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The real story behind yesterday's bomb explosion in south Lebanon
Ya Libnan reported yesterday about an explosion that ripped through a tire shop in the south Lebanon Palestinian refugee camp of Ein al-Helweh, killing 2 people. Security sources initially reported that the blast was caused by the explosion of an oxygen canister. The story changed later based on Palestinian sources that the blast was caused by a bomb that was placed inside a tire in the tire shop.The real story, according to Lebanese security officials, is that the explosion occurred while the extremist militants of Jund al-Sham tried to prepare a bomb in the tire shop. The Lebanese security officials said that some of Jund al-Sham members were extracting TNT from a 107 mm shell, apparently to use it in making a bomb. Among those lightly wounded was a leader of Jund al-Sham, Shehadeh Jawhar, also known as Abu Omar, according to residents and Abu Sharif, the officials said. Residents said the two dead men were the shop owner ... Jawhar's uncle ... and his nephew. Also wounded was a Lebanese man named Mohammed Ghuneim, whose brother, Shadi, has been held for months in Saudi Arabia for suspected links with al-Qaida, the security officials said. Since the Lebanese army and security personnel cannot enter the Palestinian refugee camps, based on the absurd "Cairo agreement" that was agreed on in 1969, the camps have become breeding grounds for terrorism. A number of small, little known Islamic militant groups proclaiming a Jihadist (holy war) ideology have arisen in recent years in Lebanon's Palestinian refugee camps, which have long been home to numerous Palestinian militias. Jund al-Sham, which is Arabic means literally "Soldiers of Damascus", is a splinter group from another Palestinian militant group called Asbat al-Ansar based in Ein al-Helweh. Jund al-Sham's fighters battled Lebanese troops earlier this month, killing two soldiers, as the army fought Fatah al-Islam terrorists in the northern Palestinian refugee camp of Nahr al-Bared. Another group using the name Jund al-Sham has carried out attacks in Syria, seeking to topple its secular regime, but it is not known whether it is connected to the Ein al-Helweh group. It is obvious that the Ein al-Helweh camp is a tinderbox, like the other 11 camps in Lebanon, and people like Abu Chehadeh Jawhar, are a living symbol of the weakness of the Lebanese state, in not being able exercise its authority throughout the Lebanese territory. This arrangement has been a haven for criminals, who within the camps' confines, were immune from the country's rules, laws, police and oversight, but for the average Palestinian this has been hell as this turned them into second-class citizens. The explosion that took place yesterday could repeat itself again. For example Abu Omar lives in a basement apartment on Emergency Street, a free-wheeling alley known for its filthy condition. Inside his apartment, Abu Omar stores TNT, plastic explosives, guns, land mines, detonating wires, and ammunition. According to reliable reports the explosives stored in his basement are similar to those that have been used to destabilize Lebanon since the assassination of the former Lebanese prime minister, Rafik Hariri, in February 2005. There is no way to know if the basement was the source of any of those bombs. Political insiders in Lebanon are calling for canceling the Cairo agreement, to enable the Lebanese government to control activities in its own territory. This should lead to law and order throughout the country, and help integrate the camps into the Lebanese society, which should improve the lives of the Palestinian people. Posted by: Fred 2007-06-20 |
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