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| Syria-Lebanon-Iran |
| FBI Joins Probe of Latest Lebanon Bombing |
| 2005-09-28 |
| BEIRUT, Lebanon (AP) - FBI agents on Wednesday joined the investigation into the latest of a spate of explosions in Lebanon - a move certain to unnerve Syria as it comes under stepped-up U.S. pressure to stay out of its neighbor's business. Until now, Lebanon had shied away from seeking direct U.S. assistance, although FBI agents investigated a bombing in June and a U.N. probe is under way in the assassination of former Premier Rafik Hariri. But the difficulty the government has encountered in identifying those behind the explosions since Hariri's murder in February has led authorities to look to Washington to help. No arrests have been made in connection with the blasts. While the United States says it is providing purely technical assistance, the arrival of FBI agents to help in the investigation is also certain to shake the perpetrators. On Wednesday, FBI agents examined the site where a bomb tore apart a car Sunday, maiming May Chidiac, a prominent anchorwoman and talk show host for a popular TV station that had taken a line against Syria. Three men arrived at the site of Sunday's explosion near the port city of Jounieh north of Beirut to examine Chidiac's bombed-out vehicle. Wearing gloves, one sifted through debris and collected fragments while another shot pictures as an accompanying women took notes. Journalists were kept behind a police cordon about 30 feet away and team members declined to respond to their attempts to get a comment. A black box carried by a team member was marked "explosives unit" with the Washington, D.C., address of the Federal Bureau of Investigation. Armed Lebanese police, who had sealed off the area since Sunday, provided security. A U.S. Embassy official declined to discuss the matter Wednesday, other than to say that "the U.S. is happy to respond positively to requests from the government of Lebanon." The official did not wish to be named, but U.S. Ambassador Jeffrey Feltman said Tuesday the U.S. team was to assist the Lebanese in the investigation and provide technical expertise. Syria, which was forced to withdraw its army from Lebanon in April, has come under intense pressure from the United States. Washington has warned Damascus to stop interfering in Lebanese affairs. Syrian officials also are the target of the U.N. probe into Hariri's assassination. The chief U.N. investigator, German prosecutor Detlev Mehlis, met with Prime Minister Fuad Saniora. Details of their discussions were not disclosed, but Mehlis met late Tuesday with Justice Minister Charles Rizk. "What Mr. Mehlis told me is of such importance," Rizk told reporters Wednesday, that he had asked Saniora to meet with the German investigator. He did not elaborate. U.N. investigators returned to Lebanon on Friday after four days of questioning officials in Syria, whose army and intelligence units were in control of Lebanon when a massive bombing targeted Hariri's motorcade on a Beirut street, killing him and 20 others. Mehlis is expected to issue his report in late October. The Hariri probe could possibly implicate Syria and some of its allies in Lebanon. Already four Lebanese security generals close to Syria are under arrest on suspicion of involvement. The possibility of the probe's findings reaching President Bashar Assad's regime in Syria has given rise to public fears of increased violence in Lebanon, where Saniora linked the spate of bombings to the U.N. probe and predicted there could be more attacks. Interior Minister Hassan Sabei has publicly warned of a "terrorist plot" to destabilize Lebanon and suggested the government was helpless to prevent more attacks. The attempt to kill Chidiac, who lost an arm and a leg in the explosion, provoked wide indignation in Lebanon. The United States, the European Union and the United Nations joined Lebanese politicians in condemning the bombing, while students staged protests in Beirut. Anti-Syrian groups have blamed Syria for Hariri's assassination and the recent bombings. Damascus has denied involvement. |
| Posted by:Steve |