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Powerful explosion near bank in Beirut
A blast caused by a bomb rocked the western part of the Lebanese capital late Sunday, with the interior minister saying a major bank had been targeted.
Interior Minister Nuhad Mashnuq told AFP that a bomb containing about 3-4 kilos of explosives had been "placed behind the back wall of Blom Bank". "It is clear that the bank was the target," he said. Mashnuq gave no further details, but in comments to LBCI television channel he said the blast was "different" from other explosions that have occurred in Lebanon over the past few years. He said there were "no victims", but a civil defence official said one person had been lightly wounded. Blom Bank director general Saad Al Azhari told reporters that no threats had been received by the bank. There was confusion over where the bomb had been placed. Lebanon's National News Agency reported that the explosive device had been left under a car, but police chief General Ibrahim Basbous said it had been put in a plant pot. The AFP correspondent also saw damaged cars near the scene of the blast in the Verdun business district before an army patrol arrived and kept reporters back.
The explosion that rocked Beirut Sunday evening and that targeted the HQ of BLOM Bank, was preceded by a series of “threat” messages the most recent was a report published by the Iranian Fars News Agency, al-Mustaqbal daily reported on Monday. The message enclosed warnings attributed to a figure associate of Hizbullah against the banking sector in Lebanon, it said. The Iranian News Agency's report was published only two hours prior the explosion and it included a clear threat that Hizbullah is ready to put into implementation a plan similar to the “May 7” incidents in 2008, that brought the country to the brink of a new civil war. In 2008, Gunmen belonging to Hizbullah and its allies swept through Beirut’s neighborhoods after the government of then PM Fouad Saniora tried to dismantle the group's telecommunications network. The fighting left scores dead and wounded. Mustaqbal added “it is clear that there is a close link between the message intended from the bank blast and the mounting tension between Hizbullah and the banking sector after the U.S. sanctions against the party.” But sources of Lebanon's Central Bank told the newspaper that “the message will not work because the banking sector has no option but to implement the U.S. and International laws.” Saad Azhari, the head of BLOM bank, said no one should jump to conclusion as to who was behind the attack. “We are interested in being a serious bank that serves the interests of all (Lebanese). We don't take measures to harm any one particular group," he told reporters at the scene of Sunday's blast in the Verdun area. The blast preceded several fervent statements against Lebanon's banking sector, particularly when the Fars News Agency assured that the “confrontation has become inevitable between Hizbullah and the banks,” it said. The report expressed dismay at the stance of the Central Bank Governor Riad Salameh when he said that Lebanon cannot but abide by the U.S. laws. The report voiced threats against Salameh and said that “abiding by the US law is gravely endangering the banking sector.” A U.S. law was voted in December by the Congress and it imposes sanctions on banks that deal with Hizbullah. In May, Lebanon's central bank instructed the country's banks and financial institutions to comply with the U.S. law. Washington has labeled Hizbullah a global terrorist group since 1995, accusing it of a long list of attacks including the bombing of the U.S. Embassy and Marine barracks in Lebanon in 1983. Posted by: Steve White 2016-06-13 |
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