LEBANON: 11 PEOPLE WOUNDED IN CAR BOMB EXPLOSION IN EASTERN BEIRUT / PRESIDENT LAHOUD INVITES ANTI-SYRIAN OPPOSITION AND LOYALIST POLITICIANS FOR TALKS
Record ID:
358626
LEBANON: 11 PEOPLE WOUNDED IN CAR BOMB EXPLOSION IN EASTERN BEIRUT / PRESIDENT LAHOUD INVITES ANTI-SYRIAN OPPOSITION AND LOYALIST POLITICIANS FOR TALKS
- Title: LEBANON: 11 PEOPLE WOUNDED IN CAR BOMB EXPLOSION IN EASTERN BEIRUT / PRESIDENT LAHOUD INVITES ANTI-SYRIAN OPPOSITION AND LOYALIST POLITICIANS FOR TALKS
- Date: 19th March 2005
- Summary: (BN01) BEIRUT, LEBANON (MARCH 19, 2005) (REUTERS) NIGHT SCENES 1. VARIOUS OF BOMB SITE; DAMAGED BUILDING; SECURITY OUTSIDE 0.08 2. VARIOUS CLOSEUPS OF DAMAGED BUILDING (2 SHOTS) 0.13 3. CU: MAN WATCHING 0.16 4. VARIOUS OF DAMAGED CARS (3 SHOTS) 0.39 5. FIRST AID WORKERS ENTERING BUILDING TO LOOK FOR CASUALTIES 0
- Embargoed: 3rd April 2005 13:00
- Keywords:
- Location: LEBANON, BEIRUT
- Country: Lebanon
- Reuters ID: LVA78219ZIFQOHPVWXNB452U32L0
- Story Text: Lebanon's pro-Syrian president invites anti-Syrian
opposition and loyalist politicians for talks, after car
bomb raises fears of a return to violence.
The car bomb exploded in New Jdeideh, eastern
Beirut on Saturday (March 19), wounding 11 people, gutting
the ground and first floors of a residential block and
destroying nearby cars.
Security sources said the bomb had been left in or
under a car belonging to a Lebanese-Armenian man who lived
in the building, but it was not clear why.
The vehicle exploded shortly after midnight in an
adjacent car park. It blew out balconies, shattered windows
in surrounding buildings and gouged a crater in the road.
In the wall of the building's ground floor, which
residents say housed small clothing stores, was a gaping
hole. The blast smashed in the wall of a first floor
office, exposing desks and cabinets inside.
Soldiers and other security forces sealed off the area.
At least six people were taken to hospital, medical sources
said.
One eyewitness said that there was a huge explosion and
a big cloud of dust and glass. He said a car just flew into
the air and landed on the street.
No one claimed responsibility for the attack and it was
unclear whether there was any political or sectarian
motive, but some residents at the scene blamed Syria,
accusing it of trying to sow sectarian divisions among the
Lebanese.
The explosion comes amid acute political tension since
the Feb. 14 killing by bomb of former prime minister Rafik
al-Hariri, and prompted President Emile Lahoud's first
personal initiative to break the deadlock over Syria's
influence in its tiny neighbour.
Lebanon's pro-Syrian president invited anti-Syrian
opposition and loyalist politicians to begin immediate
talks on Saturday, hours after the car bomb exploded.
"The president affirms the need for such a dialogue
meeting starting today in any place they agree on,
including the presidential palace, which will keep its
doors open," Lahoud's office said in a statement.
A key opposition leader responded to Lahoud's overtures
by renewing calls for him to resign.
Key opposition leader Walid Jumblatt stopped short of
rejecting Lahoud's invitation outright, but has already
said opposition figures would not join a new government
unless the president stepped down.
That stance could wreck a bid to forge a unity
government headed by pro-Syrian Prime Minister Omar Karami,
who resigned on Feb. 28 under opposition pressure but was
reappointed by parliament last week to form a consensus
cabinet to lead Lebanon to general elections due in May.
Leading United Nations envoy Terje Roed-Larsen, who has
been involved in negotiations with Lebanon and Syria,
called on Friday for a cooling-off period in the country.
Damascus has already bowed to international demands it
withdraw its troops from Lebanon after Hariri's
assassination sparked street protests in Beirut against the
Syrians, blamed by many Lebanese for his death.
Syria denies the charge but has begun withdrawing the
troops it poured into Lebanon early in the 1975-1990 civil
war.
A Lebanese security source said 4,000-6,000 Syrian
troops had returned home since the withdrawal plan was
announced on March 5, leaving 8,000 to 10,000 in eastern
Lebanon.
Syria finished the first phase of its pullout on Thursday.
UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan expects Syria to fully
withdraw its forces before Lebanese elections.
Washington has also demanded the disarmament of Shi'ite
Muslim Hizbollah guerrillas, a call the spiritual leader of
Lebanon's Maronite Catholics seconded on Friday during a
trip to the United States.
Maronite Christians, about one-fifth of the population
and long Syria's most vocal opponents, have dominated the
past few weeks' protests demanding the withdrawal of Syrian
troops.
Christian opposition leader Michel Aoun said on Friday
he hoped to end 14 years of exile and return to Lebanon
within weeks, as soon as the Syrians had completed their
withdrawal.
The opposition wants a neutral cabinet to lead Lebanon
to elections, due in May but threatened with delay if the
deadlock lasts, and an international probe into Hariri's
killing, which Jumblatt has accused Lebanese authorities of
trying to cover up.
Opposition members held a news conference after they
met on Saturday (March 19).
Opposition member Marwan Sakr said that trusted sources
said that the Lebanese intelligence leadership was
responsible for several threats to assassinate various
opposition leaders.
He said Lebanese intelligence had also organized a
campaign against local and Arab media organizations, such
as Al Mustaqbal Newspaper and Future Television because
those media organizations had led (pro-Hariri) campaigns
following Rafik Hariri's assassination.
Lebanon's Hizbollah guerrilla group called for national
dialogue and warned the opposition was making a mistake by
rejecting talks, although civil war was not imminent.
Speaking to the media on Saturday (March 19) Hizbollah
Secretary General Hassan Nasrallah said,
"We say what we have said before, we say, the
resistance issue, defending Lebanon and protecting Lebanon,
and the weapons of the resistance is the concern of
Lebanon, discussed amongst Lebanese. And this issue, no one
has the right to interfere in it, not the United States of
America, and not the United Nations, and not the Security
Council. Absolutely no one."
Washington has demanded the disarmament of Shi'ite
Muslim Hizbollah, a call the spiritual leader of Lebanon's
Maronite Catholics seconded on Friday during a trip to the
United States.
Hizbollah, backed by Syria and Iran, has vowed to keep
its guns to fight Israel, rejecting U.S. and UN
intervention.
"Concerning the UN investigation, there is an official
position concerning the issue. There are signs of distrust
and problems. The family of Hariri or the opposition say
they do not trust a Lebanese-led investigation or the
Lebanese justice. We found another formula, we suggested an
Arab investigation, and the Algerian (Arab) Summit may
succeed in something of the sort. But we are suggesting an
idea, and the family of Hariri to accept it or refuse it.
And in all cases, we respect the decision of the Hariri
family concerning this matter."
Many analysts and politicians warn strains are evident
in the precarious political, religious and communal balance
achieved since Lebanon's civil war. They say political
tensions could spill over into persistent violence.
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