Hezbollah objects to FBI in blast probe
The Shia movement Hezbollah has criticised US involvement in the probe into a bombing that maimed a prominent journalist.
Hezbollah is represented in Lebanon’s cabinet alongside the anti-Syrian camp.
“We have reservations on the American security interference because we don’t trust them, given the partial US policies towards Lebanon and the Arab world,” a member of Hezbollah’s leadership said on Thursday in As-Safir newspaper.
“We prefer Lebanon to turn to countries like Switzerland, Holland, Sweden and Norway, which have no political ambitions in the region and are impartial,” said the unnamed member.
US interference?
Hezbollah, which is backed by Damascus and Tehran, regularly accuses the United States of interference in Lebanese affairs, while Washington is a sponsor of a UN Security Council that demands the group’s disarmament.
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Chidiac was the latest victim in a |
The group’s militia spearheaded a military campaign against Israeli troops in southern Lebanon, which withdrew in May 2000 after two decades of occupation.
FBI anti-terrorist experts began a probe on Wednesday into a bombing that seriously wounded television journalist May Chidiac, following a Lebanese appeal for help from Paris and Washington to halt a wave of such attacks.
Twelve unsolved attacks have taken place since the 14 February assassination of former premier Rafiq al-Hariri in a massive bomb blast on the Beirut seafront that was widely blamed on Damascus, sparking repeated Syrian denials.
Car bombing
Five officers from the Federal Bureau of Investigation on Wednesday examined the remains of the car in which Chidiac lost an arm and a leg when a bomb exploded under her seat.
“We want to cooperate with all parties able to help us strengthen the capabilities of our security services,” Prime Minister Fuad Siniora said, adding he had also sought help from Egypt, Saudi Arabia and Qatar.