BBC journey into Hizbullah’s world

BBC journey into Hizbullah’s world

Geagea Confirms Assassination Attempt in a press conference

Geagea Confirms Assassination Attempt

Lebanese Forces leader Samir Geagea revealed on Wednesday that he was the victim of an assassination attempt at his Maarab residence.

He announced during a press conference: “We will not halt our revolution no matter how hard they try and political leaders must take the necessary security precautions.”

He explained that on Wednesday morning, as he was taking a stroll in his garden, he leaned over to pick a flower soon after which he heard loud gunshots.

He threw himself on the ground as his security personnel came to his aid.

Security forces were immediately called to the scene and they extracted two bullets, ranging between 12.7 and 14.5mm, from a wall at the scene, he continued.

Geagea said that the operation needed more than one person to execute, thanking the security forces for their prompt response.

Furthermore, he revealed that the security forces are currently in pursuit of the assailants, who have fled to the outskirts of Maarab.

“I have always said that assassination attempts are a message to the would-be victim, but this time the assailants wanted the attack to be the final message,” said the LF chief.

“We have adopted political rhetoric for 40 years and they have responded with assassinations,” he noted.

“Why did they assassinate former Premier Rafik Hariri?” he asked.

“All that he did was acquire greater power than they had given him and it was clear that he was likely to acquire a parliamentary majority during the 2005 elections,” Geagea explained.

“Today’s incident is a continuation of the series of assassinations and assassination attempts that we thought had stopped after the 2008 Doha agreement,” he remarked.

“I am not accusing anyone of being behind my attempted assassination even though I have my own thoughts on the matter,” he stated.

“Those behind this attack are strictly professional given the type of weapon that was used and the distance from which it was executed,” he explained.

He stressed that the Maarab compound was not breached and that the attacker had carried out the attack from a distance of up to four kilometers using very advanced equipment.

“I believe that the wave of political assassinations in Lebanon has returned and I urge political leaders, who I won’t name, to take precautions,” he added.

“I won’t name potential targets, but I will say that there is one camp in Lebanon has not been and will not be attacked,” Geagea noted.

“They are seeking to eliminate national figures in Lebanon. What have we exercised in the past seven years besides politics?” he asked.

“I am certain that a team on the internal scene is involved in my assassination attempt and I will leave it up to the investigations to uncover the truth,” he said.

Developments over the past seven years have demonstrated that the decision to assassinate a figure is prompted when that individual “gains power greater than what is allowed,” he stated.

“No matter what they do, the revolt in Syria and our revolution will not stop until the rise of the state is achieved,” stressed Geagea.

TIMELINE

Jewish Rabbis in Sidon Lebanon

Residents of the southern city of Sidon were surprised on Monday to see two rabbis touring Jewish sites in the city’s old quarter.

The two American members of Neturei Karta — a group of anti-Zionist Jews who believe that the state of Israel should not exist — came to a former synagogue inhabited for decades by families in the “Jewish quarter” where now only the Star of David and Hebrew inscriptions are visible.

“For 40 years we have not seen a rabbi in Sidon. And the last Jewish families left after the Israeli invasion of Lebanon in 1982, fearing reprisals,” said one resident on condition of anonymity, adding that they still had land and property in the city.

Still recognized as one of 18 religious denominations in Lebanon, the Jewish community has shrunk over the years from 22,000 members in the early 20th century to 300, according to unofficial estimates.

Around their necks the two visiting rabbis wore Palestinian keffiyehs, and a badge on their chest proclaimed in English and Arabic “A Jew, not a Zionist.”

The two men also went to the city’s Jewish cemetery, where hundreds of Lebanese Jews are buried following their deaths during the 1975-1990 civil war. The cemetery has been vandalized several times.

The rabbis also visited the tomb of Zebulon, a son of the biblical patriarch Jacob, a previous pilgrimage site.

“We (Jews) lived in peace before the advent of the worldwide Zionist movement. The Israeli occupation has contributed to a feeling of hatred against Jews,” said Rabbi Yisroel Dovid Weiss.

On March 30 the two joined the south Lebanon procession marking the annual Land Day, commemorating the death in 1976 of six Israeli Arabs during protests against land confiscations by the Jewish state.

SourceAgence France Presse

Three Soldiers Wounded in Shooting in Tripoli

Three soldiers were wounded when unknown assailants opened fire Saturday night at an army checkpoint in the northern city of Tripoli, reported Voice of Lebanon radio on Sunday.

A security official told Agence France Presse that the shooting took place at a checkpoint located between the rival neighborhoods of Bab al-Tabbaneh and Jabal Mohsen.

He said that the assailants initially opened fire towards Jabal Mohsen, prompting the soldiers to retaliate.

A shooting consequently broke out for a few moments between the neighborhood of Harat al-Baranieh and Jabal Mohsen.

Tensions are high between the Bab al-Tabbaneh and Jabal Mohsen neighborhoods that have repeatedly witnessed clashes.

The tensions have been intensified in light of the eruption of the Syrian uprising, with Bab al-Tabbaneh supporting the Syrian people and Jabal Mohsen supporting the ruling regime.

The most recent of clashes between the two neighborhoods took place in February over support of the Syrian developments.

At least five people, including soldiers, were wounded in the incident.

SourceAgence France Presse

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