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| Syria-Lebanon-Iran |
| Mysterious Bombings Frighten Lebanese |
| 2005-09-30 |
| A recent string of bombings - particularly the last brutal attack that maimed a prominent TV anchorwoman - has left many Lebanese frightened over who could be next and increasingly puzzled about what can be done to stop the mysterious attacks. Sunday's bombing that injured TV personality May Chidiac - the first woman to be targeted - was the 14th explosion to hit Lebanon in the past year. The bombs have killed 28 Lebanese, including billionaire Rafik Hariri, the former prime minister. Politicians are bracing for more violence as a U.N. investigation into Hariri's Feb. 14 assassination that is targeting Syria and its Lebanese allies nears its end. "There is an atmosphere of terror in the country," said Ramonda Jalbout, a 33-year-old mother of two and a lawyer. "One feels afraid of everything, there is absolutely no sense of security, no protection. I've come to feel afraid even of driving my own car and parking it on the street." "If Hariri and all his power and he could not protect himself, there is nothing I can do to protect myself," the woman said resignedly. Four security generals are held on suspicion of involvement in Hariri's assassination, in which 21 people were killed, but not a single arrest has been made in any of the other bombings, which have targeted politicians, journalists and other prominent Lebanese. Commercial centers, industrial and residential areas have also been hit by bombs stuck to the bottom of vehicles, left in bags on street sides or packed into parked cars. "I am sad, angry and afraid," wrote Sarkis Naoum, a political analyst in the leading An-Nahar daily who was the last guest Chidiac hosted on her TV program Sunday, a few hours before a bomb exploded under her car. "But fear does not mean we should forsake our duties." Dolly Ghanem, Chidiac's colleague, spoke of an atmosphere of fear and said she and her husband, also a journalist, were being advised by friends "to change cars and take taxis" to avoid assassination. "Caution is necessary ... but I refuse to be more cowardly than the cowards who are trying to assassinate us," she said at a media gathering Thursday to support Chidiac. Fear only increases with the government's apparent inability to solve the crimes. Interior Minister Hassan Sabei said the authorities were up against a "phantom" carrying out a plan to destabilize the country. Prime Minister Fuad Saniora, warning of more attacks, has sought - and received - help from the FBI, which sent a team that began investigating Wednesday. Many Lebanese politicians have taken refuge abroad, choosing to stay away until security conditions improve. Others who remained here largely stay in heavily protected homes and travel in armed motorcades. Those abroad include legislator Saad Hariri, the son of the slain former premier whose assassination triggered mass protests that forced Syria to withdraw its troops from Lebanon in April after nearly 30 years. Since then, two anti-Syrian activists - former Communist party leader George Hawi and journalist Samir Kassir - were among those killed in the explosions. In addition, there are the "living martyrs" - Defense Minister Elias Murr, Telecommunications Minister Marwan Hamadeh, and Chidiac - who survived bombings with various injuries. Fear and widespread speculation on who might be the next target prompted a popular talk show this week to host an explosives expert to give viewers tips on how to protect themselves. He suggested, among other things, a routine check under vehicles and security cameras on the streets. In parking lots of supermarkets, malls and cinemas, private security guards are carrying out careful searches of vehicles using increasingly sophisticated bomb detectors. Pedestrians are sometimes subject to questioning. Concrete barriers have risen around politicians' houses. The bombings have prompted groups of young Lebanese - anti-Syrian and pro-Syrian - to join in a campaign of "Kafa," Arabic for Enough. |
| Posted by:Steve |