Beirut (AsiaNews) – Lebanese police took four Syrians into custody. One confessed carrying out February 13 attacks on two buses. Lebanon’s Interior Minister Hassan Sabaa accused the four of operating as part of a group which is controlled by “the Syrian security system.” And Lebanese police said it found a great amount of explosives similar to those used in the bus bombings in the flat of one of the suspects.
Mr Sabaa, who did not reveal the name of the arrested, said the men were involved in the actions that killed 3 people and wounded 22 others on the eve of the second anniversary of the assassination of ex-Premier Rafik Hariri. The attacks were meant to scare people away from the planned mass rally in memory of the late prime minister.
The four Syrians apparently belong to Fatah-Islam, a radical Palestinian group controlled by Syrian intelligence. But the group swiftly denied any involvement in a statement release from its Nahr al-Bared refugee camp stronghold in north Lebanon, describing the accusations as “completely fabricated.”
The An Nahar daily reported that the suspects were provided with forged identity cards identifying them as Palestinians and Saudis in addition to Syrians. It also said that Lebanese army troops reinforced their positions around the Palestinian camp.
It is believed that the group was planning other attacks, including against the offices of the Christian Lebanese Phalange Party and perhaps even UN peacekeepers.