The interior minister said yesterday that Lebanese demanding national unity in recent weeks will not be cowed by the overnight bombing in a Christian city that first reports said killed one person and wounded two dozen others. An opposition leader blamed Lebanese President Emile Lahoud for the explosion.
Lebanese police said yesterday that nobody had been killed in the bomb blast the previous evening, contrary to reports from the scene.
"Twenty-two people were wounded in the attack in Jounieh and five of them are still hospitalized," a police officer told reporters, citing what he said was a final casualty toll.
"No one was killed in the explosion, contrary to the early reports that emerged after the attack," said the officer, who declined to be named.
Civil defense and medical sources had spoken of two dead, one of them a Sri Lankan woman.
The 25kg bomb destroyed the headquarters of religious radio station Sawt al-Mahaba and severely damaged the adjacent Mar Yuhanna Church in the town's souk.
Lahoud has condemned Friday night's attack that ravaged a shopping area next to a church and a Christian religious radio station north of Beirut and linked it to political developments expected yesterday.
He was apparently referring to the return of Lebanon's most prominent anti-Syrian politician, Michel Aoun, from 14 years' exile in France and Parliament's discussion of a divisive election law.
Lawmakers convened to hear a message from Lahoud read by the Parliament's speaker urging them to craft an election law acceptable to all factions after deep political divisions over the demarcation of electoral districts. Parliamentary elections are supposed to start May 29 and be held over four consecutive Sundays.
Speaking to reporters outside the legislature, opposition leader Walid Jumblatt launched a scathing attack against the Lebanese president, accusing him of presiding over security agencies he blamed for the latest bombing.
"The head of the security apparatus cannot stay. There needs to be a complete reform," Jumblatt said.
The Druse political leader also said he had warned Christian opposition partners to force Lahoud, a Christian, to resign, but his call had been previously rejected.
"He [Lahoud] stayed and now he is playing with us by outbidding on sectarian issues and by bombs," Jumblatt alleged.
Interior Minister Hassan Sabei, who inspected the explosion scene, denounced the bombing in comments to reporters early yesterday.
"I say to those criminals that they will not stop the Lebanese people from forging ahead with the journey that they started on March 14," he said, referring to a huge anti-Syrian demonstration that called for end to 29 years of Syrian dominance.
Syrian military and intelligence forces, long dominant in Lebanon, completed their withdrawal from this country on April 26 under intense UN and US pressure, which intensified following the Feb. 14 assassination for former premier Rafik Hariri.
Opposition legislator Ghassan Moukheiber alleged joint Lebanese-Syrian security agencies were still operating here despite the withdrawal of Syrian soldiers and the removal of pro-Syrian Lebanese security chiefs.
Sabei, the interior minister, said he could not level accusations until the investigation finished but added: "there is no doubt that something has to be done for the [security] apparatus to be purged from the remains of what was happening before."
Police officials estimated the Jounieh 25kg bomb was placed in a suitcase under a car on the street.
The explosion broke a several week lull following a spate of bombings in March and last month in Christian districts and strongholds of opponents of Syria's influence what killed three people and injured 24.
Lebanon has been in political turmoil since Hariri's death. Lebanese Muslims and Christians have united in mass protests against Syria and pro-Syrian Lebanese politicians, who many here have linked to Hariri's death.
A new Lebanese government was installed last month.
Drug lord Jose Adolfo Macias Villamar, alias “Fito,” was Ecuador’s most-wanted fugitive before his arrest on Wednesday, more than a year after he escaped prison from where he commanded the country’s leading criminal gang. The former taxi driver turned crime boss became the prime target of law enforcement early last year after escaping from a prison in the southwestern port of Guayaquil. Ecuadoran President Daniel Noboa’s government released “wanted” posters with images of his face and offered US$1 million for information leading to his capture. In a country plagued by crime, members of Fito’s gang, Los Choneros, have responded with violence, using car
OVERHAUL: The move would likely mark the end to Voice of America, which was founded in 1942 to counter Nazi propaganda and operated in nearly 50 languages The parent agency of Voice of America (VOA) on Friday said it had issued termination notices to more than 639 more staff, completing an 85 percent decrease in personnel since March and effectively spelling the end of a broadcasting network founded to counter Nazi propaganda. US Agency for Global Media (USAGM) senior advisor Kari Lake said the staff reduction meant 1,400 positions had been eliminated as part of US President Donald Trump’s agenda to cut staffing at the agency to a statutory minimum. “Reduction in Force Termination Notices were sent to 639 employees at USAGM and Voice of America, part of a
Canada and the EU on Monday signed a defense and security pact as the transatlantic partners seek to better confront Russia, with worries over Washington’s reliability under US President Donald Trump. The deal was announced after a summit in Brussels between Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and European Council President Antonio Costa. “While NATO remains the cornerstone of our collective defense, this partnership will allow us to strengthen our preparedness ... to invest more and to invest smarter,” Costa told a news conference. “It opens new opportunities for companies on both sides of the
The team behind the long-awaited Vera Rubin Observatory in Chile yesterday published their first images, revealing breathtaking views of star-forming regions as well as distant galaxies. More than two decades in the making, the giant US-funded telescope sits perched at the summit of Cerro Pachon in central Chile, where dark skies and dry air provide ideal conditions for observing the cosmos. One of the debut images is a composite of 678 exposures taken over just seven hours, capturing the Trifid Nebula and the Lagoon Nebula — both several thousand light-years from Earth — glowing in vivid pinks against orange-red backdrops. The new image