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.
Four people jailed in the landmark Hong Kong national security trial of "47 democrats" accused of conspiracy to commit subversion were freed today after more than four years behind bars, the second group to be released in a month. Among those freed was long-time political and LGBTQ activist Jimmy Sham (岑子杰), who also led one of Hong Kong’s largest pro-democracy groups, the Civil Human Rights Front, which disbanded in 2021. "Let me spend some time with my family," Sham said after arriving at his home in the Kowloon district of Jordan. "I don’t know how to plan ahead because, to me, it feels
The collapse of the Swiss Birch glacier serves as a chilling warning of the escalating dangers faced by communities worldwide living under the shadow of fragile ice, particularly in Asia, experts said. Footage of the collapse on Wednesday showed a huge cloud of ice and rubble hurtling down the mountainside into the hamlet of Blatten. Swiss Development Cooperation disaster risk reduction adviser Ali Neumann said that while the role of climate change in the case of Blatten “still needs to be investigated,” the wider impacts were clear on the cryosphere — the part of the world covered by frozen water. “Climate change and
Poland is set to hold a presidential runoff election today between two candidates offering starkly different visions for the country’s future. The winner would succeed Polish President Andrzej Duda, a conservative who is finishing his second and final term. The outcome would determine whether Poland embraces a nationalist populist trajectory or pivots more fully toward liberal, pro-European policies. An exit poll by Ipsos would be released when polls close today at 9pm local time, with a margin of error of plus or minus 2 percentage points. Final results are expected tomorrow. Whoever wins can be expected to either help or hinder the
DENIAL: Musk said that the ‘New York Times was lying their ass off,’ after it reported he used so much drugs that he developed bladder problems Elon Musk on Saturday denied a report that he used ketamine and other drugs extensively last year on the US presidential campaign trail. The New York Times on Friday reported that the billionaire adviser to US President Donald Trump used so much ketamine, a powerful anesthetic, that he developed bladder problems. The newspaper said the world’s richest person also took ecstasy and mushrooms, and traveled with a pill box last year, adding that it was not known whether Musk also took drugs while heading the so-called US Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) after Trump took power in January. In a