In a message posted to a password-protected forum today, Tuesday, November 21, 2006, the Mujahideen in Lebanon responded to the assassination of Minister Pierre Amin Gemayel in Beirut, an event which occurred only hours earlier. The group claims that Hezbollah, in coordination with Syrian intelligence, is directly responsible for the assassination, and further, that an effort is under way to frame the incident as an al-Qaeda operation.
The statement reads: “The assassination was directly executed by five individuals from Hezbollah. They were divided into two cars and a yellow motorcycle.” The group alleges a false statement was printed prior to the assassination, in the refugee camp Nahr al-Bared, in which al-Qaeda is implicated in the attack. The Mujahideen in Lebanon view the assassination of Minister Gemayel as part of a continued effort on the part of Hezbollah and its Syrian backers to coerce Shia ministers into withdrawal, ultimately facilitating an overthrow of the Lebanese government. The statement closes, “We are monitoring them,” referring to Syrian-supported Shi’ites in Lebanon. |