BEIRUT, 24 August 2005 — A blast that ripped through storefronts in a Christian neighborhood of Beirut bears similarities to previous bombings, investigators said yesterday, deepening questions over who is behind a string of attacks that have raised worries about Lebanon’s stability.
Investigators have not produced suspects for any of the nearly dozen bombings that have taken place since October in and around Beirut, some of them targeting politicians, others - like Monday night’s blast - hitting public commercial areas. Some have pointed the finger at members of allies of Syria who remain in Lebanon’s security services, even after Syria withdrew its troops in April and its long domination of the country began to crumble.
Many are placing their hopes for uncovering the perpetrators in a UN team that is investigating the most devastating of the bomb attacks: a Feb. 14 blast that killed former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri and 20 others. The team’s head, German prosecutor Detlev Mehlis, is expected to report to the UN Security Council next month and ask for more time to complete his work.
Monday night’s attack hit the mostly Christian neighborhood of Zalka. A bomb placed between a shopping center and a hotel blew off shop shutters, smashed windows in the hotel lobby and wounded five people, most with minor injuries from flying debris and broken glass. One of the investigating magistrates, Jean Fahd, said the Zalka bomb was of similar weight - 20 to 30 kilograms of TNT - to ones in earlier attacks. Like others, it was planted in a commercial area and timed to explode after the perpetrator had fled.
President Emile Lahoud and Prime Minister Fuad Siniora issued statements condemning the blast, with Siniora saying the government would “spare no effort to arrest the criminals responsible for these ugly crimes.”
In his statement, Siniora also pledged to “rebuild the security agencies” to avoid similar attacks. Earlier this year, the government sacked several pro-Syrian security chiefs, but they have not yet been replaced due to political infighting.
Nasib Majdalani, a Parliament member from the majority anti-Syrian bloc, said the blast showed the fragility of the security system caused by the failure “to restructure the security branches on new (anti-Syrian) bases.” Another parliamentarian, Mustafah Hashem, said the string of attacks in the past months “confirm in an irrefutable manner the involvement of the remnants of the security apparatus in such planned acts.”
Syria dominated Lebanon for nearly 30 years, installing its allies in all parts of the government, including the security services. Now, the Syrian military is gone, and anti-Syrians control parliament for the first time — and accuse pro-Damascus elements in the security forces of carrying out the bombings in an attempt to destabilize post-Syrian Lebanon. Syria has denied any involvement in the Hariri assassination and subsequent bombings.
The Hariri assassination provoked massive demonstrations against Syria, which then held the decisive say in Lebanon’s government, and led to the withdrawal of Syrian troops from Lebanon in April. Previous to the Hariri blast, an Oct. 1 car bombing wounded one of his allies, former Economy Minister Marwan Hamadeh. Two car bombings in June killed two prominent anti-Syrian figures. Then in July, a bomb wounded the pro-Syrian defense minister just before he left his post with the installation of Siniora’s government.
