said the arrest of Miqati -- a fugitive in
    Lebanon's largest Palestinian refugee camp, where numerous Islamist factions
    are active -- had led to the arrests of the others.

    The ministry said the plotters had got funding through contacts in
    Europe, and Murr said those ties also extended to militants elsewhere in the
    Middle East.

    "In questioning it became clear that these networks have links
    with terrorist networks in ... Italy, Ukraine, Denmark, Iraq, Saudi Arabia,
    Jordan, Germany and Sudan," he told reporters.

    Murr said other planned attacks included the killing of employees at
    embassies in Lebanon.

    Like its dominant neighbour Syria, Lebanon faces U.S. pressure over
    Hizbollah guerrillas Washington describes as terrorists. It has said it has
    cracked a ring behind bombings of Western fast-food restaurants.

    The suspected plotters had also been involved in recruiting people to
    fight in Iraq on behalf of al Qaeda, Murr said.

    The Italian government sent some 2,700 troops to southern Iraq last
    year despite widespread opposition at home. Like other members of the U.S.-led
    coalition, Italy has been frequently threatened by militants with attack.

    So far the threats have largely translated into hostage taking. Two
    Italian aid workers are being held hostage in Iraq and Italian journalist Enzo
    Baldoni was kidnapped and killed last month.



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