dagblog - Comments for "Deadly Blasts in Lebanon Raise Fears of Sectarian Conflict"

Syrian officer among five

artappraiser — Sat, 31 Aug 2013 15:22:51 +0000

In reply to Deadly Blasts in Lebanon Raise Fears of Sectarian Conflict

Syrian officer among five charged for Tripoli blasts
By Youssef Diab, The Daily Star (Lebanon), August 31. 2013

BEIRUT: Lebanon charged five people Friday, including one Syrian intelligence officer and two sheikhs, over the twin Tripoli bombings that killed 47 people last week.

Military Prosecutor Saqr Saqr filed charges against sheikhs Ahmad Gharib and Hashem Minqara as well as informant Mustafa Houri, a judicial source said.

The source said Saqr charged two Syrians, including an intelligence officer, in absentia. The Syrian suspects were identified as Capt. Mohammad Ali Ali, an officer in Syrian intelligence, and Khodr Lutfi al-Airouni.

Saqr charged Gharib and Houri in his court documents with tasking the two Syrians to set up a “monitoring and planning cell to carry out terrorist acts in Lebanon, particularly in the north, by preparing bombs and booby trapping cars and putting them in specific areas, including religious institutions, with the aim of killing and assassinating political and religious figures.”

The two Syrians were charged with “rigging two cars with explosives and placing them, through the help of other individuals, outside Al-Taqwa and Al-Salam Mosques in Tripoli, which left hundreds killed or wounded.” [....]

Lebanon claims Syria link to Tripoli bombs that killed 47
By Bradley Hope, The National (UAE), August 31, 2013

BEIRUT // A Syrian intelligence operative and a cleric with ties to the Syrian regime were among five men charged with bombing two mosques in Tripoli, Lebanese media said yesterday [....]

Military prosecutor Saqr Saqr accused two Sunni sheikhs who support the regime of Bashar Al Assad of working with two Syrians to set up a "cell to carry out terrorist acts in Lebanon, particularly in the north, by preparing bombs and booby trapping cars and putting them in specific areas, including religious institutions with the aim of killing and assassinating political and religious figures", according to a statement quoted by Lebanon's Daily Star newspaper.

Sheikh Ahmad Gharib, organised the attack, according to the charges, while Sheikh Minqara, the head of a pro-Assad Islamist group in Lebanon, was charged with withholding information about the cell [....]

I vaguely recall reading

artappraiser — Sun, 25 Aug 2013 21:46:24 +0000

In reply to It would be good news if Al

I vaguely recall reading about Osama bin Laden trying some outreach to the Shiite infidels back in the early Sudan days, when Al Qaeda was still basically just a gleam in his eye. And that it didn't go so well, even though neither like the Sauds defiling Mecca. Then he moved in with Mullah Omar, basically next door to them, caused all kinds of distracting commotion away from the Israel ballgame....

It would be good news if Al

Aaron Carine — Sun, 25 Aug 2013 12:40:32 +0000

In reply to Deadly Blasts in Lebanon Raise Fears of Sectarian Conflict

It would be good news if Al Qaeda and Hezbollah were fighting each other instead of attacking us.

Al-Qaida in the Islamic

artappraiser — Sun, 25 Aug 2013 05:16:57 +0000

In reply to Deadly Blasts in Lebanon Raise Fears of Sectarian Conflict

Al-Qaida in the Islamic Mahgreb Blames Hezbollah for Lebanese Bombings,
threatens retribution against Shia group over deadly attack in Tripoli
Agencies, theguardian.com, 24 August 2013

A branch of al-Qaida has accused the Lebanese group Hezbollah of terrorism, blaming it for two bombs that killed 47 people outside a Sunni mosque in northern Lebanon on Friday.

Al-Qaida's north African branch, al-Qaida in the Islamic Maghreb (Aqim), threatened retribution against the Shia Muslim group, a US-based intelligence monitoring website reported.

Aqim said in tweets that it knew "with certainty" that Hezbollah was responsible. "That vile party … should know that it will meet retribution soon," it said, according to the monitoring service Site.

Although Aqim does not operate in Lebanon, its statement shows growing regional hatred of Hezbollah by radical Sunni Muslim groups and a deepening sectarian divide in the Middle East.

The Iranian-backed Hezbollah, which was once lauded by both Sunnis and Shias for its battles against Israel, has lost support from many Sunnis since it joined Bashar al-Assad's side in his fight against a majority Sunni uprising in Syria [....]