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| Syria-Lebanon-Iran | |
| Lebanese guard slightly hurt in US embassy stoning incident | |
| 2008-06-19 | |
"There were no serious injuries" in the incident in the village of Nabatiyeh, State Department deputy spokesman Tom Casey told reporters in Washington. "I do understand that one of our security guards -- one of the local Lebanese security guards -- did get hit in the leg by one of the stones that was thrown," Casey said. But he understood the guard "did not require any kind of medical treatment or certainly hospitalization." Casey said the incident happened when one of the cars in the motorcade broke down and the charge d'affaires, Michele Sison, and the others in the group decided to stop in the village for lunch while the car was being repaired. Sison was invited to lunch by a village family, he added. Around a dozen individuals -- mainly young men -- "started throwing some stones at the vehicles" after the car was repaired and the motorcade prepared to depart, Casey said. "Charge Sison was able to carry out the rest of her visit and ultimately returned back to the embassy in Beirut," he said. She visited US-sponsored initiatives and programs like a school for girls, a social center, and US Agency for International Development projects, he said. A Lebanese security official told AFP in Lebanon that the convoy was greeted with stones and chants of "Death to America" by Hezbollah supporters as Sison met with Abdullah Bitar, a Shiite official who is opposed to Hezbollah. The official said some 200 people, including women and children, surrounded Bitar's house and shouted "Death to America, Death to Israel, we don't want you in south Lebanon," as extra Lebanese police converged on the site. The official said Sison's car was hit by several stones as she was being evacuated from the area, but she emerged unharmed. | |
| Posted by:Steve White |