BEIRUT, 11 December 2003 — The Lebanese Army said it had foiled a bomb attack on the US Embassy in Beirut yesterday, arresting two men at the gates of the fortress-like complex.
One of them was said to be carrying explosives.
“At the gate of the US Embassy in Awkar, army officers arrested a Lebanese man and a Palestinian accompanying him as they tried to bring a bomb into the embassy complex,” the army said in a statement.
“Investigations have begun and work is ongoing to arrest all those involved and bring them to justice,” the statement said.
A Lebanese security source said soldiers searched a man, in his 30s, carrying a sports bag at the external entrance of the embassy and found one kg (2.2 lb) of explosives inside.
He said shortly after the incident a Palestinian man was arrested in the area on suspicion of links to the detained man.
Witnesses said the heavily fortified hilltop embassy, which limits the movement of its staff for security reasons, remained open after the incident.
The US Embassy confirmed the army had arrested a man at its gates after guards alerted Lebanese authorities of a suspicious person.
An embassy source said the man apparently wanted to leave the explosives at the embassy and walk away. She was unaware of the second arrest.
