Missile hit near convoy of ex-Lebanon PM Hariri
Lebanon’s FM to summon US envoy over comments on Hezbollah
BEIRUT, June 29, (Agencies): A missile exploded earlier this month near the convoy of former Lebanese prime minister Saad Hariri while he visited a mountainous area in the eastern Bekaa Valley, a Saudi-owned TV station reported Sunday.
Hariri’s office in a statement said most of the report carried by Al-Hadath TV station was “generally correct.” The blast reportedly occurred some 500 meters (yards) away from Hariri’s motorcade on June 17.
Hariri was returning from a visit to the top Sunni cleric in the Bekaa valley, days after sectarian tensions and rare clashes in Beirut sparked by Lebanon’s ongoing economic and financial crisis, the worst in decades.
Hariri, himself a Sunni Muslim, had resigned in late October following nationwide protests against the country’s ruling elite, who demonstrators blame for decades of corruption and mismanagement.
Al-Hadath TV reported that the explosion occurred as Hariri’s convoy of some 30 vehicles was returning to Beirut after the meeting with sheikh Khalil al-Mais in the eastern village of Makseh.
The report said security forces searched the area and found the remains of a missile. It added that an investigation was underway to determine whether the missile was fired from a drone or from the ground, as well as to determine the type of missile.
Three Lebanese security and military officials did not immediately respond to requests for comment about the incident from The Associated Press.
Hariri’s office said the former prime minister was informed by security services of an explosion in the area on the same day. But because “the convoy was not subjected to any attack, and to prevent any exploitation in light of the prevailing tension,” Hariri decided to remain silent about the incident and wait for the investigation to end.
Lebanon’s national police said in a statement late Sunday that during Hariri’s visit to the Bekaa, a person told security forces they had witnessed an object crash into the ground and explode. The police opened a secret investigation into the incident, adding that Hariri’s convoy was not directly attacked.
Hariri typically moves around Lebanon amid tight security measures. His father, former prime minister Rafik Hariri, was assassinated on Feb 14, 2005 in a massive truck bomb on a seaside road in Beirut that killed 21 others.
A UN-backed tribunal has indicted members of the militant Hezbollah group of
In this May 8, 2016 file photo, former Lebanese prime minister Saad Hariri (center), leader of Lebanon’s parliamentary majority, waves to his supporters after he voted at a polling station during the municipal elections in Beirut, Lebanon. An explosion occurred earlier in June 2020 near the convoy of Saad Hariri when he was on a visit in a mountainous region in Lebanon’s eastern Bekaa Valley, a Saudi-owned TV station reported on June 28. (AP)
being behind Rafik Hariri’s assassination. Hezbollah denies the accusation.
Lebanon’s foreign minister summoned the US ambassador to Beirut over comments she made recently in which she criticized the militant Hezbollah group, state-run National News Agency reported Sunday.
In Hezbollah’s stronghold south of Beirut, some 500 protesters marched on foot and motorcycles through the streets chanting: “Oh America, you are the Great Satan.”
The agency gave no further details other than saying that the meeting between Foreign Minister Nassif Hitti and Ambassador Dorothy Shea is scheduled for Monday afternoon. Local media said the minister will tell the ambassador that, according to the Vienna Convention on the Law of Treaties, an ambassador has no right to interfere in the internal affairs of another country and should not incite the Lebanese people against one another.
On Saturday, a Lebanese judge banned local and foreign media outlets in the country from interviewing the US ambassador for a year, saying that her criticism of Hezbollah was seditious and a threat to social peace.
The judge’s ruling came a day after Shea told Saudi-owned TV station Al-Hadath that Washington has “great concerns” over Hezbollah’s role in the government.
The move was harshly criticized by many in Lebanon, which enjoys one of the more freer media landscapes in the Arab world. Others, however, criticized Shea for comments deemed an interference in Lebanon’s internal affairs.
Since the ban by the judge was imposed Saturday, several local TV stations aired fresh comments from Shea in which she described the judge’s decision as “unfortunate.” She added that a senior Lebanese government official, whom she did not name, apologized to her.
“I was contacted yesterday afternoon by a very high-ranking and a well-placed official in the Lebanese government and this official expressed apologies, conveyed that this ruling did not have proper standing,” Shea told the local MTV station on Sunday. Shea added that the official told her that the government “will take the necessary step to reverse it.” The court decision reflected the rising tension between the US and Hezbollah. It also revealed a widening rift among groups in Lebanon, which is facing the worst economic crisis in its modern history.
Hezbollah legislator Hassan Fadlallah on Sunday called Shea’s comments “a flagrant aggression on the sovereignty of our country and its national dignity.” He called on the foreign ministry to force the ambassador to “respect international law.”
Lebanon is gripped by a deepening financial crisis, and talks with the International Monetary Fund for assistance has been complicated by political infighting. The local currency has lost more than 80 percent of its value in recent months.
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BEIRUT: Lebanon declared on Sunday recording 21 new coronavirus cases raising the tally to 1,740.
Lebanese Ministry of Health said in its daily report about the pandemic that a single death was reported and the total figure of patients who lost their lives to the contagion rose to 34.
Moreover, number of recovery cases stood at 1,134, the ministry said adding that 1,202 medical examinations for the virus were conducted in the past 24 hours.
Lebanese Government had decided to extend the general mobilization status until July 5, as part of measures against the outbreak.